Portsdown Hill Nature Reserve
I had planned on doing a walk with a friend today but that fell through and was rescheduled for next week, but I still wanted to get out so I plotted a route for our walk next week and decided to walk a part of it today to see what it was like.
The route started at Cosham train station, up through Cosham, then up the Southwick Hill Road, much like the first time I went to do a part of the Pilgrim’s Trail. I crossed and rather than going down Pigeon House Lane I continued East along the hill into the Portsdown Hill Nature Reserve. It was quite windy but I found the trail was well protected from the wind so it made for some pleasant walking.
When I came to the end of the trail I ended up at Mick’s Monster Burgers, a well known spot that apparently has some really nice burgers (I’ve never tried them), but it also has a spectacular view of Portsmouth from up here.
I continued East and found a sign for Candy’s Pit, although part of the sign had been damaged so I couldn’t read a lot about it, but based on the map I could see roughly where the cave was. So I went on through some nice wooded area, down some steps into the lower wood and eventually found the cave. It was rather spooky approaching it as it was pitch black until I went over the hump in the ground to reach it.
“After being retired as a source of chalk, Candy’s Pit was a popular stopping-off point on London Road at the crest of the hill, complete with tea-rooms. Of more recent times the area has become unattractive and heavily shaded by trees, mostly Sycamore.”
After reaching this I came out of the woods and onto the main road, which even though it wasn’t that busy, was very loud. Half way down I made a dash across and decided to go into Drayton and through some of the smaller roads to get back to Cosham. It added extra time to my walk, but I’d made good time already, my toes felt good (toe sleeves are amazing if you suffer with blisters), and I still had the energy. On a whole it made for a nice little walk, and I plan on adding it to my Partial Pilgrim’s Trail I did. Next week I’ll test it again with a slight extension, then I’ll find some time to do the whole thing.
