THE BASINGSTOKE CANAL - BEYOND GREYWELL

OVER GREYWELL HILL

The footpath leading over Greywell Hill is in part the original boat horse route, but the first bit from Greywell Tunnel's eastern portal is a new section that takes one nearer to the main part of the village. After a short walk along sometimes busy minor roads, it rejoins the original boat horse path on the road that leads to Hook. Once over the top of the hill, the route seems to have vanished, and newer paths must be used.

The path leading up from the tunnel portal at Greywell turns left over the tunnel itself, and down a narrow section before emerging onto a lane in Greywell vilage itself. Remember this is not part of the orignal boat horse path. There are several attractive houses in Greywell worth taking a detour to see. The village has won a 'Best Kept Hampshire Village' award, and has the distinction of being mentioned in the Domesday Book. Walk northwards and turn right at the T-junction (below right) and in a short distance another gate on the left hand side of the road continues the footpath.

As seen above left, the footpath leads off the road from Greywell village and soon climbs up the slopes of the hill. This well defined stretch uphill from Greywell village is clearly part of the orignal boat horse path. Initally it is quite narrow and traverses woodland. After a climb throught the woods, it emerges onto open heath, which affords some good views southwards (below left). The route is not clearly marked at the top of the hill where it is quite open land, and amateur attempts have been made to indicate clearly the correct route (above right) but they do not serve the job very well. The footpath (below left) crosses the picture from the clump of trees in the left distance and passes to the left behind the photographer. It then arrives at these two tall, sturdy trees (below right) where can be found another stile and gate (lower pictures) that leads to the section descending to the western end of the Basingstoke Canal, as seen in the bottom pictures.

As can be seen above left, the two trees stand over the next access gate, which leads down through the woods, as seen above right. One may come across some of the ponds (below left) that lie above the tunnel itself, and which have been responsible for the demise of the canal beyond Greywell. It was around here in 1932 that the tunnel suffered a collapse, resulting in the stump of a tree from one of these ponds actually ending up in the tunnel itself!

Keeping straight on the path through the woods, and it soon comes to a junction, quite easily missed (above right) but identified by a small sign that says 'Permissive footpath: walkers only.' Almost immediately it drops quite steeply (below right) and quite difficult to scramble down. However, at the bottom another canal information board heralds the western portal of Greywell Tunnel.

Although the actual portal has long gone, the tunnel itself can be seen though the railings. Before the railings were put up one could actually look inside the tunnel itself, but safety considerations prevail nowdays. The Basingstoke Canal Authority still hold responsibility for the tunnel itself as evidenced by the sign below:

THE LOST ROUTE FROM GREYWELL TO BASINGSTOKE:
Lost Section - Introduction    Over Greywell Hill    Greywell - Brickworks Arm    Brickworks Arm - Penny Br    Penny Bridge - Little Tunnel    Frog Lane - M3    M3 Motorway Section    M3 - Church Lane (Basing)    Church Lane - Crown Lane    Basing House    Redbridge La - Swing Br Cottages    The Loop - Ringway East    Eastrop Way - Basingstoke