Our spring equinox walk this year took us Dunbridge in Hampshire, where we planned to walk around the Mottisfont estate and then go for some lunch after. We parked at the Mill Arms as we planned to finish here. The initial stages of the walk took us past the railway station to the signpost to Mottisfont Abbey. Initially you are walking though farmland fields and some with livestock, so at the beginning Digby did need to be on a lead but the views are vast at this stage of the walk, and you do come across some ancient oak trees, and being spring we witnessed the first lambs of the year and two deer running across our path.
The next stage of the walk takes us through Spearywell Woods. These beautiful woods have gravel paths that are good for cycling as well as walking. We only walked a small section as we were heading to Dun Springs water meadows next to the River Dun.
After much frolicking in the woodland, the water meadows gave Digby next level fun as he got to splash in a lot of water after the wettest couple of months we have recently had.
When we reached the River Dun, Digby got brave and jumped in and had the longest swim he's ever had, then went in again and again and again. Which was a relief as he was the muddiest he has ever been and found a patch of some sort of dung to roll in!
The walk finishes by lovely thatched cottages that leads to an unmanned railway crossing so be very cautions, especially with dogs. You then take you back to the main road that leads back to the Mill Arms Pub.
The pub has an array of real ales and a delicious menu and they were super dog friendly, so an excellent finish to our 5 mile walk.
To make a full day out you could visit Mottisfont Abbey afterwards.
