The Itchen Way is a 31.80-mile (51.18 km) long-distance footpath following the River Itchen in Hampshire, England, from Sholing to  its source near Hinton Ampner House. The walk finishes at Sholing railway station. The route was altered and improved in 2008, passing by Eastleigh, Shawford and Winchester.  The Itchen Navigation is followed for 10 Miles from near Bitterne to Wichester although it is disused

Sholing to Eastleigh

Sunday 12 August 2012 - 9 Miles

ID12082012#44

I keep looking at the big old batch of walks to start between here and Dorset and want to try and get a section done of each, so the choice today was the Itchen Way, although still after some deliberation.  Things started badly, with me screwing up a train change at Haywards Heath, putting me and hour behind, by eventually I reached Sholing Station.  From near the Station you follow the 'Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Golden Jubilee Butterfly Walk' (A bit of a gob full).  Anyway why the walk has been extended to here is beyond me as it used to end/start at Woolston Station, by the Itchen Bridge, which is also on th Solent Way.  The first couple of miles are a bit dull really, and after passing a lot of suburbia you finally reach Cobden Bridge and follow the Itchen through Bitterne Park, where the former Navigation starts, although at this point it just looks like a landscaped wide stream, until you leave suburbia proper and the old canal becomes much more evident, to soon pass under the M27 (briefly leaving the navigation) , to walk under a bridge by the River Itchen before rejoining the navigation, which was from this point dry and extremely overgrown on my left, with open fields to my right and the regular sound of planes negotiating Southampton Airport.

Passing under the Eastleigh railway line you follow again by the Itchen although I was not often sure where the river was combined with the old navigation, but through to Eastleigh was quite attractive enough, but I then left the walk at the B3037 bridge to walk along to Eastleigh Station, as even though it was a pretty short walk I wanted to get home to watch the Olympics Closing Ceremony

Millers Pond near Sholing Station

QETQM GJBW - A blooming mouthful, and a rather dank ugly start to the walk

It was all rather overgrown and a bit shabby

Underpass...by Woolston Station - not much else to take piccies of

Southampton FC zoom

This kind of stuff drags on for a bit

Cobden Bridge, scenery getting better now

Bitterne Park, walking by the Itchen

The inauspicious start of the erstwhile Navigation

Through the rest of the park the navigation has been landscaped

Some waymarks

Interpretation Board for the Navigation at end of park

Modern artifact presumably erected by the Hampshire and Isle Of Wight Wildlife Trust who are 'pimping up' the Towpath Walk to make it more interesting - respect

Passing under the M27 by the Itchen River

Walking towpath with heavily overgrown and dry navigation on left

Under the Eastleigh - Southampton Line

Waymark near Eastleigh

Approaching Eastleigh, river on right

Nawty Aberdeen Angus cooling off in the bottom of a stream - beware Trolls (Saw 'Troll Hunter' the previous evening and it kicked ass)

Peeling off onto the B3037 into Eastleigh

Nearly at station

Eastleigh station, job done