Salkin one

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 80.00% of reviewers

The very rough mapping of this route makes it hard to know the true intent of the original submitter, but the obvious approach for the number one Salkin SlowWay is for it to follow the course of the Clarendon Way.
My wife and I plus dog walked this route on Day 1 of our two day expedition to complete the Clarendon Way, the second half of which I will review on Kinwin One. We walked this route on Sunday 19th November, after a particularly wet autumn period.
First thing to say is that this is an excellent route and well worthy of being part of the SlowWays network. There is a small amount of road walking at the start, but nothing particularly dangerous, but there are a number of obstacles along the way which mean that this is not a suitable route for wheels, apart from perhaps rough terrain buggies that the rider can get out of and the buggy be lifted over the obstacle.
The other hazard is that a large amount of the route is on byways which can be heavily rutted, muddy and with deep puddles due to use from motorised vehicles - you may encounter trails bikes along the way so keep an ear out!
There is one very low stile at the back of Broughton, but quite a lot of narrow pedestrian squeezes and kissing gates. There are a couple of flights of steps too.
Route finding can be tricky despite this being a long distance path. The green discs that mark the Clarendon Way only start to appear on the outskirts of Salisbury, and many are faded or obscured. In some places they are non-existent.
There are also a couple of places where the route as marked on the OS Map is not as it is on the ground. The first place this happens is at Milford Hollow, about a mile in to the route....the map shows to follow the road, but there is actually a much nicer footpath to the left which gets you off the road and is marginally shorter. I does take you over a narrow bridge over the railway however, which might be tight if you are on wheels.
The biggest deviation is shortly after leaving Pitton - as you climb the hill you will see the marked footpath in the hedge to the left, but this path is actually badly overgrown and practically impassable - what you need to do instead is walk on up the track a further 20 metres and you will see a permissive path to the left which follows the edge of the field and a fence (the original footpath is just the other side of the fence).
Another challenge comes half a kilometre after passing the church at West Winterslow - the path traversing the down is very narrow, rutted and steeply cambered. It is also cut through the hedge for some of the length and is very narrow indeed. When the path turns down the hill the going is arduous for 100 metres until you enter the woods.
Route finding through the back of Winterslow is also tricky - the markers are scant, but the OS Map is accurate here, so refer to that and you will be fine.
Some of the worst muddy sections are between Buckholt Farm and Broughton....in wet conditions walking poles and gaiters are highly recommended!
The section through Broughton, Houghton and crossing the Test is easy enough, apart from the aforementioned low stile and a flight of steps as you leave Broughton.
The final feature of noteworthiness is the shortly after the path crosses the old railway (route of the Test Way), where you climb the hill on a wide stony track and reach a footpath sign on the right. This does take you in to Kings Somborne but is not the route of the Clarendon Way, which looks like it follows the mettled roads from here on to the village, however it does not. Follow the quiet lane to the T junction and you will see that there is a nice field margin footpath that descends the hill to the village rather than walking on the road. The path does eventually join the road with a kissing gate and a short flight of steps down....you can walk on the road if you want to avoid this.
At the road junction turn left and you are a short 100 metres walk on the pavement to the village centre.

The route itself is probably fine, but it needs redrawing as this just straight lines and does not actually show which way to walk (see uploaded image for example). It is not an accurate depiction of the route, and therefore the distance is way off.

I ran this as part of a Salisbury to Winchester run along the Clarendon Way. It is a very nice trail and is easy to follow due to the helpful Clarendon Way signposting. It follows footpaths through woodlands, forests, fields and goes over some beautiful chalk stream rivers - perfect to cool off along the way. Highly recommend.

A lovely walk generally following the Clarendon Way which for the most part is well signposted. Path is mostly wide, gravel/dirt tracks with a few thinner single-track sections. Few short road sections but nothing that felt unsafe. Good transport links to Salisbury and a little corner shop in King's Somborne for a snack if you're walking on to Winchester!.

Beautiful route that follows the Clarendon Way on mainly footpaths, taking in the ruins of Clarendon palace and some lovely woodland. Shops are available in Pitton, Middle Winterslow, Broughton and King's Somborne, there's a very good pub in Broughton (The Tally Ho) and King's Somborne has bus routes that connect with plenty of places.

Walked in late spring: beautiful for bluebells, hares and skylarks. Not too hilly, very few roads to walk. Pretty direct too. Nothing breathtaking but a solid walk.

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