Local Walks

The Test Valley is a beautiful area to walk around, with lovely river scenes and many pretty villages. We, in Longparish, have over 20 miles of footpaths.

Local Footpaths

The Test Valley is a beautiful area to walk around, with lovely river scenes and many pretty villages. We, in Longparish, have over 20 miles of footpaths. They are identified by numbers. We have a map of them in the centre pages of our Village Handbook which shows the path numbers. You can see it here (PDF 369K).

Footpath Maintenance

The County Council is responsible for the surface of footpaths. Landowners must make the path good if agricultural operations interfere with it and are resposible for ensuring that paths are not obstructed by vegetation coming in from the sides or above. We are lucky that landowners in the village generally take their responsibilities for footpaths seriously and look after them well. In addition we have a team of volunteers who look after particular paths and others who help with one off jobs. The parish council has two brush cutters and various other tools and always needs more volunteers. Training is given where necessary. If you are able to help please contact the chairman of our Parish Council Footpaths Working Group.

Longparish Footpaths Leaflet

Our footpaths leaflet, "Exploring Longparish" was published in July 2007 with help from HCC under the Small Grants Scheme. It has been so popular that we published a second, updated, edition in April 2009. Click here to see it. It gives details of four walks around the village and a map showing many more. You can get a copy of the leaflet in the pubs, the shop or the church.

Some of the walks suggest using the village hall car park.

As time permits, we plan to publish more information and photographs about these and other good walks in the parish. If you'd like to suggest one or have some pictures we could publish please get in touch.

  • We all have the legal right to use our footpaths. But rights bring responsibilities as well. You can see more information in The Countryside Code. The County Council have also published some very helpful information about dog walking.

  • Hampshire County Council are responsible for footpaths in the county. This page explains how to report problems.

  • The Test Way goes through Longparish. It is a 46-mile footpath from Inkpen Beacon, nearly 20 miles North of the village, to the mouth of the Test at Totton, near Southampton. For more details, see the Test Way area of the HCC site.

  • If you'd like to see lots more Hampshire walks there are lots available elsewhere online.

  • RUPPs – Roads used as a public path

    A category of highway defined by the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 as “a highway, other than a public path, used by the public mainly for the purposes for which footpaths or bridleways are so used” (“public path” = footpath or bridleway).

    The definitive map was conclusive proof that any RUPP shown on it was a right of way on foot, or riding or leading a horse, but a public vehicular right of way may also have existed over a RUPP. It was intended to be a category for recording old public roads, but the term was misunderstood and misapplied in some cases, and so it cannot be said that all RUPPs were public rights of way with vehicles.

    In order to clarify whether any given RUPP was a public right of way for vehicles, Parliament required County Councils to record any RUPPs having a public right of way with vehicles as Byways Open to All Traffic, and any which did not as bridleways or, occasionally, footpaths.

    All RUPPs were converted to Restricted Byways on 2 May 2006.

    BOATs - Byways Open to All Traffic

    “…a highway over which the public have a right of way for vehicular and all other kinds of traffic but which is used by the public mainly for the purpose for which footpaths and bridleways are so used”.

    Where the definitive map shows a BOAT, that is conclusive evidence of the existence of a public right of way with vehicles.

    Restricted Byways

    A category of highway introduced by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to replace RUPPs, although they can be created in other ways. Defined as“..a highway over which the public have restricted byways rights”. Restricted byways rights are a right of way right of way on foot, on horseback or leading a horse and a right of way for vehicles other than mechanically propelled vehicles.

    Restricted Byways can only be upgraded to Byways Open to All Traffic if they are shown to be public rights of way for vehicles before 2 May 2006 and one of the exceptions in the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 applies.

  • In exchange for deleting a small section of footpath near Papermill Farm, Mr and Mrs Tacchi of Testbourne Farm Partnership have

    dedicated a much longer stretch of path between Britwell Priors and Tufton; and

    established a new permissive right of way between Whitchurch and Hurstbourne Priors.

    The new paths are now all open. The view over the river at Tufton is particularly nice. The permissive path means that it is now possible to walk safely between Whitchurch and Hurstbourne Priors. And you can combine the new paths and existing rights of way to make a circular route of about six miles. Here is a map showing the new paths. It is a PDF of 1.2MB so It may take a while to load.

    The parish council supported this proposal because the advantages of the new paths outweigh this disadvantage of the loss of the Papermill stretch.