The First Team Walk

Today saw the Hardcore Four complete their first team walk. It also was the first time Julie had met Gem & Gubbs which was great and has obvious benefits!

The walk consisted of 5.6 miles taking in the watercress beds and meadows around Alresford, Hampshire.

Watercress ahoy!

Jo found the trail from WalkAndCycle.co.uk, which both started from and concluded at the Mid Hants Railway station in Alresford where the Watercress Line operates. This being a line that operates an old steam train running from Alresford to Alton.

A bit of history for you, the naming of the Watercress Line is down to the fact that it was previously used to run the locally produced watercress from the area to London for sale.

We did also see some watercress being grown as we made our way around the trek.

This was a pleasant walk around the Hampshire countryside. There were two big differences from Gem & Gubbs' walk yesterday:

1) No snow

2) A lot muddier!

Jo was wearing in her new boots and they definitely didn't look new by the end of it.

Jo wins the prize for muddiest walker today.

A Headstone for Hambone Jr.

We also saw a small headstone alongside the path on the river Arle which had the inscription: 'HERE LIES HAMBONE JR., FAITHFUL FRIEND OF THE 47th INFANTRY REGIMENT, 9th DIVISION, U.S. ARMY, MAY 1944'.

We assumed that it must have been a US Army mascot dog in the Second World War, and we were right. After a little research, it turns out that Hambone Jr. was a dog who met his unfortunate end with a US Army truck while they were on their way to Portsmouth and Southampton in preparation for D-Day in May 1944.

This rounds off a good weekend of training for the Hardcore Four. More to come next week.