Our second suggestion comes out of our foray to Whitchurch, and its lovely working silk mill. The Mill dates back to the early 19th century and is still a working mill today, producing a wide range of beautiful and delicate fabrics.
The colours of silk
The Mill is open 10.30 - 5pm (last entry 4.15pm). The tour around the mill allows you to see the workings of the water wheel which powers the machinery and all stages of the weaving process. There is a dressing up box with costumes for children, and a nice cafe upstairs.
The Mill is accessible to both buggies and wheelchairs, with a stairlift for those who need it.
http://whitchurchsilkmill.org.uk/mill/index.php. There is a free public car park next to silk mill.
En route to Whitchurch there are many opportunities for a short (or long!) stop and a bit of exploration.
Between Oakley and Basingstoke is Manydown Farm which has a farm shop and seasonal activities for all the family - see
http://www.manydownfamilyfun.co.uk for details of activities over the Bank Holiday weekend. There is catering on site, with a BBQ Marquee and a farm shop selling all manner of locally produced goodies. At the same site is Little Barn gift shop.
This is signposted in both directions as "farm shop and fitness centre", a brown road sign is visible from both Basingstoke and Whitchurch directions. The farm shop has all manner of goodies including a great butcher and cheese counter, loads of chutneys, locally grown vegetables. They also sell ready made pies, but there is no cafe area in the shop itself. We thoroughly recommend a visit to the farm shop - a leg of local lamb and locally grown veggies were sampled by the Clements/Moon/Spencer-McCormack contingent and get the definite thumbs up. The gift shop at the site also had all kinds of things to browse.
Eating:
For a pub lunch, there is a Fullers Pub, The Fox in Newfound:
http://www.foxnewfound.co.uk for opening hours and food service details. Alternatively, and coming recommended by the staff at the Silk Mill, is the Plough Inn at Longparish (
http://www.theploughinn.info) which is in lovely countryside, with walks nearby.
For those in need of a treat, the Oakley Hall Hotel is on the B3400 between Basingstoke and Whitchurch. It is set back from the road with a wonderful view over the surrounding countryside and serves an a la carte lunch, or there is the option of afternoon tea with freshly homebaked goodies (note that tea needs to be booked in advance so that the chef knows how many scones to bake!). We have agreed with the hotel that Jowetts can park directly in front of hotel entrance which will create a beautiful photograph. The hotel has extensive gardens, with a woodland walk with sunken Victorian wall - the walk is suitable for buggies and wheelchairs.
Oakley Hall Hotel
The hotel is signposted in both directions on B3400 with brown signs. Big blue Oakley Hall sign on main gate. 4 miles from Milestones. Note that there are speedbumps on way in up the hotel drive, but these are shallow ones which should be fine for Jowetts.
Take tea in Oakley's beautiful library
In Overton, the Red Lion is approximately half way between Whitchurch and Basingstoke. The car park is on the left as you go in to village coming back from Whitchurch; it has15 car park spaces, and a good seating area inside, with a good lunch menu with meals under ten pounds.
http://www.redlion-overton.co.uk.
) took it upon themselves to acquaint themselves with some of Hampshire's well-known attractions, as well as some of its lesser-known gems.