Oakhanger & Shortheath Common
Children will enjoy the excellent wooden play area at the start of this walk.
The Basics
Time: 35 mins
Distance: 2.3 km
Terrain: Mainly sandy paths, a few uneven patches, often muddy
Pushchair: No
Dogs: Yes, and there is a good sized open space for them to run around in but they must stay on the paths during ground nesting bird season
Refreshments: The stylish Hanger Free House is in the village or The Chocolate Frog Tearooms are a short drive away
Toilets: None
Parking: There is a free car park for the common, but we prefer to park around the village green so we can start the walk beside the play area (Postcode: GU35 9JP - W3W: wiggling/liability/neck)
Oakhanger is an attractive village with a large central green, an excellent pub and nearby tearooms. It also boasts a brilliant play area that is right beside the start of our walk around Shortheath Common.
The Route
The walk begins to the right of the play area beside the Hampshire County Council sign.
Walk down the main path to access Shortheath Common, first through trees and the the path will soon open up into a wide grassy space. Continue on the main path straight ahead, back through trees and then onto the common.
Eventually you will come to a wet boggy area to cross (even in summer, you should recognise this as a noticeably wet area). Take the smaller path to the left here which will bring you to a pond. Keep the pond to your left and continue along its edge.
Not long after the end of the pond, you will come to a surfaced track. Turn right here and then at the boundary of the common, and a house, turn right.
Continue on the same path until you arrive back at the boggy area again. You can then follow the same path back to the car park.
(To vary the route back slightly, you could turn up the small path on the left just after the bog. Follow this until the path bends to the right at the common’s boundary. Follow this path along the perimeter of the common, passing an abandoned cottage, until you see a footpath leading over a bridge to the left. Do not cross the bridge, but around this point look for a path on your right. This will bring you to a T junction with an access track. Turn right here and the track will lead you all the way back to the village)
Along the first part of the walk, look out for the sandstone sculpture ‘Cranberry on the Mire’. Children can look for the QR code on it, which they can scan to reveal a video with some interesting information about the common’s flora and fauna.
This route is one of many you could try around the common. The space is not huge and it is open access, meaning you can roam around and find a path that suits you. All routes would probably take around 35/40 minutes to complete.
Did you know?
Shortheath Common is host to 23 different dragonflies. The endangered field cricket was reintroduced to the site under Natural England’s ‘Species Recovery Programme,’ and the ‘song’ of the males can be heard between May and August.
If you enjoyed this walk…
…try this one at Kingsley, which is another nearby heathland walk with a huge pond.
