Unitary Authority of Southampton

Walk Details:
Date: 30/7/2005
Total ascent: 3m/ 10ft
Total distance walked: 0.12 miles
Walk difficulty: 0.5/10
Enjoyment rating: 0.5/10
Best bits: Well, at least there was a tree and some grass…
Worst bits: Undefined summit in the middle of a motorway junction. Feeling very silly and self conscious.
Walkers: Anth, Jim, Ali
Car Parking: There’s plenty of space to park on the roadside at the eastern end of Roman Road (SO 419 173), accessible when heading north on the A33/A27

Top details:
Name: Bassett Avenue
County top number: 92 of 204
Grid reference: S0 42016 17464
Height above sea level: 85m/ 279ft
How nice was the top? 0.5/10
Views: 0.5/10
Description/Notes: The highest point in the unitary authority of Southampton is an indeterminate point in a rough grassy area

The Walk:

We were on our way to the New Forest for what turned out to be a most enjoyable day out. Jim and I had spotted an opportunity to bag the Southampton county top on our way there, as we passed within a mile of it. Ali (my wife) and her sister Fiona were meant to be with us, but Fi had backed out following a hard week at work (or perhaps she’d just been scared off by our bagging plans).

Mine & Jim’s 92nd county top (and Ali’s 3rd) was never going to be an auspicious one. First of all it was situated at the heart of a motorway junction, in the huge triangle formed where the M3 splits in twain and branches off to join the M27. This was not as bad as it might sound – the junction is so huge that you don’t even know that you’re within it; it surprisingly even contains some rather posh residential streets. However, within this junction is another junction, where the A27, A3 and M3 meet. The county top is in the large area of rough grass at the centre of this junction.

Parking in a nearby side street, we waited for other nearby people to disperse (so we didn’t look too stupid) and then wandered across to the grassy area. Now it was just a matter of deciding where the exact highest bit was. We eventually decided on a point near the north-eastern corner, near some low trees. I don’t think that Ali could quite believe we spent our time visiting places like this, despite our assurances that most county tops were actually nice places to be!

I asked Ali what she thought of this top afterwards; she said “it was a bit silly, wasn’t it?” before changing her mind and saying in a voice of extreme sarcasm, “it was the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen”.