This year’s walk will be held on Sunday 10th October 2010

The Test Way stretches approximately 45 miles from Inkpen Beacon in the north to the town of Totton in the south.  Originally, the route was used by sailors arriving in Southampton as a transit route to the Midlands.

 Please download our 2 page brochure

Our walks start at 6 different points along this route with the furthest being a 25.5 mile ‘marathon’ distance starting at the village of St Mary Bourne alongside the Bourne Rivulet.

The rivulet joins the River Test just before Wherwell and that is our second start point, some 16 miles from Romsey.

The route intermingles with the Test for the rest of our walks from Stockbridge at 11 miles, Horsebridge at 8 miles, Mottisfont church at 5 miles and the final ‘stroll’ from Squabb Wood into Romsey which is a distance of around 2 miles. 

All the walks end up at the Romsey Memorial Park.

Please note there may be stiles/gates to negotiate, so if you are in any  doubt, please e-mail Greg Hall at hallgreg@sky.com for clarification.

Anyone can participate but we do require persons under the age of 14 years to be accompanied by an adult.

There are no fitness requirements other than your ability to feel that you can complete your chosen walk.  However, if you are in any doubt regarding a medical condition or disability that affects you, please consult with your GP beforehand.

It is hoped that part of the route could be available to participants with disabilities that may prevent them from overcoming obstacles such as gates or stiles.  If you have such a disability but would like to take part, please e-mail hallgreg@sky.com  for more details.

Remember, family and friends are most welcome so why not encourage them to seek sponsors and register!

The Test Way walk is a well trodden and established walk.  Starting at St Mary Bourne, the walk slopes down the valley to Wherwell where the remainder of the walk is relatively easy and flat.

Appropriate footwear and wet weather clothing in the event of inclement weather are a must. (Trainers may not be suitable for some sections of the longer distances)

Walkers who are registering for the ‘marathon’ must be familiar with walking such a distance, and should consider themselves capable of completing the ‘marathon’ walk in less than 9 hours.
 
Few weather conditions would cause the event to be cancelled but this website will be kept up to date with information and we will e-mail those who register electronically.

The entire course is marshalled and patrolled by Rotarians and other volunteers.  Marshals are there to help and deal with any questions or difficulties you may have.  Marshals will ‘close’ the route after the last walker has passed through each section of the walk.
Only the designated course is marshalled and we do not accept responsibility for walkers who leave the designated route.

Please note…..ALL walkers must check in at the Crosfield Hall in Romsey.  This is to ensure that the organisers are aware of your presence on the walk for insurance purposes.

At the Crosfield Hall, walkers will receive their final briefing notes and will be given their identification tag and token for their onward transportation to their designated start point.

Walkers will be transported to their chosen start point by coach. Coaches will be leaving at different times depending on the length of the walk – the longest walks will depart first.  You will be advised of the check-in time and coach departure times after you have registered for the walk. Please allow 20 minutes for check-in at the hall.

The approximate coach departure times are:-

St John Ambulance will be in attendance, and ambulances will be available in the unlikely event of a medical problem affecting one or more of the walkers.  Please contact a marshal immediately if you or anyone in your party requires assistance.

All 6 walks finish in the Memorial Park, Romsey.  This is a short distance from The Crosfield hall where your day started.

When you arrive back in the park, you will be greeted by the Rotary Club walk officials and be presented with your well-earned ‘Walk the Test Way’ medal by our Club President.

Refreshments will be available from the ‘café in the park’ and our sponsors and representatives from the charities involved during the day will be on hand to explain more about why it is so important for us to be able to support their respective causes.

Now use the Registration button to book your place online, or print a copy of the registration form and post it off to the Registrar or, contact one of the telephone numbers on the website.

For your reference on the day of the walk, please print off a copy of the walk route map and brochure and bring these with you. Click on the brochure download link near the top of this page to see these. You should also print a copy of the page entitled 'Walk Details' for detailed route information and points of interest along the walk.

There is a non-refundable £5.00 registration fee which is used to cover costs of transport, insurance and administration costs. This can be paid using Paypal during the registration process.

Registration fees not submitted electronically on registration should be sent to:

You can use our ‘Just Giving’ facilities to raise sponsorship funds by email from your friends, family and work colleagues. This has proved to be a convenient and very successful way to raise sponsorship. Click here for instructions on Just Giving

Sponsorship forms can be downloaded from this site if you wish to generate sponsors ‘face to face’. 

We are able to receive sponsorship monies collected manually, either on the day of the walk, or within 3 weeks of completing the walk. All sponsorship money raised must be submitted promptly so that we can get this to your charities as soon as possible after the walk itself.

Sponsorship forms and money should be sent to:-

The Rotary Club of Romsey Test Trust Fund is a registered charity (No. 1029525), members provide their time as unpaid volunteers.  ALL proceeds of the walk (less the cost of administration, insurance and transportation), will be donated to charity. 

The sponsorship money you collect will be distributed 75% to the charity of your choice and 25% to Rotary supported charities.  We encourage you wherever possible to request your supporters (if they are UK tax payers) to sign the Gift Aid section of the form as this can increase their donations by up to 28%.

We plan to collect and distribute to the selected charities all the money raised form this year’s walk during January 2011.  To do this, it is essential that you collect and send in your donations as quickly as possible.

Over the years, our Club has raised many hundreds of thousands of pounds for local, national and international charities.
We are part of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI) which is an association of Rotary members, clubs and districts. It is part of Rotary International, a worldwide organisation with 1.2 million business professionals and community leaders in over 200 countries and geographical areas.

Rotary clubs are based in local communities across the world with its members meeting on a regular basis for fun and friendship and to plan projects that will benefit the lives of others.

We are already well known for providing accommodation to thousands of people affected by earthquake, flood and famine through the Shelter Box programme.  This was most recently in the news following the terrible earthquake in Haiti. Through the efforts of our programme called ‘Polio Plus’, Rotary has virtually eradicated polio from the world.

Closer to home, our Rotary Club supports local groups such as Young Carers, Jane Scarth House, various cancer care groups, Southampton General Hospital, Scout groups. Many individuals and families have benefited from the support of our club with funds raised in this way, and we have a permanent reminder of the work done at the Romsey Hospital with a new canopy over the front entrance.