The Clarendon Way can be viewed as an extension or the final part of the South Downs Way. The hills become more attenuated after you leave the National Park and they are punctuated by the Test Valley. Yet, the path begins where the South Downs Way ends: at Winchester Cathedral.
The first few miles wound around the countryside and suburbs of Winchester before finding its stride after leaving Oliver's Battery. Then, for the next six miles, you get a good hilly walk with views before the path finally declines to the Test Valley and the village of Kings Somborne. All of the villages are currently feeling the effects of flooding. I bought lunch at Kings Somborne and had to cross sandbags and a bridge to get to the village shop. This was a taster for the lake within which the various branches of the River Test flowed. I was perturbed but the track is well-maintained, raised and presented no problem in reaching Houghton.
From here. the landscape undulates and flattens out. the track passes through fields and woodlan before the settlement of Middle Winterslow is reached. Of irritation is the difference in tracking between the map and the signs. Variation allows different routes to be tried out, though they all end in the same destination, Salisbury.
And as you walk through the woods and walk down towards the town, you can see the immense spire of the Cathedral rising through the mist. Measured at 30 miles, the Clarendon Way is one of the most beautiful walks accessible from London. And you get in a measure of the Monarch's Way and cross the Test Way!