オリバーズバッテリーのおすすめウォーキング＆ハイキングルート

The mural depicting "Boys with a Kite" is a piece of street art by the anonymous Winchester-based artist known as Hendog, who is often compared to Banksy. This particular work is a newer iteration, painted on a bridge near the Handlebar Café on Garnier Road, at the base of St Catherine's Hill. The mural shows two children gazing up, and a real kite has been cleverly left nearby, creating an interactive installation where the boys appear to be watching it fly overhead. This artwork is part of a series of popular, nostalgic, and often emotionally resonant pieces by Hendog across Winchester and the wider Hampshire area, with an earlier, single "boy with a kite" piece having previously been painted on the wall near the same cafe.

The iconic, but deteriorating, wooden steps on the main path up St Catherine's Hill have recently been replaced by the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust as part of a crucial refurbishment project. The new steps are constructed from durable, anti-slip treated timber to provide a safer, more stable, and more sustainable route for visitors, with an expected lifespan of at least 30 years. This essential conservation work is designed not only to improve public access to the historic Iron Age hillfort but also to safeguard the site's fragile chalk grassland and biodiversity by preventing visitors from creating unsanctioned, damaging paths.

The Handlebar Cafe, now operated by Cadence Cycle Club, is a unique and award-winning community café and bike workshop located on Garnier Road at the foot of St Catherine's Hill and the Viaduct Way cycle path in Winchester. Conceived by local teenagers through the SPUD Youth program, the building's distinct architecture resembles two railway carriages to reflect the site's history as an old railway line. It serves as a popular hub for cyclists and walkers, offering locally-sourced food, specialty coffee, and essential bike repair services, all within a welcoming, dog-friendly environment that provides lovely views over the Itchen Valley.

St Catherine's Hill is a prominent chalk downland hill on the outskirts of Winchester, notable for its layered historical and ecological importance. Now a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) managed as a nature reserve, its summit is ringed by the impressive earthworks of a univallate Iron Age hillfort dating back over 2,000 years. The top is marked by a distinctive copse of beech trees, known as 'The Clump', which contains the scant ruins of the 12th-century St Catherine's Chapel, while the hillside features a turf-cut labyrinth known as the Miz-Maze; the entire site provides spectacular views over the city, the Itchen Valley, and supports a rich variety of wildflowers and butterflies, including the protected Chalkhill Blue.

The café was recently renamed and is now called the Cadence Club Café. Perfect for a quick refreshment while strolling along the River Itchen.

There is a cadence cafe an the entrance,

Hendog is a street artist whose identity is unknown. There are a number of paintings by him/her in the city. For more information see Hendog.art This mural is called “The boys with the Kite” and is located near a small free parking lot.

Lovely village pub to have lunch