River Test
The classic Hampshire chalk stream, braided through water meadows from the downs near Overton to the Solent
The Test is the river dry-fly fishing was invented on, and the beats through the middle valley are among the most expensive in the world to fish. It behaves like a chalk stream should: fed by springs rather than run-off, clear, weedy, and split into a tangle of side channels and carriers that were dug centuries ago to flood the water meadows in spring. Mills line it all the way down, because a river this steady was worth building on.
Access is the catch. The fishing is nearly all private and the banks with it, so plan around the places that are open. The Test Way runs 44 miles down the valley on the old railway line and disused track, which is the simplest way to walk beside it; Stockbridge makes a good start, with the river running under the wide main street and Stockbridge Common Marsh open to walk. Longstock Park Water Garden is built across the braided channels and opens on set days. At the bottom, Eling Tide Mill still grinds on the tide where the Test meets the sea.
Romsey Station and Mottisfont & Dunbridge both sit close to the water in the lower valley.
