Alresford Show
A traditional one day agricultural show held annually on the first Saturday in September at Tichborne Park, Alresford, SO24 0PN.
A Georgian foodie town
Visit Alresford, the capital of watercress
Alresford, pronounced Allsford, is a Hampshire foodie gem. Eight miles from Winchester, it’s set in picturesque countryside and is a gateway to the South Downs National Park. It’s a handsome historic market town with colour-washed Georgian houses, traditional shops and a wealth of local produce on display.
The Alresford town website boasts that The Sunday Times selected it as the ‘best place to live in the countryside’ and Country Life voted it as their ‘favourite market town’ in the south-east. We can’t disagree.
As a foodie destination, it’s perfect to wander around. Walk the river and Millennium Trail and feed the ducks, take in the 12th-Century Old Alresford Pond and then head for some retail food and drink therapy in the array of independent stores and boutiques before a spot of coffee, a pub lunch or a farm shop treat.
The capital of watercress
With a long history of watercress farming thanks to the region’s chalk streams and fertile land, the town is dubbed the ‘Capital of Watercress’.
This seasonal green goddess with its rich peppery taste is loaded with vitamins A, C, and K, with calcium, magnesium, iron, and antioxidants.
It’s a food icon for Hampshire, and we would argue the best watercress in the country, celebrated at the annual Watercress Festival in May.
Ride the Watercress Line
From Alresford you can ride the famous Watercress Line, where historically the watercress grown locally was sent all over the country by train from the goods platform you can still see behind the signal box.
Nowadays it’s a tourist attraction, an opportunity to experience the nostalgic sights, sounds and smells of steam as you travel through 10 miles of beautiful Hampshire countryside, adjacent to the South Downs National Park.
Festivals and shows
Alresford Watercress Festival
Every year, on the third Sunday in May, the streets of Alresford are closed to traffic and transformed into a family-friendly free festival.
There’s a street market and the Hampshire Farmers Market, food and drink stalls, cookery demonstrations with renowned world-class chefs, a fun zone for the children, and a comical Watercress Eating Championship.
Alresford Show
On the first Saturday of September, the town hosts the Alresford Show, a one-day event that brings the community together with a full day of farming fun, family entertainment and rural celebrations.
Find our more about these and other Hampshire events on our Events page.
Alresford pubs
Flower Pots Inn and Micro Brewery
The Flower Pots, affectionately known as “The Pots’ by its regulars, is a fabulous old country inn in the village of Cheriton near Alresford, serving fresh beer straight from its own brewery. They’ve featured in CAMRA’s Good Pub Guide for more than four decades so if you’re an ale fan this is for you!
The pub and its microbrewery both sit in the South Downs National Park at the source of the River Itchen and its garden has great views. It’s a haven for walkers and cyclists and it’s also dog-friendly.
Their menu showcases lots of local producers and Hampshire Fare members and even the animals for their Sunday roast joints are reared just down the road at Owslebury, with animal feed that includes the spent grain from the brewery.
The daily dinner menu features pub classics such as: sausage, mash and green vegetables and served with onion gravy made with Cheriton Porter; gammon glazed with honey from the Honey Bee Happy bee farm, eggs, chunky chips and roasted cherry vine tomatoes; and Park Farm fillet steak with chunky chips, tenderstem broccoli and peppercorn sauce.
The Tichborne Arms
Set in rolling Hampshire countryside, the beautiful village of Tichborne near Alresford has streets lined with chocolate box cottages and is home to The Tichborne Arms, a relaxed country pub serving great food.
Fresh produce is at the heart of everything the chefs here do, sourced locally and from their very own kitchen garden and with their wood-fired oven featuring. This is wholesome, hearty, rustic fare, served in the pub and its garden.
For summer starters think: roast beetroot, creamy blue cheese, tenderstem broccoli and watercress salad with pickled walnut vinaigrette dressing; or jalapeno and Cheddar croquettes with garlic and herb mayo.
For mains, you can enjoy a double 4oz chuck and short rib cheeseburger with garlic mayo, chilli jam, pickles and fries or a delicious full-on Indian Thali.
The Tichborne Arms is definitely a dog-friendly, family-friendly pub that’s worth a visit.
The four vineyards of Alresford
The Grange wines, vineyard, events venue and theatre
The Grange is a boutique producer of award-winning English sparkling and still wines from grapes grown in vineyards just six miles east of Winchester.
Its thirty acres of idyllic Hampshire downland was transformed into a vineyard with 52,000 vines when four siblings who had all had great careers individually decided they wanted to make something great together on the land that had been in their family for five generations.
As a result, the Grange vineyard, called Burges Field, was planted in 2011 to create wines that perfectly express the unique climate, the soft, chalky landscape and the flinty south-facing slopes that ensure an ideal balance of acidity and sugar.
The wider Grange Estate has a stunning wedding and events venue and its park has a colourful history that includes a royal tenant, a succession of banking families and requisition during WWII.
Their 570-seat theatre is used for an annual opera festival.
Now established at the forefront of the English wine landscape, The Grange offers vineyard and winery tours and an online shop, and hosts events and tastings through the year.
Raimes
The team at Raimes is dedicated to producing the very finest sparkling wines from grapes grown on perfectly situated chalk hills within the South Downs National Park.
Raimes is a fifth generation farming family, a producer with a strong sense of place.
The first 10 acre vineyards planted in 2011 are devoted exclusively to the three classic champagne grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir.
Their single estate, limited edition wines are bottle fermented in the traditional method.
The elegance of their sparkling wine starts to happen on the chalk substratum of the south facing slopes of the vineyard, common to the best vineyards in Champagne
The chalk lends a particular minerality that helps to achieve a delicate balance of ripeness, acidity and berry aroma.
Their grapes are handpicked selecting the ripest and best quality.
They are then taken to the winery and very gently pressed within a few hours.
Raimes has a line-up of tastings, tours and events, many hosted in their Tasting Barn with cheese and charcuterie boards featuring more local specials.
Louis Pommery, England
Champagne Pommery became the first Champagne House to plant vines in England at the Pinglestone Estate in 2017,
The estate boasts 40-hectares of enchanting vineyards planted on an incredible 360° compass overlooking the South Downs National Park.
Led by head winemaker Will Perkins, they meticulously grow every grape that goes into the Louis Pommery blends, all while championing local biodiversity and sustainability.
Elegant, finessed and proudly English, their award-winning traditional method sparkling wines strive to embody the unique terroir of this pocket of the British Isles.
Hattingley Valley
Hattingley Valley wines started life as a Robinson family farm diversification project back in 2008 – since then it has established itself as one of the UK’s most successful wineries, winning over 180 medals, 16 trophies, and Best in Class for its English sparkling wines.
With a 600 tonne, eco-friendly, state-of-the-art winery, Hattingley Valley is recognised for its innovative and dynamic approach to winemaking, creating award-winning English sparkling wines enjoyed throughout the UK and exported internationally.
As well as its wines, the vineyard has a lively events programme, and offers tastings and tours.
Their website sums up the flourishing English wine scene, “People used to laugh at English wine, they don’t seem to be laughing any more!”
Chocolate Craft
Based in Old Alresford, Chocolate Craft is an award-winning artisan chocolate producer crafting luxury chocolate products using only the finest natural ingredients.
Their produce is available in fine food stores across the country and is also available to be personalised and packaged for corporate gifts and sales promotions.
Their fun and informative chocolate workshops are a treat – make and decorate your own chocolates using the unique Chocolate Craft recipes.
They also host unique, fun-filled chocolate parties and a highly successful, fun and interactive corporate team building business.
Honey Bee Happy Farm
Honey Bee Happy is an artisan bee farm in the beautiful Meon Valley in the South Downs.
The team here is passionate about bees, wildlife, and conservation, and follow in their ancestor’s footsteps by managing their bees in an ethical way. Their mission is to share their passion and knowledge of bees and conservation and to be a sustainable bee farming business.
Their hives are scattered across Hampshire producing delicious, natural, totally unprocessed honey and a range of beeswax products.
As well as their honey products, Honey Bee Happy also offers a range of beekeeping courses and experience days. You can also buy your own beautiful Buckfast Bees from them too if you’re looking to take up beekeeping. You can read about bees, book a course, buy bees or bee products from their website.
Holden Farm Cafe
A stop at the family-owned Holden Farm Café just outside the village of Cheriton near Alresford, is always a treat with their traditional offering of fabulous coffee, cakes, baps and hot sausage rolls – all set in a spectacular farm location in the National Park.
Perfect as a pitstop for walkers and cyclists. this working farm sits on both the South Downs Way and King Alfred’s Way – and has been in the Corbett family for more than 100 years.
One of the principal trades in Alresford during the Middle Ages was wool and Alresford’s wide streets made an ideal place to trade livestock. The name Holden is derived from ‘holding’ and the farm was originally a holding place for animals heading to market in the town.
Holden Farm is a working farm with arable crops and 150 sheep which graze the ancient downlands. It’s part of the Winchester Downs Cluster, one of six clusters in the National Park. Each brings together a group of farmers and landowners who work together for landscape, habitat and biodiversity benefits on a scale that couldn’t be achieved by working alone.
As well as the cafe, the farm also has a campsite where it’s easy to enjoy their great outdoors including the beautiful wild flower meadows and hedgerows planted to encourage butterflies, bees, insects and wildlife.
A duo of cracking coffee roasters
Good coffee roasters are hard to come by, but Alresford has not just one but two of them – Moon Roast Coffee and River Coffee.
Moon Roast Coffee
Moon Roast is a family-run coffee roastery serving coffee lovers at home, as well as in hospitality and retail businesses, for more than a decade.
Their legacy spans four generations and they have and a passion for exceptional coffee and a commitment to sustainability. It’s this passion that drives them to source and roast the finest beans, delivering unparalleled flavour – with 14 Great Taste Awards under their belt.
You can get take the coffee quiz on their website and get a Roaster’s recommendation, moving on to explore their full range of specialty coffees featuring meticulously sourced beans from around the world.
Each coffee is carefully roasted to bring out unique flavours, perfect for coffee enthusiasts seeking high-quality brews. Explore a variety of blends and single-origin coffees, available in whole bean or ground options, tailored to your brewing preference. Whether you prefer a bold espresso or a smooth filter coffee, you’ll find something to love in our curated collection.
You can visit their roastery to see the process in action, enjoy a coffee from their kiosk or you could book a course to learn home espresso making, coffee roasting, or latte art for a professional touch.
River Coffee
The River Coffee journey started back in 2010 when founder, Will, was working as a part-time barista at another Hampshire Fare member Thyme and Tides Deli.
It lit in him a passion for coffee and an interest in coffee farming and roasting that took him on a one-way ticket to Colombia and Latin America to live and work with coffee producers. It was here that his idea for River Coffee was born.
Today, River Coffee tackles the sourcing and roasting process from bean to cup with scientific precision to deliver the highest quality coffees for the wholesale sector.
They work closely with some of Hampshire’s leading hospitality venues producing the most delicious blends and single origin coffees, and supplying professional equipment, onsite support and barista training.
The business has an eye firmly fixed on creating a positive social and environmental impact from their operations, sourcing their beans directly from the people and communities in coffee producing countries and with their own River Community programme. If you’d like to read more about Will’s coffee journey, or to talk about working with them as a partner, then head to the River Coffee website.
Munch CIC
Munch CIC is an amazing member, running events and catering services but with the profits these generate funding community cooking programmes.
These cooking workshops help people develop their skills and confidence in cooking from scratch while they also educate about food sustainability, sustainable nutrition, healthy eating and cooking well on a budget.
They work with families with children, adults with learning disabilities and other marginalised groups.
MUNCH has its own cookery book, packed with easy-to-follow, delicious meals so discover how you can turn low-cost and easy to find ingredients to tasty and nutritious dishes. Check out our recipe section for some of their creations.
Two great butchers
You know you’re in a food hotspot when there are two great butchers on the high street – and oh boy, these two, CE Evans & Son and Sole are great butchers!
CE Evans & Son, butcher, fish counter and deli
Evans of Alresford has an amazing history, dating back more than 100 years when it was established by the Evans brothers. Today it’s a celebrated multi-award-winning family butchers.
They offer an extensive range of produce, including beef, lamb, poultry and game and also have a delicious fish counter and a well-stocked delicatessen with cold meats, cheeses, pastries, chutneys, pies and ready-made meals.
They focus on the highest quality, fully traceable, mainly local produce – you have to try their award-winning faggots and sausages!
Sole Butchers of Alresford
Sole Butchers of Alresford is a family owned and run butchers known for their range of quality farmed meat and poultry, and also for their range of fresh game.
Their own butchers prepare the meat on the premises and their own chef creates delicious freshly-baked pies
They also stock a range of other delicious items such as pâtés, local Alresford honey, Hill Farm apple juice, jams and marmalades, fresh eggs, fresh bread and duck and goose eggs.
West Lea Farm Shop
The family-run West Lea Farm Shop, just outside Alresford, sits idyllically between its own watercress beds – so it’s not surprising to learn if you head to West Lea in watercress season you’re in for an absolute treat.
Owner, Rachel Peppiatt lives just a mile from the shop and has always loved West Lea and its watercress beds.
She took on the farm shop during the pandemic with a desire to revive it as an essential place for locals to pick up quality produce in a warm, friendly environment.
She also has a passion for local and was determined to focus on supporting local producers wherever possible.
The shop stocks fresh and locally sourced produce – trout from Itchen Abbas, its own watercress, fruit and vegetables, locally homemade cakes, biscuits and scones, local eggs, cheeses, local honeys and preserves, bread and pastries, ice-cream and much more.
Just over 90% of West Lea’s sales are sourced from producers within a few miles of the shop.
These range from their smallest grower of the most delicious runner beans, Allotment Dave, to larger local businesses squishing apples into a whole range of apple juices.
If you’re exploring the Alresford trail be sure to pop in and say hello!
South Downs Sourdough Bakery School
South Downs Sourdough Bakery School is on a mission to simplify sourdough bread baking with a range of workshops, covering basic sourdough baking, the use of ancient grain flours, baking sourdough to support health, nutrition and wellbeing and sourdough wood-fired pizza workshops.
Discover how to make delicious sourdough using traditional methods, enhancing the natural flavours of the flour.
Beginner, improver, or just enjoying a day learning a new skill. Small groups mean they can accommodate a range of experiences on their courses to learn about sourdough starters, techniques for kneading, proving, shaping, baking and more.
Their courses are practical, fun and informative. You will leave with the confidence and skills to consistently produce delicious, nutritious sourdough breads from your own kitchen. The courses take place at The Brick House in Cheriton, so similar to baking at home and the bakers take away two loaves they have baked themselves as well as some 16-year-old South Downs starter to continue their journey.
All raw materials are sourced locally from mills, farms and local food retailers.
The Wasabi Company
Although native to the Japanese mountains, fresh wasabi is thriving in Hampshire!
Wild wasabi grows alongside streams in the Japanese mountains taking advantage of nutrient rich water, mild temperatures and summer shade. It is these conditions that The Wasabi Company recreates on their Hampshire wasabi farms.
It takes advantage of naturally abundant local spring water rich in minerals and nutrients, which bubbles to the surface from artesian springs at the top of old watercress beds that they have adapted for wasabi cultivation.
Visit their online shop for fresh wasabi, wasabi plants, their own wasabi powder and a wide range of premium quality Japanese ingredients.
The Alresford food and drink trail from Hampshire Fare
Search for Alresford (include New Alresford) and our members will appear with their map location, a brief description of each and a link to their profile.
Visit Winchester also has a lovely downloadable route for the Millennium and Alre Trail which you can download here to make the most of all Alresford has to offer, alongside its foodie delights.
Miss Alresford of Instagram
If you’re looking for local insight and inspiration on Alresford then follow Miss Alresford on Instagram!
Our members from in and around Alresford
Evans of Alresford
Evans of Alresford is a well-known and respected family Butcher situated in the town of Alresford in Hampshire.
Chocolate Craft
Based in Old Alresford, ‘Chocolate Craft’ is an award-winning artisan chocolate company creating luxury, handcrafted chocolate products.
The Grange
A boutique producer of award-winning English Sparkling wines from grapes grown on the chalky terrain of the rolling Hampshire downland.
Hattingley Valley Wines
Multi award-winning, Hattingley Valley specialise in producing delicious sparkling wines in the traditional method.
Holden Farm Café
A seasonal cafe set in idyllic countryside with stunning views of Hampshire, championing delicious local food.
Honey Bee Happy Bee Farm
Bee Farmers that offer everything – wholesale & Retail, unprocessed Hampshire Honey, Beeswax products, Beekeeping experiences, Beekeeping training,Livestock, Equipment etc.
Louis Pommery England
The making of Louis Pommery England is an art that combines precision and tradition.
Moon Roast Coffee
Moon Roast are an award-winning small batch coffee roastery based in the Candover Valley, Hampshire. Supplying speciality hand roasted coffee and equipment for wholesale and retail throughout Hampshire and across the UK.
Munch CIC
We are a community interest company based in Winchester. We run an events catering operation and community cooking workshops.
Raimes English Sparkling Wine
Raimes English Sparkling produce elegant, well-balanced award-winning sparkling wines from grapes grown on perfectly situated chalk hills in the Hampshire South Downs National Park.
River Coffee Roasters
River Coffee Roasters on a mission to source, roast and supply unique speciality coffee to wholesale and online partners.
Sole Butchers of Alresford
Sole Butchers of Alresford is a family owned and run butchers in this historical county town in the heart of Hampshire.
South Downs Sourdough
An Artisan Bakery School in Cheriton specialising in sourdough workshops for all.
The Wasabi Company
Native to the Japanese mountains and famous for its aromatic pungency, fresh wasabi is thriving in Alresford, Hampshire.
The Tichborne Arms
Thatched country pub built in 1939, with substantial renovation in 2022. Large garden with kids play area
West Lea Farm Shop
An award winning , well stocked farm shop located amongst its own watercress beds, selling fresh produce from Hampshire and other small producers.
