THE delightful village of Micheldever lies six miles north of Winchester and has been home for country folk since Saxon times. It was also known to the Romans.

They established a fort at Norsbury Ring, on higher ground overlooking Stoke Charity three miles away, and the whole area comprises prime farmland interspersed with broadleaved woods.

It is well worth cycling to, especially at this time of the year when much of its surrounding countryside is showing signs of producing a healthy harvest in another month or so.

It is best approached from the A33 to the east. Though this Roman road is still the most direct link between Winchester and Basingstoke it has become a pleasant one to ride again since the M3 was opened. To reach this from Winchester I am suggesting a 21-mile circuit which offers some good views from moderate hilltops above the Itchen Valley, with the option of taking a more direct route if preferred.

Choosing the car park in Worthy Road, Winchester - that's off the Andover Road - as the starting point, we head northwards out of the city through Abbotts Barton to Kings Worthy, crossing the A33 at a staggered cross-roads just beyond the Cart & Horses pub to follow the directions for New Alresford.

This is the B3047 which crosses the M3 within a mile and brings us to Itchen Abbas.

We could turn left here just before passing the Trout Inn, but this would spoil the freewheeling drop through this village, so continue to the next turning on the left half-a-mile beyond.

Both these turnings climb uphill from the floor of the valley, so be prepared to use a lower gear to ride up Itchen Down before reaching woods marking the western edge of Northington Grange Park.

We ride alongside these woods for another mile before the road drops quite steeply to a crossroads indicated by a ''give way'' sign, so take care going straight across to East Stratton.

Consisting of little more than a row of cottages and a homely pub, The Plough, on one side, a village green which makes an ideal picnic spot on the other, and a small church at the far end, East Stratton is well within earshot of the motorway again.

It's little more than 100 yards from the A33 which we join at this point, turning left for nearly half-a-mile to the right turn to Micheldever, and the best part of the day's ride awaits us! Wide grass verges on each side of this tree-lined avenue make one feel as though we are riding through parkland.

Keeping straight on through Micheldever, we pass a church and head straight for a high, tree-lined railway embank-ment which dwarfs our lane. Built at a time when horse and cart was the only traffic, the narrow arch with a low head-room keeps large lorries away, making this lane most enjoyable for cyclists.

Large fields on each side are the prominent feature of the next mile, to Stoke Charity, and a left turn just past the village church puts us on the last leg of the circuit, back to Winchester along a road remembered for tall hedges which border it on both sides.

We are now on part of the Circumventa route round Winchester. We get distant views of the city before the road drops to another narrow railway bridge. This takes us over the line into a right bend and a steepening descent culminating at a fork in front of the King Charles pub at Springvale. Bearing left to keep the housing estate on our right, we pass a small cemetery at the top of the following rise before free-wheeling down Lovedon Lane to the A33 and the crossroads we encountered on our way out. All that remains as we pedal back into the city is to consider using a narrow cycleway shared with pedestrians.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.