Day 75 - Sunday 27 April 2003 - Mudeford to Bournemouth

 7.5 miles walked today

813 miles walked in total (10.84 average)

After a full English breakfast and some emergency first aid on my right foot, I left the hotel at 9.10 am.  My boots are really the most contrary pair I've ever owned - every time I've worn them so far, my left heel has been shredded to bits, but the right foot hasn't had a mark on it.  However, after the longest mileage I've done in them so far yesterday, the left foot is totally unscathed but the right foot has lost about three layers of skin.

I reached Mudeford Quay at 9.30 am to find that the ferry doesn't cross the Avon Run until 10.00 am.  However, the ferryman called "do you want to go over?" so I jumped up from the bench I'd chosen to watch the harbour from and clambered aboard.   He was taking some anglers out to their fishing boat so I cadged a lift with them.

I had a quick climb (115 feet) up to Hengistbury Head where I needed a breather and to admire the view.   It's just amazing.  You can see the whole of Christchurch Harbour and as far as Durlston Head at Swanage.   Totally breathtaking.  This is really what walking is all about - not the endless prom and pavement walking.  Fantastic.

As I came down into Southbourne, I could see a lot of policemen in hi vis coats and a flashing police motorbike, guiding runners along the road - the Bournemouth Bay half marathon.  I battled my way along the prom against this oncoming tide of runners, but had lots of mini sit downs.   It's been quite overcast and blustery and hard work walking into the wind.  Desperate for a hot drink and some shelter, I sat on the pier for a while and watched the surfers and swimmers in the sea.

After a hot chocolate, I tried to make further progress, but the wind was seriously buffeting me.  Added to this, I felt that either my old boots had shrunk or my feet had grown another half size overnight, so I gave up at the pier and went in search of a bus back to the car.

Walking back through the park, I was reminded of when Mum and Dad came to visit us in Wickham last year and we had a day in Bournemouth.   Dad took great delight in telling Andy the "Bournemouth hair story".  I was only about three and Amanda must have been eighteen months old.  I had dead straight ginger hair and Amanda had curly blonde ringlets - baggage.  An old lady stopped Mum and Dad to tell them that their daughter had "such beautiful hair".  Obviously, real psychological damage had been done to me by that age as I stood my ground, hand on hips, and pointed out to the old dear that "I've got hair too".

As I was heading off to the bus stop, Sam rang me to say that Paul had given her a pass for next weekend so she's walking with me along the start of the South West Coast Path, a six hundred and thirty mile footpath from Poole to Minehead - hurrah!  (Obviously, we won't be doing it all in one weekend!)

Day 74 - Saturday 26 April 2003 - Lymington to Mudeford (pronounced Muddiford!)

 12.5 miles walked today

805.5 miles walked in total (10.88 average)

I had a late start today - the weather was appalling yesterday and we'd been advised to expect much of the same today.   For this reason, I decided not to pack last night, but to wait and see what was occurring outside this morning.  Instead, I had a domestic (washing machine related) disaster!  And, as I packed this morning in a hurry, after ascertaining the all clear weather wise, the flat is a complete tip.  Andy's due back tomorrow night - he's been white water rafting in Scotland with Jim this week - and I really hope he doesn't get back before me.  He'll go mental when he sees the state of the place and will probably evict me!

Because of the packing and a lay in until seven thirty (I'm seriously fed up of these five o'clock starts to get to Portsmouth during the week), I didn't get to Lymington until eleven o'clock.  The weather did me proud though - lovely and sunny and warm enough for just a tee shirt.

The first bit of the walk was bizarre as I followed exactly the same route I'd walked back in November 2002 on one of our "engineering weekends".   We formed a ragged queue and shuffled out along the marshes - myself, Shiriin (who'd stopped to buy a fleece en route!), Vicky and Trevor, Sarah and Justin, Simon, Ange and Mark.  We met Chris (who'd lapped us twice by then!) at the pub.  Of the non participants, Andy and Joanna (who'd broken her foot so had a legitimate excuse) were back at our digs making soup for us all.   Katie (a supposed walker!) and Roy went shopping instead.

I've seen oyster catchers, redshanks, egrets, swans and cygnets, cormorants, loads of twitchers, and a chap with a bicycle and a didgeridoo!  And I've smelt the coconut scented gorse and some very pungent seaweed.

At 12.30 pm, I got to Keyhaven and had lunch at the Gun Inn with the two walkers who'd pointed out the egrets to me.  They'd come down from Manchester for a long weekend and were staying at Lymington.  He planned to walk out along the spit (a twenty minute slog according to my guide book) to Hurst Castle, but she planned to sit in the pub garden and wait for him.  A woman after my own heart.

I chose not to walk out to the castle either, but carried on along the thrift covered cliffs to Milford on Sea, Barton on Sea and Christchurch.  I had many sit downs today in the sunshine and one bench bore the inscription "Mrs Olga Mary Allen 1916-1998 who travelled the world and chose this view".  She certainly picked a stunner - the Needles, Isle of Wight and Hurst Castle to the east and Hengistbury Head, Bournemouth and Poole Harbour to the west.   

Three paragliders were cruising up and down the coast, waving to me occasionally, and one called down, "do you want a lift"?  Silly sod!   Made me smile though.

I got chatting to a seventy-one year old lady about the views - she and her husband moved from Reading and bought a bungalow and tried to walk each day, although she said she was very arthritic now.  She hadn't done badly though as where I met her was quite a climb from the car parks dotted along the cliffs.   As we said goodbye, she grabbed my hand and wished me luck.  It's people like that who make the pain and the blisters worthwhile.

As I got nearer to Chewton Bunny, a stream that flows into the sea and which marks the Hampshire/ Dorset border, I ran out of path and road.  However, another very helpful lady gave me directions through a caravan site and into Mudeford.   She goes walking a lot with her husband, but their trips have to be much more organised than mine, as they take their dog with them and not all B&B establishments are animal friendly.  I followed her directions, but, instead of walking along the shingle beach, I headed up to the road as I needed to find accommodation.  It was four o'clock at this time, getting chilly and trying to rain, but the first place I tried had a room - very nice it is too!

So, after a quick bath, I headed (in the car!) to Christchurch for dinner and a wander.  It's a pretty little town but incredibly busy and parking spaces were thin on the ground, as there was some concert going on down at the Priory.  I had a quick mooch around and found myself a bustling little pub for food and some people watching.

It's been a magical day - I've really enjoyed it.  The blisters haven't given me too much trouble either.  However, I have the stupidest tan I've ever seen and will need a gallon of fake tan to make this look halfway acceptable!

Day 73 - Saturday 5 April 2003 - Bucklers Hard to Lymington

 8.5 miles walked today

793 miles walked in total (10.86 average)

I was parked at Bucklers Hard this morning and ready to walk just before ten.  I haven't walked for a few weeks now as we've had a couple of busy weekends.   Two weeks ago, Andy and I went to Brussels for four days which was fantastic and last weekend we moved from our little country caravan to the sprawling metropolis that is Colnbrook, near Heathrow.  I've been dreading the move as I knew I'd miss our country idyll, but I'm really enjoying being only ten minutes away from a tube line and am looking forward to utilising London's attractions to the full.

It's been a glorious day with not many people about.  The only traffic on the small lanes from Bucklers Hard were cows, horses, donkeys and myself.   It's been very peaceful, with the only sounds being the breeze through the trees, birdsong, horses neighing and peacocks squawking.  I've seen a solitary bluetit sitting in a hedge, crows flying with twigs in their beaks, primroses, periwinkle, trees and bushes breaking into bud and lots of people out in their gardens.  I passed a jogger as I walked along and we greeted each other again half an hour later.  From looking at the map, I reckon she must have run three miles before she lapped me!  On the lanes through South Baddesley, I saw loads of pheasants, big fat bees, a butterfly and a dead adder.  I knew it was dead as it was in the middle of the road with a huge tyre track running through it.

After a little while, I had another sit down - one of many today - to take my boots off.  I wasn't having blister trouble today, but I'd lost all feeling in the toes of my right foot, so decided to try and get my circulation going again before the last stretch into Lymington.  I knew I was coming back into civilisation as the road was getting busier - although it still felt more like a Sunday than a Saturday.  While sitting down, a chap came by on a bicycle with a Jack Russell in the front basket and chuckled as he saw me massaging my feet!

It didn't take long to get into Lymington and lunch at the Old Quay.   I was debating whether to carry on walking, but spotted some good shops and gave up for a spending spree!  Lymington was full of people in the sunshine and there was a half hour wait for lunch in the pub as it was so busy.

Have really enjoyed today - brilliant to be out in the sunshine and well pleased with the mileage.

Day 72 - Saturday 15 March 2003 - Exbury to Bucklers Hard

 6 miles walked today

784.5 miles walked in total (10.89 average)

Katie and I were parked and ready for walking at about ten thirty this morning.  The weather was glorious and, despite the sun disappearing for short bursts, we were confident we'd soon be in bright sunshine again.

The first stretch was on a minor road through the New Forest to Otterwood, where we had to join a busier road to Beaulieu.   We saw cows, ponies, donkeys and even a jockey racing through the scrub on his horse.   There were lots of people about - as soon as the sun comes out, everyone comes out to play!

In Beaulieu, we crossed the Beaulieu River and headed out onto a path - the Solent Way - which follows the river out to Bucklers Hard and beyond.  According to my guide book, the village gets its name from the Latin "bellus locus" or "beautiful place".   Its name was changed in the thirteenth century to the French equivalent by the resident monks.  When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the abbey was destroyed and its stone was used to build Calshot Castle.

The path went through a private drive and then followed the woods, through Keeping Copse, and out to the marina.   Katie spotted a couple of deer bounding about in the fields and we stopped and watched them until they disappeared from sight.   It felt very springlike today as we saw loads of daffs and primroses.  People were wandering around in teeshirts and it seemed that we're finally through the winter.

Just passing the marina, we rounded a bend and headed up to Bucklers Hard where we stopped for a celebratory cider at the pub.   The village has two rows of cottages leading down to the quay where boats were built between 1698 and 1827.  It's ideally placed as it's sheltered, secure from coastal attack and surrounded by woods - apparently it took sixty acres of timber to build a man-o'-war.

I've really enjoyed today - nice to be out in the sunshine.   Katie wore her sunhat and sunglasses all day and it won't be long before I'm in my shorts again!

Day 71 - Sunday 2 March 2003 - Calshot to Exbury

 5.5 miles walked today

778.5 miles walked in total (10.96 average)

As Sam and I drove over Portsdown Hill this morning to get out onto the motorway towards Southampton, we saw a buzzard - what a brilliant start!  The sun was out, the sky was blue and the views were superb - we could even see where we'd got to yesterday.

We were parked at Calshot at 10.40 am and went down to have a look at Calshot Castle, which was built in 1539 by Henry VIII.  We walked around the outside of it - it's very neat and compact and we could see for miles up and down Southampton Water.  At this point, we had fleeces on as it was very bracing, but it wasn't long before the fleeces were off and we were walking in thinner layers.

We had lunch very early - eleven o'clock!  We could see that the tide was in and that we'd need to wait for it to go out a bit before we could get around the foreshore to Lepe.  The sun was very warm and we sat on the beach and watched the numerous yachts that were sailing between us and the Isle of Wight.  Glorious!

After our lunch, we carried on around to Lepe but had a number of obstacles, which found us climbing over and crawling under trees that had fallen off the cliffs.   We found some lovely shells too and generally took it very gently and slowly today, with lots of exploring.

As we came around into Lepe, we found ourselves trapped by barbed wire.  Undeterred, we coolly took off our rucksacks and threw them under and then shimmied under the fencing ourselves.  Bad girls!  We'd walked on shingle all morning and it was playing havoc with our joints so, as soon as we saw a grassy path, we followed it up the (short) cliffs and along the top round to Lepe village.  From an information board, we understood that the name "Lepe" could have come from the fact that there had been a causeway between here and the Isle of Wight and it was just a short "leap" to get across the water.

We'd found some postcards yesterday of Lepe lighthouse so were on a mission to find it.  As it turned out, it wasn't strictly a lighthouse, but a millennium beacon - it was very neat and looked like it could have been in a model village - very pretty though.

From here, we were back on shingle, mixed in with mud and seaweed, around to the Beaulieu River and up to the road, which we followed into Exbury, our destination for the day.   Exbury Gardens is over two hundred acres in size, and has over a thousand varieties of rhododendron and azaleas, none of which were in bloom today!  Sadly, neither were the daffodils, although we'd seen the odd daff and primrose in the hedgerows.

The gardens were hosting an African sculpture exhibition with over a hundred specimens, but, before we went and had a fun couple of hours laughing at some of these pieces, our main concern was for the tea shop!  Feeling refreshed, we were left with a couple of hours to wander around before the gardens closed and we were perturbed that, if we started off in the shop and the plant sales, we'd never get to look around the gardens themselves.  However, due to the fact that I'm potentially about to move to a flat with no garden, I couldn't bring myself to look at lovely plants that I couldn't buy, so we headed straight into the gardens proper.

I've had a fantastic weekend - it's been great walking with Sam - she's always highly entertaining, especially when suffering with too much sun!   And I must admit that, had Sam not been down here, I wouldn't have walked yesterday in the rain.  Sam, you're such a bully!   But thank you!

Day 70 - Saturday 1 March 2003 - Southampton to Calshot

 7 miles walked today

773 miles walked in total (11.04 average)

The alarm went off at eight o'clock this morning and Sam and I finally got up at 8.40 am.   At this point the weather was fine.  However, twenty minutes later, it was tipping down!  We faffed around for an hour with breakfast and decided to give it a go anyway, so, armed with packed lunches and waterproofs, we set off.

Our journey started with a trip on the Southampton to Hythe ferry, which was very exciting!  Hythe Pier is 700 yards long and was opened on 1 January 1881.   The electric train which runs up and down the pier to meet the ferry has been doing the journey since 1922 and famous passengers include Lawrence of Arabia and King George VI.  We were in excellent company!

From Hythe, we were on roads unfortunately as the paths were all far too boggy due to the torrential rain.  We kept our waterproofs on all day and our style alternated between the drowned rat look and gently steaming when the sun came out.

My boots were giving me a few niggles again, but, being unusually sensible today, I'd packed my old boots in my rucksack so changed them when we came to an open recreation ground, much to the astonishment of the fishermen on the other side of the lake there.

It wasn't long before we were off the main roads and on the quiet roads past Fawley oil refinery and power station down to Calshot beach, where we sat on the beach and ate our lunch in the rain.  We saw (and heard) oyster catchers and watched all the ferries in and out of Southampton to Cowes on the Isle of Wight and beyond.   Considering the weather, there were quite a lot of people about, which was good to see.

When the rain began to get a bit heavier, we decided we ought to make a move so headed out to Calshot Spit and the activity centre.  What a fab place!   We walked in to find about four or five climbing walls, a dry ski slope and a velodrome and hundreds of people attempting each of these obstacles.  Our main priority though was the bar for a cup of tea and the toilets to try and dry ourselves off.

We wanted to head down and look at Calshot Castle (closed until 1 April) but our taxi driver turned up earlier than expected and we were soon on our way back to the car.   Our driver was a mine of information and fed us snippets of local information as we drove back to Hythe.  

In Calshot, there's a road called Tristan Close and this is because of a volcano on the island of Tristan da Cunha.  The residents of this island were moved to Calshot when they were evacuated - this caused Sam and I much pondering as we wondered why on earth they'd come here.  However, we discovered later that a lot of shipping comes to this area from the West Indies, which went some way to explaining this.

As we drove past Fawley power station and oil refinery, our driver told us about an exercise that had been carried out the week previously to counter any terrorist attacks which may happen.  Apparently "if half the army are in Kuwait now, the other half were in Fawley last week"!  Sam was slightly disappointed that she'd missed this excitement and looked quite wistful at the thought of all that khaki!  We were also informed that Fawley power station is manned by only twenty people as it's nearly fully automated and that houses in the Fawley area were a bit cheaper than anywhere else in the area - surprising, that!

Day 69 - Saturday 18 January 2003 - Warsash to Southampton

 6 miles walked today

766 miles walked in total (11.10 average)

I started walking today at eleven o'clock.  It was very grey and quite chilly - 8 degrees according to my car thermometer.

The path went from Hamble Point Marina through woodland, where I walked through reddy gold bracken and flowering gorse.  Is there a time of year when gorse isn't in flower?!

Despite the industrial nature of the area, there have been hundreds of people out and about - walkers, fishermen, kite flyers and yachtsmen.  The path soon left the woods and I had to walk along the sea wall past the BP oil depot, before getting to a shingly beach at Netley.  Today, I think I've walked nearer the sea than I have so far on this walk.  I had the shock of my life when a squirrel leapt out at me - I screamed and then laughed my head off, as I imagined people watching me and wondering what on earth was going on.

Just past Hamblecliffe House, I had to walk through the Royal Victoria Country Park, which used to house the hospital ordered to be built by Queen Victoria.   The pier head is all that remains of the pier where the hospital ships used to drop off their patients.  As the water is very shallow, they had to use smaller boats to transport their human cargo for treatment.  

What my guide book and map didn't mention was the Netley Chapel, which is an absolutely stunning building with a huge dome.   I wondered if the hospital had been converted into this structure, but couldn't find any information.  And, unfortunately, the chapel is only open on Sundays until April and I couldn't get in to investigate.  I think though that I'll have to have a drive down here one Sunday to take a better look.

I detoured slightly inland through Netley village to go and have a look at Netley Abbey which must have been enormous in its day.  The weather had changed for the better by now and the abbey was very picturesque with the sun on it.   It was quite an eerie place though - it's run by English Heritage, but there's no admission charge and, consequently, no staff and no people around.  Quite spooky in fact.  Maybe the horrendous smell of dog poo in the grounds has put any visitors off!

I followed the path back out to the sea into Woolston (home of Vosper Thorneycroft shipbuilders, my current employer) and strode up the steps onto the Itchen Bridge to cross into Southampton proper.  That was very exciting as it was very gusty - glad I didn't have a hat on!  It was all I could do to avoid being blown off the bridge into the water below.

I decided to save the ferry to Hythe for the next time I walk - my feet were killing me (yet more blisters) and I was starving!  I popped into the pub for a cider - no food unfortunately as it was full of footie fans watching Man United v Chelsea on Sky Sports.  The Southampton game was an evening kick off - otherwise I'm sure I wouldn't even have got a seat!