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!
No comments:
Post a Comment