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!

Day 68 - Tuesday 31 December 2002 - Stokes Bay to Warsash

 8.5 miles walked today

760 miles walked in total (11.17 average)

I awoke with the alarm at seven o'clock and, amazingly, I could hear no rain on the caravan roof.   However, at eight o'clock, I could hear pheasants honking and clog dancing on the roof so decided it was really time I should be getting up.   Sure enough, when I looked out of the window, there were half a dozen of the stupid things taking off and landing on our makeshift runway.

I was parked and ready to walk at 9.45 am.   It's been very grey all day, although with no wind, but it's been cold - the temperature gauge in my car registered 6.5 degrees.

I was on roads to begin with past Browndown MOD Training Base, but soon got on to the prom into Lee-on-Solent, which had fabulous views to Freshwater or Cowes on the Isle of Wight (I couldn't make it out from the angle on my map!), back to Ryde and not so fabulous views over to the oil refinery at Hythe, just past Southampton.

I've seen canoes this morning - the sea's been very calm - jet skis, huge freighter ships steering a course past the Isle of Wight to who knows where, fishermen, kites being flown, hundreds of dogs being walked, a helicopter, two hovercraft parked up and a man swimming!   What a nutter!   I watched in amazement and when he came out of the water, he was bright fuchsia pink.  Can't say I'm surprised.

There were loads of people out again - one lady laughed at my squeaky boots as I went past - I could never creep up on anyone in these old boots!   And another couple stopped to ask whether I wasn't freezing as I sat on the prom to write my diary - they were all togged up in hats, coats, gloves and scarves.  Little did they know I'd got long johns on, two pairs of socks, thermal teeshirt and long sleeved walking teeshirt under my fleece.  So, no, I wasn't cold!

At Hill Head, I met an old boy walking along the beach.   He told me he was eighty-six and lived in a "lovely nursing home" there.  Apparently, he's the only resident that can still get around and he has a walk every day.   The only thing he misses is his old dog - his collie was looked after by the RSPCA when the old boy went into hospital, but, when he came out, he went straight into the nursing home and never got his dog back.  The RSPCA informed him that his dog never stopped missing his "Dad" and died of a broken heart in his sleep at the age of eleven.

My new friend had come out today with bread for the birds, but they'd been so well fed by locals that they weren't hungry any more.  He said he enjoyed life and was very comfortable and well looked after.  I guess that's all any of us can hope for.

Past Hill Head, I had a short stretch along shingle, before heading up the cliff to walk along the (very boggy) footpath.   I saw (and heard) lots of oyster catchers which is always guaranteed to lift the spirits.  The path ended up skirting a new caravan park - Solent Breezes - but I thought I'd be able to cheat and walk through.  No such luck, so I ended up backtracking to get round the site and then out to the path again, which went through the Hook Park Nature Reserve to Warsash, where I stopped at the Rising Sun for lunch, just by the ferry point to Hamble.

I've really enjoyed today - I got quite cold towards the end of the walk, but, overall, it's been good walking weather.   Yes, a very good day indeed.

Day 67 - Saturday 28 December 2002 - Gosport to Stokes Bay

 3 miles walked today

751.5 miles walked in total (11.216 average)

Another short day again today.  It was very hard to get up as I've had lay ins for the past week.  Consequently when the alarm went off at eight o'clock, I ignored it for an hour!

I was finally parked up and on the Gosport ferry at 10.30 am.  The sea was quite choppy, although the sky was blue and cloudless and the sun was very warm.

The path followed the Millennium Walk, past Haslar Marina, the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Haslar Hospital and HM Prison.  Rather worryingly, the hospital and prison looked exactly the same, although there seemed to be caravans parked up in the prison car park.

Just past the prison, a path cut through Stokes Bay Golf Club out to Fort Gilkicker.  There were loads of people out and about walking.   Perhaps we've all made New Year Resolutions to get fit and get more fresh air!

The path became a shingle track past the fort and then turned into the prom as it went past the Inshore Rescue Boat and numerous car parks on the front.  I'm glad to say that I didn't see too many people sitting in their cars looking out to sea.

I could feel my feet starting to rub again - the last time I wore my new boots, I rubbed such horrendous blisters that I could only wear open backed sandals for a fortnight.   Bearing this in mind, I decided to give up after only three miles and wear my boots in gradually.  This decision coincided with the bus stop going back to the Gosport ferry!

It's been a glorious day - fantastic to see so many people out enjoying the sunshine, rather than the sales, and the views over to Ryde on the Isle of Wight were superb.