Walk 55. Langstone Bridge to Farlington

 First job today is to cross the Langstone Bridge back to the mainland.

The tide is a bit lower today than it was on the last walk, and the supports for the old Hayling Billy railway are more visible…

Once over the bridge the path turns left off the road and cuts down a small lane past some nice-looking houses to the marshes. Here there is another one of those ‘path closed’ notices - this one saying that the closure will be for at least TWO YEARS while they argue about what to do about it!

As usual, I ignore it and set off along the raised bank by the shore.

A couple of minutes later I come to the ‘closed’ bit. Well, the wall has fallen down but it’s still easily passable - there are dog walkers passing as I arrive!

Continuing alongside the marshes for another ten minutes brings me to a sewage works. Fortunately this one doesn’t seem to smell and is hidden behind a high fence and bushes. The path is on the beach for this bit…

I now have to divert inland for a short way. There are two streams, the Brockhampton Stream and the Hermitage Stream, that converge and flow into the sea here. 

I follow the Brockhampton stream to the right and cross via a bridge at a weir…

I then have a bit of road walking through an industrial area…

…that leads to the bridge over the Hermitage…

On the far side of the bridge is a small path down to the riverbank. I turn right, back towards the sea, and am soon looking back across the narrow channel to where I was twenty minutes ago…

Portsmouth in the distance - wonder what’s around the corner…

It’s a nice grassy field!

This path joins a well-maintained footpath/cyclepath…

There are some lovely views across the Langstone Harbour inlet…

Although it is a bit noisy as the A27 is just the other side of the bushes!

Soon I reach the Farlington Marshes. This is an area of marshland that forms a small peninsular jutting out into Langstone Harbour, and seems to be mostly a nature reserve.

There is a public footpath all the way round - sometimes grassy…

…sometimes muddy…

…and sometimes cinder-y…

Lying offshore are several islands. Some are quite close and some a bit further out…

I’m guessing that these islands must be home to all sorts of bird life as they seem to be attracting flocks of bird-watchers, all armed with large complicated cameras and tripods and stuff!

I’m about three-quarters of the way round when suddenly a flock of geese fly over my head really low! By pure chance I manage to get a couple of photos…

The path round the marshes ends at a car park, which I walk through to arrive at the bridge that carries the A2030 over to Portsea Island. As far as I can tell, this bridge doesn’t seem to have a name!

Anyway, this is my finish point for today. It’s winter, innit - short daylight…

Walk 54. Hayling Bay to Langstone Bridge

 I’m back at the Inn On The Beach on a surprisingly warm November day and the view ahead looks like this…

Ahead lies Gunner Point which is the south-western corner of Hayling Island. I set off along the shingle until I near the Point which is a bird reserve…

There is a fence sort of blocking the beach here. I say ‘sort of’ because you can just walk around the seaward end of it, but as regular readers will know, I’m not keen on walking on pebbles for long stretches so I opt for the path at the back of the beach!

This is the official coast path and is less pebbly and more grassy. To the landward side is a fenced-off golf course. 

As I round Gunner Point, Portsea Island seems very close just over the water! Portsea, of course, is almost entirely covered by the city of Portsmouth, making it the most densely populated island in England.

From here on I will be heading mostly north, up the western side of Hayling Island. A few minutes from Gunner Point is a small pedestrian ferry to Portsea Island. I can’t take it of course - that would be cheating!

It goes from here…

…to just over there…

I turn away from the ferry and walk down the road…

This passes a small inlet called The Kench. At high tide you need wellies to get out your front door, apparently…

Past The Kench the roads leaves the waterside to skirt a holiday village. There is no public right of way as far as I can see, so I continue along the road.

After about a mile I arrive at the Station Theatre. This building used to be the terminus of a railway line that came from the mainland, popularly known as the Billy Line. The service closed in 1963 and today the route has been turned into a foot and cycle path that runs for nearly three miles up the western side of Hayling Island, finishing at the bridge.

This is very handy! The trail starts through some trees…

…but soon runs beside the water…

Along the way I pass an old pill box…

…and a random car in a field…

Near the northern end a path veers off the Billy Trail and runs round some old oyster beds that are now a nature reserve. It is slightly closer to the coast so I go this way!

The ‘oyster path’ rejoins the Billy Trail for the last couple of hundred yards before the northern end. 

The railway used to run across a bridge and causeway from the mainland. Today you can walk along the causeway and see the old bridge supports in the water two or three hundred yards from the modern road bridge.

I walk back down the causeway and round to the bridge. Here is my finish point for today. 

It has to be said that, for the walker, the south and west of Hayling Island are so much better than the east!

Next time - back on the mainland!

Walk 53. Mengham to Hayling Bay

My walk today begins with a bit more road walking…

Ten minutes down the lane I arrive at a boatyard and a sailing club. There is a public footpath that threads between them hidden between two brick walls…

Once through the bushes I am beside the water and discover that the high tide is very high indeed! A bit of a contrast to the low tide last week!

The view ahead…

A few minutes later I pass a WW2 pill box. It’s been a few walks since I last saw one!

I come to a holiday village and the path turns back ‘inland’. There is a small creek here and I have to follow the north bank until I can cross the water.

Some bits of path are in need of maintenance…

Nearing the head of the creek the path disappears below the water completely. This is a bit of a pain. Going back will be a long detour! Beside me is a tall chain link fence with a mobile home park on the other side. 

Then I’m saved! A nice lady on the other side of the fence asks if I’m trying to get to the road. Yes, I am! So she opens a gate and points the way out of the park to the road. That was handy!

The south bank of the creek is lined with houses and there is no public access, so I have some more road walking to do…

Nearly forty minutes later I arrive here…

Despite the number of times the word ‘private’ appears on all these signs, this is actually a public footpath! Through the gate I turn north along a spit of land called Black Point…

I walk up to the PRIVATE sailing club at the end, then turn around and come back down. The beach at West Wittering looks very close from here - it’s only taken me, what, six walks to get here from there!

Anyway, the scenery is getting better…

I pass the lifeboat station…

…and walk along the beach round Sandy Point Nature Reserve. There are anti-erosion granite boulders here and the sea is splashing over them in dramatic fashion!

Round the point the prom along South Hayling starts…

The South Hayling coast is very straight. Sometimes I walk along the prom, sometimes along the pebbles. I admire the views, sun glinting on the water, Isle of Wight in the background…

A pleasant half-hour stroll later I pass the eastern terminal of the Hayling Light Railway which gives passenger rides along the seafront.

Also along here is an information board about Hayling Island’s role in WW2…

…and a war memorial…

The western terminal is about a mile from the start…

My end point is just over half a mile further on - the Inn On The Beach…

So that’s it for today. Better than the first bit of Hayling Island - plenty of beach this time!