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!
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