I start today back at the road bridge over the Lymington River…
Once again, there is no actual riverside path here so I walk southwards through the streets of Lymington. After about five minutes I pass through the small but picturesque ‘old town’ bit…
A few minutes further and I find a seawall to walk along…
Across the river the Isle of Wight ferry is loading up…
There are boats everywhere…
So much so that the public footpath cuts straight through a boatyard!
The other side of the boatyard is the start of the path around the Lymington and Keyhaven salt marshes. This is a large area of saltmarsh that is now a nature reserve. The footpath is a nice firm gravel job on top of a raised seawall separating the marshes from the Solent, and is a very pleasant walk in the sunshine. There are a scattering of other people about, dog-walking, cycling, etc, including one bloke on a bike dressed as a pirate!
About an hour and a half later I’m finally approaching the end of the path at the small village of Keyhaven…
In Keyhaven you can get a small ferry to Hurst Castle at the far end of Hurst Spit…
Past the village there is another stretch of marshy seawall path that is not so pleasant due to vast swarms of a strange species of fly. Fortunately it only takes ten minutes to reach the end of the path - the flies don’t seem to like the road!
Five minutes down the road I cross this little bridge…
I climb up the shingle bank beyond and am rewarded with a beautiful view across the Solent to The Needles…
This shingle bank is called Hurst Spit and juts a mile out into the Solent. At the far end is Hurst Castle and a lighthouse…
Doesn’t look too far, right?
Oh…
Regular readers will know how much I love walking over pebbles!
Just a short twenty-five minutes later I arrive at the castle. Hurst Castle was originally yet another one of Henry VIII’s coastal forts, and was extended in the mid-19th Century. Today it is run by English Heritage and is open to the public.
This is where the ferry from Keyhaven docks. Seems a more popular method of getting here than the walk down the spit. Can’t imagine why…
I walk past the castle to have a look at the lighthouse - apparently it is still a working light and so not open to the public.
Across the water is Fort Albert on the Isle of Wight. It looks incredibly close from here being just under a mile away!
So that is Hurst Spit - time to plod back along the pebbles.
I walk back along the spit and continue the short distance to Milford-on-Sea where I finish today’s walk at a handy carpark. Next time it’s the final leg of Hampshire!
