Following a mainly coastal route (if I can avoid diversions), I looked forward to a nice day's walking by the sea. Fellow coastal walker, John Coombe, has advised me of two possible obstacles / diversions and I will look out for them but think positively. The journey today goes through Keyhaven, Milford-on-sea, Barton-on-sea and to beyond Christchurch via Hengistbury Head and from there to the suburb of Pokesdown, where I will overnight. The mileage is estimated at nineteen with diversions or less if shortcuts work out. This is the penultimate walk of the adventure with the last walk tomorrow a tiddler of about four to six miles into Bournemouth.
I arrived back on the seawall just beside the Keyhaven and Pennington Marshes Nature Reserve, operated by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. The area contains a number of different habitats including mudflats, salt marshes, shingle banks, coastal grazing marshes, and saline lagoons. It is home to a range of bird species as well as rare plants and vertebrates. In addition to the area of shoreline, the reserve contains a number of saline laggoons and pools just inside the seawall and where the level of water is controlled by sluices. Standing on the seawall, looking across the saltmarsh, I enjoyed lovely views up and down the Solent and across to the Isle of Wight, the mast of numerous small sailing craft piercing the sky.
Hearing the sound of the wind, the sea and the cry of the gull; the smell and feel of the breeze as it moved across the saltmarsh and brushed my arms, the sun on my face; the aroma of seaweed and the tangy salt air. There is a catch in your throat as the wind catches the detritus left behind by the tide, or turn slightly and the scent of spring flowers in a vegetated area of shingle hugs you. All this and the early morning light, bright like a diamond on the surface of the Solent and you forget yesterday, being wet, tired or hungry. Apart from a single dog walker and a family in the distance on the shingle beach, the walk along the seawall to Keyhaven was a solitary affair. Even the dog walker was wrapped up in the solitude of the morning, passing close by me without making eye contact.
Hurst Castle was just visible at the end of the Spit as an amorphous grey shapewith no great detail visible. While there is a path out to the castle and back along the shingle spit, I have a 'thing' about walking out or up only to repeat the walk back by the same path, so I declined the opportunity to visit the castle. With the possibility of already walking nineteen miles today, I saw no advantage to walking an additional three miles.
Built in 1544, Hurst Castle is another of the many castles built by Henry VIII to defend his kingdom, primarily from French invasion and I have seen many of them firsthand as I have rounded the south coast. The castle was also used to house Charles I before his trial and subsequent execution and also played a role in Napoleonic and subsequent wars, including Worl War II. It is now in the ownership of English Heritage. Less than a mile at its tip from the coast of the Isle of Wight, the views from the top of the castle are said to be stunning. But that was for another day.
There was little in the village of Keyhaven to hold me; too early for lunch and too late for a second breakfast. So I just kept going, back on to the Solent Way, out towards the start of the Hurst Spit where I turned right heading towards the town of Milford-on-Sea. From here on in I had glorious views around Christchurch Bay. From my vantage point approaching New Lane, just below Milford-on-Sea, I had a good view over the town with the church tower in the far distance.
Nothing for it but to set off on the road and see how I would fare. It was fine at first, with a good footpath on the right-hand side of the road. But once this run out it became a dangerous game of dodgems with the cars speeding round corners, and there werea lot of corners, with no thought that there might be pedestrians on the road. Despite my trying to be safe about it; taking up a position on the left for right hand corners and vice-versa, it was just too dangerous to continue and at the first opportunity, just after Hordle Farm, I left the road and started to try and make my way back to the cliff again. Whatever the problem on the cliff, it could not be as dangerous as walking on that road. Once back on the cliff, I was surprised to see dog walkers coming from the Barton-on-Sea direction without a care in the world. On speaking to a couple of them they advised me that local people just ignored the closure notices and kept walking the cliff. I followed their example.