Today's route moved along the southern coast of Portsea Island, heading for Old Portsmouth where I had a ferry to catch to take me over to Gosport. Walking initially by the waters of the The Solent, after Gosport I turned to head up roughly north-west on to Southhampton Water which lies at the junction between the River Test and the Solent. On the Solent Way, the route went through Lee-on-the-Solent and Stubbington before turning north again to start up the River Hamble where I stopped for the night at Warsash.
There was light cloud cover but fortunately no rain forecast for the day. As I was passing through various villages I had no need to carry food (apart from snacks) and only limited water, so the pack is slightly lighter. Physically, I was feeling really good after a rest and had no aches or pains. If only, says the Vagabond, I could be sure of feeling that way at the end of every day.
There are a considerable number of 'forts' along this stretch of the coast, the first of which lay to my left as I hit the beach. An artillery fortification, Fort Cumberland was built to protect the entrance to Langstone Harbour, preventing a landing to the rear of the Royal Dockyard, Portsmouth. The earliest known defensive structure on the site is thought to date to 1714, but the first substantial structure was the Duke of Cumberland's fort, commenced in 1747. The fort went through various re-builds over the years before finally being taken in to the care of English Heritage in 1975. It currently houses various elements of English Heritage's archaeological services.
From my position on the coast, I passed on my right the location of one of the oldest man-made waterways in Great Britain, the Titchfield Canal. In the early 1600's, Titchfield was a port connected to the Solent by the River Meon and its estuary at Hillhead, but now part of a modern nature reserve. For some reason the estuary was closed off with the building of a seawall at the estuary, leaving Titchfield isolated from the sea. At the same time what is called the Titchfield Canal was built. There is some dispute as to whether or not it was ever intended to carry sea-going vessels or was in fact to enable the flooding the local meadows. The canal is now part of the nature reserve and provides a range of habitats for bird, mammal and insect life.