Coastwalk

Christchurch → Lymington

Distance: 15.3 miles
Ascent: unknown
Duration: unknown

Five-foot fsck
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A couple of miles east of Christchurch is Barton-on-Sea. I've been here before: in 1990, with Jay. We were going out at the time, and celebrated completion of our A-levels by camping in the New Forest for a week. Our one day-trip away from the forest was to the coast, to Barton.

Barton looked sorrier in 1990 than it did today (or maybe my eyes have refocused?). Back then we walked forever to the coast from the railway station, and found nothing: no amusements, no beach, no shops. On the lawns above the beach, local youths had arranged pebbles to spell five foot high four letter words. Ah, the entertainment possibilities in a retirement town that's slowly falling into the sea.

Once again I made good progress: the soft downland provides an extremely pleasant walking surface.

From Milford on Sea I caught my first glimpse of The Needles, tracing out the dotted outline of the Isle of White as it slopes into The Channel.

Lymington is deceptively far from Keyhaven, the penultimate village on this stretch. The inlets and marinas feel as if they double the distance between the villages though in practice they add no more than a mile or two. By the time I'd slumped into the seat on the train I didn't care that it was going the wrong way. It'd turn at the end of the line and finally take me back to the car.