Coastwalk

Hythe, Hampshire → Southampton

Distance: 12.3 miles
Ascent: 162 metres
Duration: 3 hours 34 minutes

Around Southampton Water
« Lymington | Hamble-le-Rice »

Why do I still have this irrational ambition to complete one leg of the coastwalk each calendar month for a year? I've not managed it yet, but it's the reason yet again that I find myself out walking on a day otherwise best left well alone.

Of course the trick will be to find twelve coastwalks that are within striking distance of home. A close review of the route so far has revealed a source: ferries.

Back in 1999 I walked from Lymington to Hythe on the Solent Way, then followed that recreational trail to Southampton on the ferry. Today I took the ferry in the reverse direction, then walked from the pier in Hythe round Southampton Water and back to the terminal at Southampton Town Quay.

This isn't a walk I'd recommend. It looks good on paper, with the first half on footpaths and the second half along the dock road but in practise the upriver part was on boggy ground and the dock road was a thundering dual carriageway, rarely the fascinating viewpoint that Liverpool's dock road was.

One moment of interest was the village of Eling, tucked in beneath the A35. Here a working Tide Mill and pleasant marina hinted of an alternative future the area could have taken had the container not become king.

Comment

Good people

God bless the taxi drivers of Guildford.

It wasn't until we got home on Sunday that I realised I no longer had my wallet with me. A frantic search and a deep dive into my memory revealed its whereabouts. It was either on the road where we'd left the car during the walk or on the back seat of the taxi we took from the station to the car at the end of the walk.

Four days later I received a letter from the council trying to return it to me. I'd not thought to tell the council I'd lost it.

So today I collected my wallet with its entire contents - including £60 in cash. Perfect: it turns out there are good people everywhere.

Tech

Geek trouble

I've been staying at a lovely hotel in Ipswich this week. It's right on the waterfront; my room is luxuriously furnished with a small balcony overlooking the marina but best of all, there's free Wi-Fi.

To use the wireless I had to first sign an acceptable use policy. I was surprised - though it seems a sensible precaution. Clearly here's a hotel that's in touch with their geeky side.

What surprised me more was the contents. The policy explicitly bans "forging of any TCP-IP packet header". I smell a place that's had trouble with geeks before.

North Downs Way

Guildford → Dorking

Distance: 13.1 miles
Ascent: 300 metres
Duration: 4 hours 35 minutes

Snow
« Not walked | Not walked »

The weather has worsened since last week's walk, though the photograph of St Martha's Church doesn't show it. For almost the entire walk today we've been surrounded by snow - a rare occurrence these days in the south-east. It added a magical quality to the air, and seemed to draw more people outdoors than usual.

At St Martha's churchgoers mingled with families and elderly people taking in the view. Through the woods of Netley Heath dog walkers were our staple companion while later still at Ranmore Common and through the Denbies estate we found ourselves amidst and amateur orienteering competition (or was it just a very well organised pub crawl?).

Once again the temperature - and separation from the warming sun thanks to the trees - resulted in little lingering, but it's been good to be able to knock off two sections of this twelve segment walk in one month.

Personal

A practical car

Just in case there's any doubt: yes the MX-5 is still a very practical car. Sure, I needed to spend fifteen minutes hacking the branches off the Christmas tree one by one, but it does fit in the boot for the trip to the recycling centre.

(Collecting the tree from the shop in the first place was easy: with the roof down the pre-wrapped tree sat neatly in the passenger foot-well. This year Em drove so it was my turn to become intimately acquainted with it on the way home.)

North Downs Way

Farnham → Guildford

Distance: 11.0 miles
Ascent: 165 metres
Duration: 3 hours 42 minutes

Off again!
« Not walked | Not walked »

Time to start walking another National Trail. Following last March's disastrous attempt on the South Downs Way we've decided to tackle the North Downs Way this year, and to complete it in short sections during dry weather instead of going for the whole thing during the wettest, windiest week of the year.

So we're starting early, only three days into the year. With a walk a month we should be able to complete all 150 miles by December.

The air and grass were crisp in the early January morning, too cold to linger long over lunch.

Near the end of the walk we came across a surprise: the Watts Gallery. If you can't place George Frederick Watts, it too me some time to work it out too: it was he who started the Watts Memorial for Heroism in Everyday Life in Postman's Park, one of my favourite corners in London. Watts was also the artist responsible for the Physical Energy statue in Kensington Gardens; I've seen his works my whole life but never found out who he is. Sadly the gallery is currently closed so we'll have to return when it reopens next year.