Milford on Sea, Lymington, Bucklers Hard, Beaulieu, Hythe, Southampton, Netley, Hamble le Rice, Warsash, Hill Head, Lee-on-the-Solent, Gosport, Portsmouth, Portsea Island, Havant and Emsworth.

The week's weather promised to be good so I decided to go straight away. Booking accommodation was difficult at short notice so I went in my campervan.

I drove to Highcliffe in Dorset, which was one end of a previous Dorset coastal walk and parked the campervan in a quiet road. During the mid afternoon I walked east along the cliffs and the beach, past Barton on Sea to Milford on Sea where I stopped for a beer. Then, as I walked out to Hurst Castle, I noticed a suitably remote parking spot with about a dozen other campers already there. I did a little more walking as far as The Gun Inn at Keyhaven then took a taxi back to Highcliffe to collect the campervan and drive it to the parking spot that I had seen earlier. I went to sleep listening to the distant sound of the sea.

About 6 miles walked today

Next day was an early start. I walked past The Gun Inn again and alongside the water's edge all the way to Lymington. There was a cloudless sky but a cool wind was blowing. At Lymington I had a light breakfast at a cafe overlooking the waterfront. My left big toe was feeling sore. On investigation I found that the insole of my left boot had worn into a hole and my toe was rubbing on the edges of the hole and had produced a large blister. After stopping of at Mountain Warehouse to buy some replacement size 11 insoles, dealing with the blister and applying a Compeed plaster to the raw skin, I walked out of town. This part of the walk was mainly through fields and away from the coast to Bucklers Hard on the Beaulieu River, where I lunched and then rested in the sun, falling asleep. It was hot and there was little breeze when away from the coast. At Beaulieu I missed the bus by minutes due to my resting for too long at Bucklers Hard. Unfortunately, although it was only mid afternoon it was the last bus of the day! So I had to take a taxi back to the campervan at Milford on Sea. There was no phone signal in the town but the very nice receptionist at the Montague Arms Hotel ordered one for me. I was a fraction of the cost of Back at the campervan I decided to stay for another night at Milford on Sea before driving to Beaulieu the next day to continue the walk to Hythe to catch the ferry to Southampton.

About 18 miles walked today

Because I had decided to do this walk at very short notice I didn't do much research about the route before I left home so I checked for the ferry times on-line and was surprised to find that the Hythe ferry was no longer running. Also I found that there was no bus service through Beulieu on a Wednesday so I decided to abandon the cross country walk from Beulieu to Hythe and drive straight to where the ferry would have taken me in Southampton. As it was not a coastal walk to Hythe I wasn't worried about dismissing it. I decided to offset this shortage of mileage by including the extra mileage that I walked along the coast to reach Milford on Sea from Highcliffe, which was a very nice walk.

I woke early and drove straight to Southampton and was parked in a long stay vehicle park near the start of Southampton Water by 7am (£6 for 24 hours). I'm not sure what I was expecting to find in such a built-up area but I was pleasantly surprised to find myself walking walking along a wonderfully quiet path along the edge of the shore with no intruding buildings or noisy roadways. It was cool and slightly misty and there was plenty to see even though the tide was out.

At Hamble le Rice I took the little pink ferry boat across the River Hamble to Warsash. The way was still a quiet path, much of it along the river bank and shore line before routing along the road at Hillhead for a short time, then passing along the long promenade of Lee-on-the-Solent. I have never seen so many benches in a line! The path then stays close to the shore at Gosport until it reaches the ferry across the mouth of Portsmouth Harbour to the Spinnaker Tower.

In Portsmouth I had a meal and then went to The Hard Bus Station and used bus and taxi to get back to where I had parked the campervan in Southampton. I slept at the vehicle park, which was almost empty but the nearby roads were noisy until the early hours.

About 20 miles walked today

Another early start. Using using Apple Maps I had chosen a quiet spot in Eastney to park for the day but from there I had several miles to walk to where I had ended my walking the previous day. I walked there from Eastney then turned back eastwards to walk along the England Coast Path along the promenade passing Southsea Castle and the South Parade Pier. I stopped at a small kiosk on the promenade for a coffee and an omelette bap which I ate sat in the warm sun. Nothing else was open yet. Unlike the pervious mornings it was already very warm.

Back at Eastney the path turns inland trough the town for a short while before appearing on the shoreline of Langstone harbour. The tide was out and there were some odd structures jutting out of the shallow water there. From then on it was a pleasant walk along the waterfront until I neared the very noisy A27. Shortly after the path diverts around the perimeter of Farlington Marches for 2 miles before retuning close to the A27 again. I lost my way slightly here and found myself heading into Havant so I decided to go for a pint and do some shopping before returning to the path. I continued out of town to the coast and on to Emsworth, arriving and walking around the perimeter of the Mill Pond, a feature of the town. Here I stopped, very hot, to rest and eat my recently purchased pasty. As I arrived in the Centre of Emsworth I spotted a number 700 bus already at the bus stop. This express service would take me back to where I had started today, so I ran to catch it. I had been to Emsworth before. Back at The Hard Bus Station I was able to catch a local bus part-way back to where the campervan was parked.

I drove the campervan down to the beach to enjoy the view and have a rest before driving home. I decided to check on my blister as it had recently begun to hurt again. When removing my sock, the Compeed plaster on my left toe came with it and and with it a lot more loose skin. The result was a very large sore area. The size 11 insoles that had bought at Mountain Warehouse prove to be about 10mm too short for my Scarpa size 11 boots and so both of my big toes had been rubbing on the front edge of the insoles. This edge had caused the Compeed to be peeled away from the blister, take more skin with it and for the sticky side to glue itself very firmly to my walking sock.

About 18 miles walked today. It turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far.

That's the end of my walk along the coast of Hampshire on the Solent Way. About 60 miles walked in four days.

West Wittering, East Wittering, Selsey, Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, Shoreham-by-Sea, Southwick, Portslade-by-Sea, Hove and Brighton.

There was another good week of weather forecasted so I decided to use it to walk the West Sussex coastline.

Arriving at about 9am, I parked my campervan in the all-day private-estate car park behind West Wittering beach. (Gates locked at 8pm.) The beach is wide and sandy with large pebbles higher up. The tide was going out so I walked on the firm wet sand. It was sunny with a few clouds but there was a cold north-easterly wind. At East Wittering, 10am, I found the 'Drifters' cafe just opening so I had a breakfast there. I continued on the marked footpath above the beach which later took a 4 mile detour around the Medmerry Nature Reserve before returning to the coast just before Selsey. I didn't see many of the birds featured on the reserve's information board but I did hear some very strange noises from within the reeds. I recorded these on my iPhone.

I'm not sure what I was expecting to see at Selsey Bill but I was disappointed. Just ugly broken concrete and groynes with no beach access and a path that detoured behind the house that was built there. I walked on, expecting to find somewhere to stop for a hot drink and a snack but I didn't, and suddenly I found myself walking away from Selsey. I didn't realise that the town centre was not near the waterfront. I was now walking directly into a north-east cold wind and the sun had disappeared. I continued on until I reached the start of Pagham Harbour, then caught buses back to West Wittering. (Number 51 to Chichester then number 52 or 53 to the Witterings.) I found a campsite on-line at Sidlesham and booked in.

About 14 miles walked today

My campsite was only a mile or two from where I finished walking yesterday. It was a clear sunny sky and a light north-easterly wind as I walked the perimeter of Pagham Harbour. On reaching the start of the beach near Bognor Regis it was quite windy. My map showed the path to be above the beach but I preferred to walk along the firm wet sand of the beach. Arriving at Bognor at about 9:30am I stopped for a Breakfast at the Wetherspoon.

Leaving Bognor behind the path became pebble-strewn and more difficult to walk on for a time, then there was a lot of erosion for a few miles. Turning inland along the bank of the River Arun the path was scruffy and hap-hazzard until reaching the footbridge to Littlehampton. Then the walk was along a smart new walkway back to the beach. From here I returned to my campsite by bus. Number 700 to Chichester then number 51 to Sidlesham. I found a suitably placed campsite at Littlehampton for tomorrow night and booked a pitch.

About 14.5 miles walked today

I drove from the campsite at Sidleston back to Littlehampton where I parked on a road where there were other motor-homes and commercial vehicles parked as I was not able to drive into the Littlehampton campsite until the afternoon. I had noted this road the previous day as being a likely spot to park. Leaving Littlehampton, some of the path was on shingle and pebbles so I walked on the firm sand near the sea. After a couple of miles the path improved, some of which was on grass, and the last section was the promenade at Worthing. It was a very pleasant walk, especially along the beach. As the morning wore on it began to get hot. I located the Worthing Wetherspoon for a late breakfast. It was a Saturday and the town was very Busy. I only had about 12 miles to go to get to my destination for tomorrow, Brighton so I decided that I would returned to Littlehampton on the number 701 bus, booked into my campsite and spend the rest of the day relaxing.

Only about 8.5 miles walked today

My last walking day was again bright and sunny. I started early and returned to Worthing by bus. At Shoreham-by-Sea the path crosses the River Adur via a footbridge. At Southwick I missed the path and ended up walking on a narrow pavement along the scruffy and busy A259 for a time until correcting my mistake by crossing to the seaward side of the harbour at Portslade-by-Sea onto a more pleasant stretch of walkway. The final part of the walk was on the wide promenade at Brighton, which was very busy. I nipped into town and was just in time to get a Wetherspoon Breakfast before the deadline of 12 noon. This time I had a pint instead of coffee.

About 12 miles walked today.

About 50 miles walked in three and a half days. It was an easy, interesting walk; not as pleasant as countryside walking, so there was plenty of walking on pavements and promenades, the advantage being that it was not necessary to keep looking down as is necessary when walking on uneven or stony paths. I avoided the pebbly sections on beaches by walking on the firm, damp sand near the water's edge. In fact I chose to walk there often, even when I did not need to.