Category: March 2017

More than one way to cross the Itchen – a postcard from Crosshouse

28 March 2017

We’d had an adventure in Eling and I’d given my knee a good testing, but the walking wasn’t quite over for the day. This evening I had a meeting to attend close to the town end of the Itchen Bridge. Commando needed the car for work but he offered to drop me off in Woolston on his way.  The timings were a little out, meaning I’d be more than a little early, but at least I’d only have to walk across the bridge. Time to kill down by the water there is never time wasted so I didn’t much mind being early.  Continue reading More than one way to cross the Itchen – a postcard from Crosshouse

Bartley Water and a different Boardwalk

28 March 2017

Right at the moment we were about to give up on finding the gate to the Boardwalk and head back to the Tide Mill, there it was.  This at least proved that I really did know where I was going even if it had taken walking around for ten minutes or more to work it out. When I said as much CJ rolled his eyes and pointed to the sign saying ‘this Boardwalk is due to be replaced during summer/autum 2016 and will be closed.’ If the sign was still there did this mean the work was still going on? If it was would we be able to get through? There was no real way of telling so we went through the gate anyway. Continue reading Bartley Water and a different Boardwalk

A postcard or two from Eling church

28 March 2017

On the far side of Eling Causeway we passed the modern sluices that have kept it safe since the 1940’s. These days it’s hard to imagine the tide washing away the bridge across Bartley Water, which is probably a good job or we could have been stuck in Eling for a long time.  We’d successfully crossed Hampshire’s only surviving medieval toll bridge, in use since at least 1418, without having to pay a penny, now it was time to explore.  Continue reading A postcard or two from Eling church

Eling a tide mill, a sweet shop and a view of the docks

28 March 2017

After more than a week of doing as I was told, resting my knee and not walking anywhere I didn’t absolutely have to, I was going stir crazy. The knee was getting better every day, athough it was still swollen and unhappy with being bent much. My tolerance for sitting around had reached breaking point though so, today, I decided to go for a test walk. The plan was to take a leisurely bus journey to Milbrook and then a gentle stroll over the causeway to Eling. All in all it would be less than five miles and almost all flat.  Continue reading Eling a tide mill, a sweet shop and a view of the docks

Another Eastleigh 10k

19 March 2017

After using Commando’s ice pack, a compression thingamajig, ibuprofen and lots of elevation, I’d like to say the knee was as good as new. Unfortunately, that would be telling lies. It was swollen, felt hot and throbbed like mad. Bending was a no go, kneeling didn’t bear thinking about. What I probably should have been doing on Sunday morning, after a sleepless night, was resting and continuing with the RICE treatment. What I actually did was go to the Eastleigh 10k.

Continue reading Another Eastleigh 10k

Care For a Walk Ashurst to Totton, limping home

18 March 2017

Thankfully, I didn’t have too far to hobble on my bashed up knee before we reached the New Forest Pub at Ashurst. This gave me a chance to nip off to the loo and examine said knee. It was bleeding, but not as much as I’d expected. More worryingly, it was already quite swollen and red. A little gentle prodding told me this was almost certainly bruising, by the looks of it under my kneecap, which, thankfully felt intact.  Continue reading Care For a Walk Ashurst to Totton, limping home

Care for a Walk – Matley to Ashurst wet dogs, new trees and a fall

18 March 2017

Instead of crossing Beaulieu Road and walking through Denny Inclosure, we headed off across White Moor towards Lyndhurst. This is a walk I’ve done many times on my own so, for once, I knew exactly where I was and where I was heading. This was more than could be said for CJ, who had never walked this trail before. Continue reading Care for a Walk – Matley to Ashurst wet dogs, new trees and a fall

Care For a Walk – Totton to Matley, ponies dogs and a deer

18 March 2017

Care For a Walk day has come round again and, with it, the joy of a walk in the New Forest with zero chance of getting lost or ending up somewhere other than where I meant to. The annual spring walk for Macmillan Cancer Support is planned by Pete and Mike, experts on all the trails and paths because they are lucky enough to live in the forest. This means I don’t have to worry about anything other than putting one foot in front of the other and enjoying the scenery. Actually, this time, I did have to worry about not losing CJ, who has discovered he loves a walk too and wanted to come along.  Continue reading Care For a Walk – Totton to Matley, ponies dogs and a deer

A Postcard from Woodmill

16 March 2017

It seems like ages since I last walked along the river and, with spring bursting out all over the place, I thought a stroll along the Itchen was well overdue. There were bound to be some new flowers to see along the way, maybe even some new leaves starting on the trees. There was an F.G.O. Stuart postcard of Woodmill and I had an idea I knew exactly where the shot had been taken. Recreating it might involve a tiny bit of trespassing but it was trespassing I’d done before so I was fairly confident it wouldn’t be a problem.  Continue reading A Postcard from Woodmill

Around the bend in the river to Clausentum

14 March 2017

With the Care For Walk hike in the New Forest at the weekend and the weather decidedly grim this morning a long walk didn’t seem like the best of plans. As it happened, I had a parcel to collect from the sorting office anyway so, bright and early, before CJ had even got out of bed, I set off for a little stroll. The most direct route is all main roads and not interesting in the slightest and I didn’t want to take the car for such a short journey so I ended up meandering along the river.  Continue reading Around the bend in the river to Clausentum