After I decided in December that I would make the Old Way the long distance challenge of choice for my 40th year little did I know that we would be in strict lockdown for the first three months of the year, and, at the time of writing, still unable to book into a hotel. So I was delighted to have a day off work and manage to get the first three of the thirty eight stages of the Old Way under my belt.
This particular section covers familiar ground, running from Southampton to Titchfield. “Titchfield!?” I hear you cry “so what’s all that Lee-on-the-Solent nonsense in the title?”. The Old Way as mapped, courtesy of the excellent British Pilgrimage Trust, follows the route of the Gough Map but is first and foremost a pilgrimage route, peppered with special places, natural and man made. On this basis, and as it’s a ‘big’ birthday year, I’m taking the liberty of adjusting the Old Way route on occasion to take in places that are special to me. Not planning on deviating too much, honest.
I took the train down to Southampton and walked the mile or so from the central station to St Mary’s church. This is essentially the ‘mother church’ of the City of Southampton; the current version was originally built in the 1880s and section rebuilt post world war 2 after the bulk of it was destroyed in bombing raids (along with many of the local dock workers cottages). Forerunners have been on the site since the ‘Hamwic’ settlement of Saxon times. A fitting starting point for an epic walk then.
From St Marys I walked through the old part of the city, making a point of looking in on old haunts (Frog & Frigate pub), homes (St James’ House, the best value flat we ever lived in!) and happy memories (I had my hen night on Oxford Street) before picking up Canute Road close to the docks. The Queen Mary 2 was in port and towered over the surrounding buildings, and the world’s oldest bowling green. Heading out of the city and over the Itchen Bridge I picked up the Solent Way. This tracks through Weston and along the Weston Shoreline of Southampton Water. Even though Southampton Water is a dual tidal estuary, it still smells of the sea and there are clouds of plovers and oyster-catchers to prove its nautical credentials. It’s not hard to imagine pilgrims of yesteryear following this path; it's still a remarkable blend of the wildness of the shoreline and the industry that large ports attract.
The Solent Way continues to hug the short line. The next conurbation of sorts is Netley, a charming little village most famous for the haunting ruins of Netley Abbey, a 12th century Cistercian monastery. I paused at the very peaceful church of St Edwards next to the Abbey for a cup of tea before heading onwards towards the former site of the Royal Victoria Military Hospital, within Victoria Country Park. Perched on the shoreline of Southampton Water, the hospital saw literally hundreds of thousands of British and Allied troops shipped to its doors on hospital ships, from the battlefields of Flanders and all of Britain’s subsequent conflicts before it was almost entirely destroyed in the 1960s. Only the imposing central chapel remains of the original structure. It’s a remarkable place to pause and think of the (mainly) men who were repatriated from war via this place; looking from the pier head back up towards the chapel you get a sense of of how it must have felt to disembark, perhaps with a sense of relief. It was known to soldiers as ‘Spike Island’, named after the local name for the area between the rivers Itchen and Hamble that the vast hospital site rested on. Apparently Florence Nightingale wasn’t a fan....
I picked up the Solent Way again and made for Hamble-le-Rice. The Solent Way follows the shore, over shingle and some truly spectacular wind blown scrub. The weather had turned at this point and it was altogether a more rugged and windswept vista with wind and rain! Passing under the the delivery pipeline for the oil refinery, one of a pair than flank the mouth of Southampton Water you get a feel of the Solent proper as the view opens up with the whitewashed houses on the shores of the Isle of Wight winking at you a few miles ahead.
Turning away from the shore for a bit, I tracked inland across Hamble Common (which once had a castle build on it by Henry VIII) and headed to the public slipway of this pretty little town to catch the ferry across the River Hamble to Warsash. The ferry takes the form of a little pink boat, rated to take just 12 people at a time; weaving in between the yachts anchored on river. There’s no timetable, the chap just rocks up when there’s someone needs taking- there were only three people on my crossing. The best £2.50 I’ve spent in a long time (cash only BTW).
Landing on the Warsash side, the Solent Way continues south east, tracking the shoreline to the extent that you are basically walking the mean high waterline for quite a while. The tide was in and gentle waves were splashing over the sea wall at my feet; wouldn't fancy it in rough weather! The path traverses the Hook-with-Warsash nature reserve, a truly remarkable mix of shingle spit and headland with inland lake and marsh, giving rise to an amazing bird population that makes you wonder if you've stumbled into a Daphne du Maurier novel by mistake. The path is a mnix of scrub and shingle and tough going in some places; there is lots of coastal erosion evidence so keep and eye on the ground to ensure nothing falls away! This was most evident at the 'Solent Breeze' caravan site where a combination of cliff fall and high tide meant the path wasn't safe. I took a well signed detour inland and returned to the shoreline just as the sun made a welcome reappearance.
The path continues atop the cliff and provides breathtaking views over to the island as well as lovely rural vistas inland. The next major waypoint is Titchfield Haven, the point at which the River Meon flows into the Solent. This is largely given over to nature reserves and there are plenty of opportunities for twitchers to get a rare sighting from the bird hides. Also a haven for water sports enthusiasts if panoply of wind surfers and paddlers were anything to go by. If I had been following the ‘true route’ of the Old Way, I would have turn left and headed inland towards Titchfield at this point (and I will start the next stage from Titchfield as described).
But as it was..... Following the causeway across the mouth of the river brings you into Hill Head. In theory you can continue to follow the beach, but I was, frankly, a bit sick of walking on shingle so I headed up and inland a bit, following the road through town before descending to the promenade that leads into Lee-on-the-Solent. For me, Lee is redolent with childhood memories of summers spent with my Grandparents who lived in Gosport. Lee was the place of ice creams and (to my grandfather’s delight, but not his cardiologist’s) cheeky fry ups. I taken my own children there to paddle in the sea and have massive ice creams at the excellent Penguin Cafe on the front. This visit was no exception. I figured after 25km (just over 15 miles) I deserved it.
Lee-on-the-Solent is well connected by bus to Fareham which is on the Southampton-Gatwick train route I came down on. Two hours after buying that ice-cream I was home.....
This was a great way to start my ‘Old Way’ campaign. A walk full of personal meaning, historic, beautiful and spiritual places and not too challenging on the hills front. Early on I marvelled at how, in an eight year stint in Southampton, I never managed to walk the Weston shore. I guess my priorities now are rather different to what they were in my callow youth!
For those inclined to follow the route, the map is below. It’s not massively challenging, but it is very exposed so pack for all weathers. Unlike many of my walks previously there is ample opportunity for food and drink pit stops, restrictions allowing. Some very tempting looking pubs in Hamble, just next to the ferry......
For each stage/section of the Old Way I complete I am saving a small token of the walk. So instead of a picture of Captain Cat Sparrow, for the duration of the Old Way I’ll save a picture of my ‘token’. For this section, an oyster shell from the Netley shoreline, lined with iridescent mother of pearl, to represent the sea and my enduring love of being near it.
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