Hiltingbury Lakes

Hiltingbury lakes is probably the best known woodland area in Chandlers Ford. The woods surround several Edwardian water gardens. They are located close to the main town centre, near Waitrose etc.

Two of these form a large ornamental lake which is a popular place to fish.

The rest are smaller and more wild, providing a wetland habitat for wildlife.


I'm very found of the woods around this smaller section as walking through them feels a bit like exploring a rain forest.


Overall the lakes is a short but rewarding walk, especially in Autumn or Spring when the trees are at their prettiest.

Hythe and Portsmouth

Been a bit of a while since I last posted anything here but I have been busy moving to Southampton and preparing to move to Japan in August. From next month I will be working as a JET ALT in Takanabe Town, Miyazaki Prefecture. I'll try to blog a lot more then as well as add to my woods of Chandlers Ford series.


For now here are a few pictures from Hythe, a small town across the water from Southampton which is accessible by a small ferry service.


The ferry goes from Town Quay in Southampton to Hythe Pier, which has one of the oldest still in operation pier railways in the world.


The view of Southampton from other the water really gives a different prospective on the city.


It's also a great place to watch ships traveling down the Solent as the view is relatively unhindered unlike in Southampton were most of the seafront consists of docks.


As a bonus here are some extra Portsmouth photo's showing Southsea Castle in front of which the Mary Rose sank (it's a great place to visit at the moment since it's free of charge) and the cityscape under some very stormy looking weather.

Great Covert

Since I'll be moving to Southampton in the near future, I thought I take the opportunity to do some posts on the woods and sites of natural interest in the area.

The first wood is one of the largest in the Chandlers Ford area, Great Covert. It isn't technically open to the public but a few footpaths skirt the edges. Currently, the main entrances deeper into the wood are blocked but at the time these pictures were taken, it was easier to get into the wood.

The tree are mainly coniferous and there are large clearings dotted around.

The lack of formal footpaths and almost complete absence of other people give the wood a really wild feeling, and I often see deer, unusual birds and, in the summer, tons of butterflies. It's a great place to lose yourself in.

A good way to enjoy the Great Covert and not get into trouble is to take the foot path which leads of castle lane and skirts around the eastern edge of the wood. After a while there is a path to the left which leads into Zionshill Copse, another interesting piece of woodland that I will cover in a future post.

Winchester walking

Last weekend I visited a roman exhibition in Winchester. Afterwards I went on a walk along the Itchen river to the north of the city. I had planned to travel back along the Itchen Way but was stopped in my tracks by a mysterious black dog. Given the long history of the city and its connections to mythology, perhaps it was a phantom black dog of legend?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Walk in the fields

This weekend I went on a short in the fields to the east of Eastleigh. Despite being very muddy, the weather was very nice and the boggy woods had a fairytale like quality. Spring seems just around the corner at last.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7