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?

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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.

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Merry Christmas!

Santa on a boat near Lymington Pier
.

Snow!

Last week it snowed!

A lot!

I worked from home.

And then went for a walk in the woods.

Isle of Wight bonus

On the way back from the Isle of Wight we docked at Southampton at the same time that the new cruise ship the Queen Elizabeth was setting sail. We got a good view of quite an impressive ship through the windows of our boat.

Isle of Wight 2 - Compton Bay, the Needles and Yarmouth

On our second day in the Isle of Wight we went to a number of places on the west of the island including Compton Bay.


We climbed down a long flight of wooden stairs that wound down a cliff side. Compton bay is one of the most desolate places on the island and has few facilities giving it a rugged charm.

The view from both the top and bottom was pretty spectacular. Compton Bay is another good place for finding fossils though again we couldn't find any. Still it was a really good place for a picnic despite being rather chilly.

In the car park at the other end of the beach was a really good example of the erosion problem on the Isle of Wight as the picture above shows.

Next we went to see the Needles, probably the most famous tourist spot on the island. The tourist trap surrounding it was quite tacky but the Needles themselves were beautiful in the setting sun.

There was also a very good view of the mainland. I could even see as far as Bournemouth.

The other attraction by the Needles are the coloured cliffs of Alum Bay. There didn't seem to be that many different colours to me though. And I resented the fact that it cost £4 to ride a chair lift down to the beach to look up at the cliffs.

Finally we finished off at Yarmouth for dinner where we stood on the pier and watched the last of the sun go down. Seemed well worth the suggested 30p pier toll.

Isle of Wight - Yaverland, Sandown and Shanklin

A few weeks ago I went to the Isle of Wight with some old friends. I've lived near the Isle of Wight for over a year but this was the first time I'd actually been. We stayed in a B&B called Sandown Manor near Yaverland. The beach nearby is a good place for finding fossils although I didn't have much luck.


The B&B had a lot of animals in the garden including a shetland pony.

A donkey

and some ducks which chased us all over the place as you can see in this video.


On the first night we walked from Yaverland, through Sandown and on to Shanklin on a promenade that ran by the beach. The moon rising over the Yaverland cliffs was very beautiful.


The place we were trying to go to was the Fishermans Cottage pub at the edge of the cliffs in Shanklin. Unfortunately they stopped serving food just before we got there but we went back during the day and were impressed by its dramatic location.

Dorset

Since I had some holiday to use up before the end of October I decided to visit my friend in Dorset.


She lives in the little rural town of Sturminster Newton. It is quite isolated and the only public transport is a few buses a day.


It has some very nice buildings though including this church and two old mills. Not much more to say about the place really.

Arundel

Last week I went to the small town of Arundel which has a really fairy take atmosphere.

It is famous for its castle.

But also has a number of impressive churches.

Arundel is surrounded by the South Downs which puts me in mind of Robin Hood and Merlin.

While waiting for the train I spotted a very large spider hanging from the station sign.

This will probably be my last trip along the Sussex coast for a while since my traveling companion is moving to Dorset. From now on I will likely be exploring the hidden delights of Dorset and Wiltshire.