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.

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.

Portsmouth again

A few pictures from Portsmouth before and after the Bilbao trip.

The view from the ferry as we left port.

Sunset and the Spinnaker Tower the day we returned.

An extremely odd statue on the hard by Portsmouth Harbour.

Southampton Water Again

A few weekends ago I went to Southampton water again to watch a battle of Britain flyover. The flyover was short but impressive. The roaring drone of the planes made me think about what it must have been like to hear those sounds for real 70 years ago.

After the flyover we decided to have a picnic since it was nice and sunny. However, when we got out of the shop the weather had changed and we had to eat her ice creams in the cold, wet wind.

We then had a stroll along the beach by the water. Well I say beach but actually it was mainly stones. All the industrial stuff in the distance makes for an almost apocalyptic landscape don't you think?

Finally we explored Victoria Country Park which used to be home to a massive military hospital. All that remains now is a single chapel which you can see in the picture above.

Portsmouth

I had to go to Portsmouth for a work course last week and took the opportunity to take some photos of the impressive harbour area.

First off is Spinnaker Tower, a fairly recent addition to the area. At 170 meters it dominates the sky line from much of the city but also manages to blend in with Portsmouth's maritime atmosphere.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is home to famous ships from British history such as HMS Victory and HMS Warrior as well as many naval exhibitions and museums. The photo above is of HMS Warrior.

In between the two attractions is Gunwharf Quays, a cosmopolitan shopping and leisure complex with lots of designer outlets and trendy restaurants. I really like it, as it has quite a different atmosphere to anything else in the Hampshire area.

The Harbour area is definitely my favourite place in Portsmouth and I love the sense of adventure I get from seeing all the boats heading out for see. I love imagining the feeling of excitement there must have been when ships set out from Portsmouth to explore the world in the hey-day of the British Empire.

Itchen and Solent Ways

Last weekend I walked along a section of the Solent and Itchen ways, two long distance footpaths that pass through Hampshire. I've walked along sections of the Itchen way before but this was my first time on the Solent way. I started in Netley and finished up in St Denys. I was impressed by the mud flats along Southampton Water which are home to many wintering sea birds but the Itchen way section passed through too many urban and industrial areas and was completely unmarked. However there were some pleasant stretches next to the river including this dilapidated boat that reminded me of a ghost ship.

And this nature reserve.

It was also Diwali so there were lots of Christmas lights and fireworks around. Really got me in the mood for the Christmas season.