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
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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.