Category: UK Coast Walk
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 115
7th April 2025 LYMINGTON PIER TO CHEWTON BUNNY The trains are running again this morning, so I head out before dawn and catch the first train from Southampton to Lymington Pier at the end of the line, passing through the woods and heaths of the New Forest and seeing some Fallow Deer from the…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 114
Sunday 6th April 2025 HILL TOP (BEAULIEU) TO LYMINGTON PIER Thirteen months after my last bout of coast walking I return to Southampton by train and catch a bus to where I left off in the heathland of the New Forest National Park. The weather is forecast to be warm and sunny, and I…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 113
Saturday 9th March 2024 HARDLEY TO HILL TOP (BEAULIEU) I set off early today and catch the bus back to where I left off yesterday, stepping off into a light rain shower. Fortunately it doesn’t last long, but the day remains cold, cloudy and windy, apart from a few sunny spells. I won’t…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 112
Friday 8th March 2024 WARSASH TO HARDLEY After camping for five nights it felt luxurious to sleep in an actual bed and not have to walk across a field to have a shower. The guesthouse is lovely – nice and quiet, very clean, and not far from the trains, buses and city centre. …
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 111
Thursday 7th March 2024 WARSASH TO BURSLEFORD Last night was my last night on the campsite. It was much warmer, and I slept well. This morning I surprise a fox that was lurking around the shower block and it runs off. I have to carry all my stuff again, but I’m not planning…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 110
Wednesday 6th March 2024 PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR TO WARSASH With the sky clearing overnight, the temperature has dropped again and I wake up early to another frosty morning. This time even the zip on my tent has frozen solid and I’m trapped inside. Eventually I manage to work it open enough to create a small…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 109
Tuesday 5th March 2024 HAYLING FERRY TO PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR Today my luck runs out with the weather and I wake up to a showery morning. I wait for a break in the rain before walking back to the ferry and crossing back over to Portsmouth, arriving on the coast again at a bleak-looking Eastney…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 108
Monday 4th March 2024 HAYLING ISLAND TO HAYLING FERRY (PORTSMOUTH) In broad daylight it’s much easier to find my way back to where I left off last night. The footpath up the western side of the island is very pleasant, following the course of an old railway through a narrow strip of woods, with…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 107
Sunday 3rd March 2024 AROUND HAYLING ISLAND Last night was very cold and I didn’t sleep well, waking up numerous times in the night. However, I had gone to bed early and, in the long period of time I was in my sleeping bag, I managed to cobble together a full night’s sleep. This…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 106
Saturday 2nd March 2024 EMSWORTH TO HAYLING ISLAND Last September I completed the coast of Sussex, and next up is the county of Hampshire. Sitting more-or-less dead centre of the English south coast, Hampshire feels like a watershed between the south-east and the south-west of England. Sussex is definitely in the south-east, still within…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 105
Thursday 7th September 2023 BOSHAM TO EMSWORTH In the morning I pack up my tent and leave the campsite for the final day’s walk of this leg. Today’s walk consists of a hike around the shores of two peninsulas in the north of Chichester Harbour, and it should be a relatively short day. …
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 104
Wednesday 6th September 2023 CHICHESTER Today is something of a rest day while I do a bit of sight-seeing around Chichester. What I am most keen to see are the remains of Fishbourne Roman Palace. Chichester was known as Noviomagus Reginorum to the Romans and was an important staging post immediately following the invasion…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 103
Tuesday 5th September 2023 EAST WITTERING TO BOSHAM Today will be another long day, even longer than yesterday in fact. The route meanders up and down the channels of a large estuary, rather than straight along the coast, so it’s difficult to estimate its length by glancing at the map. Fortunately I don’t get…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 102
Monday 4th September 2023 ALDWICK BAY TO EAST WITTERING I wake up on the beach at dawn and start walking almost immediately. Today will be a long day in order to get to the campsite I’ve chosen. The distance straight along the coast isn’t too far, but there are two large inlets that I…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 101
Sunday 3rd September 2023 LITTLEHAMPTON TO ALDWICK BAY By the time I arrive on the south coast of England it’s almost midday. I’m continuing my years-long hike/pub crawl around the coast of Great Britain from where I left off last November: Littlehampton in the county of Sussex. The weather is forecast to be hot…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 100
Friday 18th November 2022 WORTHING TO LITTLEHAMPTON I go out early into the sunshine for a walk along the prom, a visit to the pier, and a look around town. Worthing seafront looks splendid today. After breakfast in town, I check out of the hotel and continue walking west. I had originally planned…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 99
Thursday 17th November 2022 BRIGHTON TO WORTHING As forecast, the rain of the past two days has blown through, and I leave the hostel and continue west along the prom in bright sunshine. It’s a bit chilly and the wind is still fairly strong, but otherwise it’s a fine Winter’s day and I’m in…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 98
Wednesday 16th November 2022 NEWHAVEN TO BRIGHTON The other man in the dorm gets up early and leaves as suddenly and silently as he arrived. The lights come back on at exactly 5.30am and I happen to already be awake. I get up to switch them off, as well as a tap in the…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 97
Tuesday 15th November 2022 EASTBOURNE TO NEWHAVEN If yesterday felt like June, today slaps me in the face and reminds me that it’s definitely November. I can already see it’s raining when I check out of the lovely Burlington Hotel and step out onto the prom, but I’m unprepared for the force of the…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 96
Monday 14th November 2022 ST LEONARDS TO EASTBOURNE Today I’m back on the walking – St Leonards to Eastbourne this time. So, after a huge breakfast I catch the train back to St Leonards. Something has gone terribly wrong at Southern Rail and the train leaves on time. I’ve a good mind to demand…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 95
Sunday 13th November 2022 I check out of the hotel and have my backpack with me again. This is another sightseeing day – Pevensey Castle this time, site of William the Conqueror’s landing in England. I flash my English Heritage card and take the audio tour. A little bit Roman, a little bit Norman,…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 94
Saturday 12th November 2022 I’m not doing any walking today. I’ve factored in a couple of sightseeing days over the weekend. This is one of the reasons this coast walk is taking so many years – lots of faffing around when I should be walking. Today I’ll visit the Battle of Hastings site. Earlier…
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BRITISH COAST WALK – DAY 93
Friday 11th November 2022 RYE TO ST LEONARDS Despite what my last couple of posts might suggest, I’m not always on the East coast. Sometimes, like this week, I’m on the South coast. This is the latest chapter in a long-running challenge to walk all the way around the coast of Great Britain. I…
Vole Explosion 