Weather: Misty then sunny .
Distance: 26 km (
miles) Total Distance: miles
There was a national train strike today so no chance of
getting a train as far as Lymington.
I could have caught a couple of buses but
decided to try my hand at hitching in the morning - a whole new concept.
I had
to walk into Brockenhurst to get a good spot to hitch near the railway station
but then almost the first car that past me stopped, a businessman on his way to
Lymington. I needed to get from there to
Milton-on-Sea so jumped on a bus only to find it was the wrong one and I had
just missed the correct one. Rather than wait for the next I walked out of the
town and tried hitching again. This time
was a bit of a longer wait but asfter a while I got a lift from another Scottish person as far
as Everton and then walked down to the sea through the village of Milton.
I soon picked up the sea wall that was to take me all
the way to Lymington. In the hamlet of Keyhaven I saw various individuals working on
their boats. From there on however I hardly saw anyone. The wall was in good
condition but was rough under-foot because it was flint. Near the Salterns, the
wall made a number of detours inland. One key lock gate was open so I had a
trek inland to the hamlet of Pennington. At last I got to Lymington - around
the Royal Yacht club asking a Dutchman where the path was. In Lymington I
stopped to buy a cake, chocolate and drink before heading up the river to cross
the road bridge.
From here on was a long section of minor road. I have
never seen so many private signs in my life. The access to the coast was
continuously blocked by private estates and their tenant farms. Tithe Barn at
St Lennords Grange was interesting since it used to be a collection point for
wool fleeces before export. The next point of interest was Bucklers yard - a
museum and restored street of houses perpendicular to the estuary. I used their
green phone box to call Margaret to tell her I was a little behind schedule,
before pressing on.
The next section up along the estuary to Beaulieu was
one of the best parts of the week. The path nearer the water meandered giving
good views of the water. At Beaulieu I waited for Margaret outside the pub having
what was a pretty poor pint of Boddingtons - served too cold I think.
We spent a while looking at the village - a little
disappointing. Sean and I bought a present for Margaret's birthday after she
told us the artificial flowers looked nice. We called in at the forest on the
way back and I chased Sean around a few trees.
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