Ascent/Descent:
negligible or negligible or 140m
Net
Walking Time: ca. 3 hours or 4 hours
or 4 ½ hours
Toughness:
1 out of 10 or 2 out of 10 or 3 out of 10
Take the
09.33 Portsmouth Harbour train from London Victoria (CJ 09.40, EC 09.49), arrives Southbourne 11.29. Or take
the 09.30 Portsmouth Harbour train from London Waterloo (CJ 09.39, Woking 10.04), change Havant
(10.56/11.18), arrives Southbourne 11.24.
Finishing in Emsworth: returns are xx.21 to Victoria and xx.32
and xx.44/54 to Waterloo via Havant.
Buy a return to the station furthest
away from your start point (Emsworth from Victoria, Southbourne from
Waterloo) or a Havant return (via any
permitted route), meaning you can
take any return to Victoria or Waterloo.
Finishing in
Havant or Rowlands Castle: returns from Havant are xx.07 and xx.50 to Waterloo and
xx.18 to Victoria, from Rowlands Castle they are hourly on xx.13. Buy a Havant return (via any permitted
route).
This is a (map-led) coastal walk along a peaceful
and remote sea wall around Thorney Island, a peninsular in tidal Chichester
Harbour, with an option to visit the sand dunes and beach of Pilsey Island. This
is a very short and flat walk, the only ascent being provided on an extension
to Rowlands Castle along the Sussex Border Path, initially through suburbia
then commons and woods.
The coastal path is part of the Sussex Border Path,
and this section of it is maintained by the army - the lower half of Thorney
Island is an army base. The coastal path is always open. Access is easy, but
strictly regulated, at 2 remote controlled gates with CCTV (one on the east,
one on the west of the island). You may
have to give your name or show ID on the way in, on the path, or on the way
out, on the other side of the island. In practise this isn't a problem.
The 2 highlights of the walk are both excellent
picnic spots:
·
the well-tended West Thorney church, in a
picturesque coastal position
·
Pilsey Island, an RSPB reserve, and despite the
name, a peninsular, connected to Thorney Island. It’s at the south east tip of
Thorney Island, the mid-point of the walk. Its eastern side is salt marsh which
is closed to the public (except for a landing stage for boats). The western
side, with public access, has a sandy beach, backed by sand dunes, with a very
large expanse of sand at low tide. You can walk out to the southern tip of the
island, along the beach, or inland through the sand dunes along a car-wide path
that leaves the main Thorney Island coast path.
The walk is mostly open, but along the southern 'coast',
there are a couple of short sections when the path is away from the coast or
enclosed by tall vegetation.
Extensions:
Extensions:
Add 1.5 km for an out-and-back to Pilsey Island.
Add 1.2 km for the 'Pretty Option' in Emsworth along a picturesque tidal lake.
Add up to 1.1 km near the end for a meander through Brook Meadow Local Nature Reserve.
An Alternative Finish in Havant, following the shoreline along the Solent Way, adds 5.7 km/3.5 mi.
Add 1.2 km for the 'Pretty Option' in Emsworth along a picturesque tidal lake.
Add up to 1.1 km near the end for a meander through Brook Meadow Local Nature Reserve.
An Alternative Finish in Havant, following the shoreline along the Solent Way, adds 5.7 km/3.5 mi.
An Alternative
Finish in Rowlands Castle, mostly through woods, adds 7.3 km/4.5 mi.
Lunch/Tea: Picnic or The
Traveller's Joy in Southbourne
(a Fuller’s pub near the start, a little off route on
the A 259,
food 12.00-20.00), or numerous options in Emsworth
and in Rowlands Castle
For map, height profile, photos
and gpx/kml files click here.
T=swc.180
3 comments:
7 off the Victoria train, 3 off the Waterloo one, who had definitely pulled the short straw: late incoming train plus subsequent delays plus cow on the line at Liss/Liphook = on course for being an hour behind the pace. Undaunted, we took a taxi from Havant and spent the time regained at the Traveller's Joy in Southbourne on a round of starters. We met the Victorians at Pilsey Island, where - due to the very low tide - they claimed it was beautiful but 'impossible to swim'. Lack of enthusiasm methinks: nice shallow wide sandy beach, just needed to be walked out along and waded into the channel...
Anyway, plenty of birdflife, bright blue skies, a persistent breeze and lots of sailing boats, everything a day out walking along the coast can offer.
Most of the group went to the Lord Raglan, the first pub en route in Emsworth, and then to the station, 1 went on to Havant, 2 left straighaway. The 3 Waterlooians walked the extension around the tidal lake and stopped at the Blue Bell for a refreshment. 17.32 train via Havant for those.
n=10 w=hot-with-a-strong-breeze
9 on the Victoria train. 2 did not do the Pilsey extension and walked on never to be seen again.
N=12
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