The Solent Way - Milford-on-Sea to South Baddesey
You can make a detour from the Solent Way to visit Hurst Castle, which lies at the end of Hurst Spit. You can either walk along the shingle bank or take a ferry from Keyhaven.

Hurst Spit is a huge shingle bank that protects the whole Western Solent from the prevailing winds and waves; it also shelters large areas of saltmarsh and mud flats that provide habitats for rare species. In recent years Hurst Spit has been under increasing danger of being breached and work is regularly carried out to prevent this. In 1997 barges transported 124,000 tonnes of rock from Norway, together with 300,000 cubic metres of shingle dredged from nearby shingle banks. website

Henry VIII built Hurst Castle in 1544 to defend the western end of the Solent from possible invasion by the French. King Charles I was imprisonment here until his execution in 1648, he used to take his exercise walking along the spit. In the Second World War it was used as a coastal battery, two 38-ton guns are still in place. website

The walk continues through the small coastal village of Keyhaven. It has a popular sailing club website, a small family-run boatyard website, and a local pub, the Gun Inn.

The Solent Way from Keyhaven to Lymington is through a Nature Reserve, an area of outstanding beauty and classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. There are magnificent views of the Isle of Wight.

For hundreds of years until the mid 19th century a major salt industry thrived along this coastline. As you walk along this area of the Solent Way you’ll notice a series of lagoons called Salterns, these were used to collect the seawater, then once evaporation had taken place the brine solution was drawn off by wind pumps into metal basins and heated until only the salt remained.

The lagoons, reeds beds, salt marsh and mud flats support a number of vulnerable plants and rare species and provide rich feeding grounds for a wide variety of birds. The lagoons also support nationally important breeding populations of little terns

This coastline is actually one of the most popular places in the UK for watching birds with sightings of a wide variety of migrants.
The common waders seen all year round are the, Curlew, Dunlin, Little Egret, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Ringed Plover, and with regular migrants such as the Ruff, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Greenshank and the Green Sandpiper at the end of the summer.
Wildfowl in good numbers during winter include, Canada Goose, Brent Goose, Mallard, Pintail, Shelduck, Shoveler, Red-Breasted Merganser, Teal and Wigeon with divers and grebes as regular visitors.
Other regular birds include the Avocet, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Grey Plover, Golden Plover and a large breeding colony of Black-Headed Gulls.
Some of the many birds passing through that are commonly seen are, wagtails, pipits and the Dartford Warbler. For the latest news on bird sightings in this area from the New Forest RSPB News Archive please click here

At the end of the Keyhaven to Lymington Nature Reserve the Solent Way passes through the Haven Boatyard. There is a restaurant here should you want to stop.

Turn right out of the boatyard and just a few yards along you will pass the Open-Air Seawater Baths (built in 1833), Lymington Town Sailing Club and the Royal Lymington Yacht Club. The Mayflower Hotel/Public House is here should you want to stop for a drink.

From here follow Bath Road until you come to the Town Quay, continue up Quay Street (if you’d like to make a detour, Lymington High Street is to the left up Quay Hill) and at the end of Quay Street turn right down a path leading to Mill Street.

At the end of Mill Lane continue along Waterloo Road and turn right into Bridge Road to cross over the river. In 1731, without approval, Captain William Cross built of a dam across the river here and charged a toll; it altered the river such that larger vessels could no longer navigate the river.

Once across the river turn right along Undershore Road until you come to Old Ferry House (first House on the right), cross over the road and continue up Monument Hill. The monument at the top of the hill was erected in memory of Sir Harry Burrard in who1841 was Mayor of Lymington for a number of years. He was a close friend of George III and his sister modelled many times for Gainsborough.

Turn right done Monument Lane and after 50 yards turn left along a gravel road (the sign is low down and normally covered by weeds). The Solent Way then passes to the right of the Walhampton Golf Club with a Pick-Your-Own fruit farm (May-July) and Elmers Court Country Club on the right.

Generally keep going straight, you’ll pass through a small woodland and then out into Snooks Lane. Turn left for 30 yards and then turn right along a wide track passing through fields. At the end of these fields and on the left is Lymington Airfield, which in 1944 was the base for 80 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers of the American 50th Fighter Group.

Turn right down Shotts Lane, cross over Baddesey Road and continue for a further 500 yards. Here the Solent Way turns left across the fields and through the Pylewell estate. It’s not uncommon to see deer along here. You'll eventually come to a lake and to the left the Solent Way crosses a stream and after about 100 yards you rejoin the Baddesey Road.