Oh I do like to be beside the seaside..

Yesterday evening we decided to have a day out cycling on Hayling Island. My husband  had only been musing on the idea for a few days,  but  I suggested we should go now, before the school holidays begin. Shamefully, despite living only 30 minutes drive away, for 40 years, neither of us had ever visited Hayling Island.
So, this morning, we put our folding MiRIder e-bikes in the car and  drove to Havant, crossed  the bridge to the island, and  parked at the start of  the  Hayling Billy Leisure Trail, where we began our cycling tour of  discovery. The 4 mile trail follows the route of the  former Hayling Billy  railway along side Langstone Harbour,  to the south of the  island. (The old rail bridge  between the  mainland and island no longer exists) and it was  delightfully quiet. From there we went to the  far west tip  of the island where there is a small ferry to Portsmouth , and we treated ourselves to an ice cream. 
Revived, we cycled  eastwards along the south coast  path, which runs very close to  the beach.. On the inland side of the path  is open space, through which  the  Hayling Seaside Railway runs for about  one mile. It is 2ft narrow gauge, and  formerly was known as the East Hayling Light Railway and  ran in the Island's  Mill Rythe Holiday Camp, until  that closed, and the railway was relocated to its current route, 20 years ago. See extra for the loco Jack (built 1988 )which we saw doing a trial run, in readiness for the  daily summer schedule which starts tomorrow. You can see how much like a wild west desert the area  all looks, after the  blistering hot week we've had. We continued east wards to the lifeboat station on the eastern tip of the island, passing an eclectic collection of homes  and gardens all battling  to cope with  the seaspray and relentless sunshine.
We stopped for a rest  in the shade at  the RNLI  lifeboat station, and watched as hundreds of young sailors prepared to launch their one person ILCA racing dinghies for a regatta in Chichester harbour. (ILCA = International  Laser Class Association, I discovered later). See my main blip. Then we cycled back to the car, taking a slightly different route, through the old, much cooler,  centre of the island, via the 12th century Northney parish church.  We cycled in total about 24 miles over a leisurely  six hours. A great day out, cycling on  quiet paths and lanes, over almost flat  terrain. I already want to return!