On the Solent Way

A longish 'good in parts' walk (15 miles) to join and then walk part of the Solent Way.
To continue ticking off the Solent Way I needed to walk from Beaulieu to Hythe, then get the ferry over Southampton Water to the city and link up with another section I've already walked at the Itchen Bridge.

There are hardly any footpaths around Beaulieu; so after a pleasant walk through heath and forest I had to walk on road to the village. Then follow the Solent Way which runs on a busy road without a footpath for a mile before reaching more heath where I could get a bit of distance from the road.

Eventually I reached Hythe and enjoyed a sit down on the little pier train and ferry, before more road walking in Southampton.
All in all, the Solent Way is disappointing - there's lots of road walking between Lymington and Bucklers Hard too.

But some fine views and I met some fine animals along the way.

Extra 1 is the ancient train that rattles along the pier at Hythe to take you to the ferry.
Extra 2 is the pond at Hardley Bridge.