Tuesday 16 July 2013

Island #7 - Cramond Island

Cramond Island is situated in the Firth of Forth, due north of the village of Cramond, on the mainland. It is about 1/3rd of a mile across and about 19 acres in area.

Like St.Mary’s island, it is accessible on foot at low tide, for a period of 2 hours either side of low water.  I had first spied the mile long causeway to the island back in November 2012 when I had run the Edinburgh parkrun which starts on Silverknowes promenade, the western end of which is where the causeway starts. However on that crisp clear Saturday morning it was high tide, and it was the long row of equidistant triangles jutting above the waves that caught my attention, like the teeth of a crocodile ready to bite.

There must be quite a tidal range, for it was the mere tip of the iceberg I could see that day before me, at low tide the concrete teeth loom above you as you walk across the causeway, standing over 3m tall, ravaged by the Forth but still standing as a reminder of their original purpose to prevent enemy submarine entry during World War II.

The causeway itself starts out just a little lower than the promenade and in fairly reasonable, paved, condition. However after about 150m you are required to drop onto a rough battered stone foundation just above the sand level with little assistance other than a few roughly hewn steps into the end of the higher level, or the adjacent pillar.

The majority of the causeway can just about permit three abreast, and hasn’t been maintained well. Despite this, and being a sunny day, this is a popular walk, though footwear choice didn’t seem top of most peoples agenda, sandals and heels being some of the poorer choices.

The condition of the causeway and the mass visitors were a good indicator for the island as a whole – not much to write home about. Basically an unkempt patch of land with a few wartime ruins dotted about that potentially had interest but in reality were quickly passed by. Once on the island I walked up a sandy path to the top of a small hill, and took in the island’s best feature, the vast views afforded in all directions, over to Fife, up to the Forth bridges, and towards Edinburgh, with Arthur’s seat, and some of the Seven Hills I had earlier run up visible as a backdrop.

In comparison to those hills, this island was sadly a nothing, somewhere for Edinburgh folk to come and loiter it seems, by the endless glass shards from alcohol, burnt out patches of land marking barbeque bases, and graffiti on the crumbling brick and concrete relics. The remaining land was untidy, scrubland and overgrown for the most part, but while what could be read of the vandalised noticeboards promised some wildlife, at low tide it probably beats a hasty retreat until the island becomes empty once more.

In the middle of the island it was so overgrown you could not tell you were surrounded by sea/sand, and the whole place could have been anywhere left to nature’s own devices, land locked or sea bound. On one hand, this is no bad thing, the hand of humanity is slowly being washed away, apart from summer days when four hours of action take place. But it does suggest that an important part is played by man in shaping the atmosphere on an island, be that in what he builds, or in this case what he does – this was an island where quiet was needed, but today was the wrong day for that.
As I headed back to the mainland with less than an hour to spare people still walked outwards, perhaps the island is too tempting a target to ignore for those out for a Sunday stroll, but a quick google leads to many stories of lifeboat rescues for those trapped by the tide. Conversely, I could be wrong, but no effort seems to be going into the maintenance of the causeway so soon boat may be the way to go?  The sands do remain to walk on, but they are crossed by a few channels of water, one thing is for sure, the giant teeth will point the way for many years to come…

VITAL STATISTICS – Cramond Island
Mode of Transport – Foot
Distance Travelled on Island– 1000m
High Point – 28m

Population – 0
Area – 19 acres
Largest Town – n/a
Highest Point – 28m

LINKS

Friday 14 June 2013

Island #6 - St.Mary's Island

Island #6 – St.Mary’s Island

Here was another island I was not aware of until scoping out islands to visit.
St.Mary’s island is situated at the north end of Whitley Bay, and is tidal, connected to the main line by a causeway that is walkable only at low tide.
Happily, low tide coincided with Saturday morning, as so I was able to visit St.Mary’s after doing the Whitley Bay parkrun.
Upon arriving at Whitley Bay seafront by bus, the island was instantly visible to the north, as it is dominated by the whitewashed lighthouse, built in 1898, which last shone in 1984. However due to the wide promenade sweeping towards the lighthouse, it was not quite clear how far removed from the coastline the island was.
As I warmed up for the parkrun on a delightful morning under clear, crisp skies, it became clear to me it was achievable to run to the island as part of my warm down. Race over, I ran about a mile and half down the beach, already busy with dog walkers and keen children, ready to take advantage of the first true summer weekend of the year. As the coastline swung round to the east towards the tip and the start of the causeway, the beach became rocky and slippery, so it was necessary to take the sea wall to complete the journey to the causeway. As the full view of the island became apparent, I could see the causeway was about 150m long at most, across the rocky sands.
The island itself is very small, probably no bigger than a football pitch. Apart from the lighthouse and attached cottage, now serving as a visitor centre and refreshment room, there is also a stone cottage which appeared to be occupied. Unfortunately at this early stage on a Saturday, everything was closed.
Looking over the walls that skirt most of the island, you could certainly envisage the island being bigger in the past and having been eroded by the sea, such was the extent of the rocky foreshore, which strangely, had a trig point sited upon it to one side.
However, I did have the island to myself, and so took a slow stroll round the outbuildings, reading the couple of displays on show, one which explained the history of the island, the other about the islands geology.
The island was originally called Bates Island after the owning family, of whom Thomas Bates was Queen Elizabeth I’s chief surveyor for Northumberland. There was a medieval chapel, containing Katherine’s light, which was wrongly confused with St.Mary and so the island was given an erroneous name. (Not to be confused with St.Mary’s Island in the Isles of Scilly). The chapel, and adjacent burial ground, were swept away when the lighthouse was built. There was once a pub on the island, The Square and Compass, but sadly for me, this closed in 1895 after the pub was found to be opening on Sundays.
When it is open, it is possible to climb the lighthouse and its 137 steps. Round to the back of the island, there was a bird hide, and the vast panorama of the North Sea, with large ships making their way to and from the Ports of Blyth, and Tyne. The sun shimmered brightly from the calm surface making it difficult to pick out much detail on the southward coast, only vague buildings and lines could be identified, but it was a decent view all the same. Very peaceful, and certainly island like, despite the close proximity of the mainland, the fact I was alone with the sea in front of me and the sun overhead, made this a very pleasant moment.

Within 20 minutes I had seen all there was to see here, without the facilities being open, and it was time to run back to Whitley Bay Leisure Centre for a shower and breakfast. A very short visit, but a very rewarding one, there are much worse ways to spend your Saturday morning.

VITAL STATISTICS – St.Mary's Island
Mode of Transport – Foot
Distance Travelled on Island–150 meters
High Point – approx 15ft
Population – ?
Area – ?Largest Town - n/a
Highest Point – 15ft

LINKS

Friday 19 April 2013

Island #5 - Isle of Wight


I had visited the Isle of Wight before, under the auspices of Ironman training, and was pleasantly looking forward to returning. An account of that visit can be found here: http://i-not-m.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/bike-of-wight-friday-26-th-and-saturday.html
As England’s largest island, the Isle of Wight has a lot to offer the tourist, and I was planning to take advantage of one of these aspects, on a railway journey. Firstly, you have to decide how to get there. There are plenty of options, from the shortest crossing, Lymington to Yarmouth, or ferries from Southampton to Cowes. As I was still in Portsmouth it came down to a three way fight between the car ferry to Fishbourne, the catamaran at Ryde or the hovercraft to Ryde.
 Fishbourne wasn’t really where I wanted to go, and while I was quite intrigued by the hovercraft option, however, their website tells me the bike would have to go on the panniers on the outside of the hovercraft, which I wasn’t convinced by. That left the catamaran which conveniently left from Portsmouth Harbour adjacent to the railway station, and arrives at Ryde Pier Head, where there is also a railway station. Factor in the availability of an all in one ticket covering boat, Island Line and the Isle of Wight steam railway and I was sold.

Rather lazily, but under the excuse of getting the full public transport experience, I took the train from Fratton to Portsmouth Harbour on the Tuesday morning, and wheeled my bike off the train and down the ramp into the adjoining ferry terminal, where there was no queue and I got my ticket with little fuss, though it did come in five parts for each leg of the journey. A couple of minutes later and the gate to the boat was opened and I wheeled my bike into the cross passage next to the lounge and locked it in place, there was a very good capacity for bikes, at least 20 I’d say.

Unfortunately the crew were, literally, scrubbing the decks and so we were confined to the lounge for the 08.50 sailing to Ryde. This meant I didn’t get a great view of the ships of Portsmouth Harbour or the Spinaker tower. However, the weather was rather fine, which was lucky given the conditions so far in 2013. Out into the Solent and we did shake from side to side a bit, but nothing uncomfortable. Like Hayling Island, a map of the Isle of Wight was available, but it was plastered in adverts and I binned it in favour of prior knowledge with iPhone backup. The hovercraft came speeding past about halfway across, bouncing like a skimming stone, which in effect, I guess it almost is. It was a lot smaller than I imagined, and I felt I had made the right decision to have my bike where I could see it.
Even with the superior speed of the hovercraft, this is not a slow ferry, and in about 25 minutes we were at Ryde Pier Head. The foot passengers disembarked, of whom there must have been about 30, so hardly busy but I may have been going ‘against the flow’ so early in the day. Again, a swift, smooth process. Then I wheeled my bike off and up into the Pier Head to board the train.
Now, I must underline the fact that the line from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin is part of the national network. You can buy through tickets and use railcards. To the uninitiated it would appear to be a heritage railway. In one sense it is, for the line uses 1938 built ex-Bakerloo line stock, as you can see. By far the oldest stock on the national network. The Isle of Wight once had an extensive network of railways radiating to all points from the main town of Newport, half of which fell before the Beeching axe, and the other half pencilled in under the Reshaping of British Railways report. However the Ryde Pier Head to Ventnor line survived, though curtailed at Shanklin. Formerly all the Isle of Wight’s railways were steam operated, but the tunnel under Ryde Town was prone to regular flooding. Therefore the floor of the tunnel was raised and the Bakerloo line trains, with their smaller profile, sent to provide a service, with the line electrified using the third rail.
There are six two car units, of which two are required to provide the service. In another quirk, the line operates on a 40/20 minute frequency due to the uneven provision of passing points along the single line. With longitudinal seating it wasn’t really clear where to put my bike, but I lodged it in the far vestibule and took my seat, admiring the historic interior of the train. It isn’t really clear why South West trains haven’t replaced the Bakerloo line trains with something more recently retired, such as the original Victoria line stock, though I suspect it may be something to do with signalling compatibility. However, you would think the cost of converting 6 of those units must compare, at least in the long term, with the expense of keeping these 75 year old trains going. Much kudos to the fleet guys at Ryde St.John’s depot.
Anyway, we soon scuttled away from the station and down the pier at 15mph. This is faster than the 10mph permitted on the other half of the pier by cars and bikes. A couple of years ago, the pier was found to be in need of major work to keep it structurally sound and was closed for several months whilst repairs on the road side were carried out. (The trains still ran) There is now a £1 charge to drive down the Pier. At the Pier Head is a large car park, where people park their cars before boarding the Catamaran. I think I would rather park my car on dry land and walk or train down the Pier. But then I don’t have a car.
We pulled into Ryde Esplanade station, which sits right at the land end of the Pier. I got off here as I wanted to see Ryde, which I didn’t do last time, and also to have some breakfast. A fair few people got on here. The station has that reassuringly English air of seaside dereliction about it, now being far too grand and expansive for its purpose. On the left, on the beach, was the hovercraft, which appear to just run up onto the Beach, with a terminal building on land. Not sure why this surprised me, as this is what logic would dictate a hovercraft would do. Maybe I was expecting some kind of cover like a giant bike shed. I think they must have this on the Portsmouth side.
Ryde Esplanade looked fairly pleasant in the morning sun, plenty of whitewhashed Victorian buildings, but mostly aimed at the tourist. Coming away at right angles, and steep angles, from the seafront, were the shopping streets containing all your regular outlets. At the top of one of these, was S.Fowler &co., the Wetherspoons outlet, named after the department store that was the previous use of the building. Must have been quite a small department store, or over several floors as the pub wasn’t massive. One Holy trinity plus breakfast later and I freewheeled down the hill back to the station for the 40 minutes later train to the other end of the line at Shanklin.
The line dips immediately down into a steep short cutting before the tunnel under Ryde, and at the other end is Ryde St.John’s Road station. Quite a few people got on here, all the stations are fitted out in old BR Souther Region style, with green totems and paintwork. St. John’s Road is also home to the depot, as previously mentioned. We headed south, and despite the maximum attainable speed being 45mph, it feels far more than that, perhaps due to being sat sideways, but also due to being shaken around a bit en route! Swiftly we were in pleasant pastoral countryside, rolling hills with spring just beginning to show after a harsh winter. We cut straight through Smallbrook Junction, of which more later, and following more countryside, pulled into Brading station. Here the signal box, which was only decommissioned in 1988 following the signalling of the line here, and the disused platform, are preserved. The remaining platform houses a small museum. The signs said open. I wasn’t aware of this amenity beforehand, and was planning to hang around Shanklin before the next train back. I decided Brading looked a more favourable option.
Southwards we swept, and now the sea came into view on the eastern flank of the island, but this view was soon taken away by the strip of built up land that accompanies the coast, comprising of Sandown and Shanklin, which basically merge into one another, as we found on the cycle trip. In between is Lake station, which was opened in 1988 as a more recent show of investment in the line.
The end of the line at Shanklin has its original building still, and is a staffed station still. I had a quick look around but we weren’t there for long due to the need to maintain the timetable on the single line sections. It is a classic piece of non-joined up thinking that the line no longer continues to Ventnor, providing a link to the south of the island, and while it would be physically possible to reinstate the link, the cost means that realistically it will not happen.
Back at Brading, and such is the historic nature of the station building, I struggled to open the door  to gain access, it was very stiff. Inside was a lovely example of a staffed country wayside station, which appeared to looked after by a nice retired couple who were busy keeping things spick and span. There was a little café, and a display of books, whilst in the former waiting room an exhibition of exhibits from all of the Isle of Wight’s railways past and present.
Sadly I was getting the train 20 minutes later as this would have been a lovely spot to have a coffee and pretend I was in the 50’s, but I had to connect with the steam train. This is done at Smallbrook Junction, which was opened on both the Island Line and the Isle of Wight steam railway in 1989 for that precise purposes. It is an interchange station only open on days when the steam railway operates, and even then only connecting trains stop, as we saw on the way out.
The steam railway has no physical connection with the main (!) line, and covers the route of the line that ran from Newport to Ryde. In the early years of preservation they were based at Newport, but in another act of foresight, were evicted from Newport station site to make way for a by pass, so the line now runs as far at Wooton, about 3 miles short from Newport.
The train was immaculate and probably the best heritage stock I’ve boarded, exempting the L&Y saloon at Keighley, as it was comprised predominantly of original Southern compartment stock. Luxurious indeed. The helpful guard put my bike in his van, and I just about managed to find a compartment to myself, being half term this was a busy train, despite being the first of the day.
In no time at all we steamed out of Smallbrook and curved around westwards to proceed in the Newport direction. Slow progress was made through the arable land, pleasant going, though there was much in the way of trees to obscure the view in places. We passed through Astley halt, which I believe is for walkers, and after a short while we arrived at Havenstreet which is the main hub for the railway. Here a lot more people got on, and I was joined in my compartment by a family of 5. I would have liked to explore the station, with all the facilities such as museum, loco shed and bookshop on offer, but time did not allow, as the next train west was 2 hours away. The scenery remained unchanged as I enjoyed the final stretch to Wooton.
Here a couple of noticeboards highlighted that this was not the Wooton station of old, it was previously on the other side of the road bridge. This was because the land on the other side of the embankment was unstable and kept slipping down onto the track from the non-platform side, and also due to the rising gradient was unsuitable as a terminus where engines need to run-round trains. Therefore the replacement Wooton station was modified to be on a flatter plain, and is now 10ft lower than the old station. This precludes extending the line towards Newport, especially as the council have filled the road bridge in to provide additional stability.
Over the road, the old trackbed is now a cycle path, and taking my road tyres for a risky ride, I decided to cycle down it. There certainly didn’t seem to be any further evidence of land slippage, so perhaps a reassessment can be made so a link with Newport can be established once more. Given the horrendous traffic I encountered in Newport, this is worth a look. After ¾ of a mile came a road crossing, and rather than push my luck further down the cycle path towards Newport, I joined the road for the final 2½ miles into the town.
The road got steadily busier with traffic joining from both side, until we hit a gyratory in Newport itself where everything was at a standstill controlled by lights from all directions. Luckily in the middle of this island was my destination, the Isle of Wight’s other Wetherspoons, which is situated on the site of Newport station.
I hadn’t been to Newport before and was genuinely surprised by the level of traffic, I didn’t expect it on an island. Not keen to hang around, I had my pint and looked at the route to Cowes. Again there was a cycle path along the old railway, but would it be tarmac. I wasn’t keen on the parallel main road, but these seemed the only two options. After a bit of a waver through the town, I rode down to the River Medina and picked up the path, which to my great relief, was pristine tarmac. It also has a 10mph speed restriction for cyclists, despite being straight and flat. Who heard of such a thing? I imagined a policeman with his speed trap in the bushes to catch people doing 11mph. No idea how cyclists are able to work out their speed anyway. I had my Garmin on which helped, but on such a smooth flat surface it was very difficult to go so slow, and I think I averaged between 11 and 12 mph.
With the river to my right, this was a very pleasant ride, with small boats bobbing along and low lying meadowland beyond, but it wasn’t all nature, as along the riverbank were also signs of industry, some ship maintenance buildings and a giant modern building which looked as though it was a recycling centre. In no time at all I had covered the five miles to Cowes and the cycle path left the old formation as it was covered in housing and I joined the parallel road into Cowes itself.
My plan here was to take the chain ferry across the Medina to East Cowes and then cycle back to Ryde. The cycle signs helpfully pointed to ‘East Cowes (via Ferry}’ but before I reached the ferry, a small park appeared at the end of the housing estate to the left, at the end of which was the bricked up portal of the former railway. It barely looked big enough for me and the bike let alone a train. I do find these lost relics of our past, discarded all too swiftly, fascinating.
Down to the Harbour side, and the road, flanked by tight terraces to the right, and dockyards to the left, dropped down to the sea forming a slipway where the chain ferry was waiting. A queue of cars was waiting, which must prove a nuisance to those living in the road. Wikipedia actually refers to the ferry as a floating bridge such is the short distance across the river, but this is a vital link across the Medina which is a busy maritime area, hence the lack of bridge.
The boat is free for foot passengers and bikes, who can reside in the covered passageways on the flank of the boat, which contain useful boards describing the history of the crossing over the years.
The chains cranked up and we went across, even on this short trip a yacht crossed in front, I imagine during Cowes week careful navigation is required. Onto the other side and everybody left up the steep ramp on the other side, whilst an Elderly lady with a zimmerframe made steady progress towards to boat. I don’t think there is a timetable, it just travels back and forth as required. A novel but useful form of travel.
Up the hill out of East Cowes, I was now retracing my steps of 2009, which was to follow the Isle of Wight cycleway, which has very prominent signs. I passed another cyclist with full panniers crawling up the hill, and then swept past Osborne House, home of course to Queen Victoria in her later years. Another one for another day. I pushed the pace on a bit to get some semblance of a workout from the day, and as previously experience, the Isle of Wight is deceptively hilly. I knew there would be a hill approaching Ryde, but it was a long one. Unfortunately quite a busy road too, with the usual impatient motorists.
I was quite relieved to be able to freewheel down the hill into Ryde and back onto the Pier, having to deal with this 10mph speed limit was easier as the cars streaming down the pier set the pace for me. Quite a surreal experience cycling along the pier, but having being recently renovated, it was a smooth wooden surface.
I had 20 minutes to wait for the sailing back to Portsmouth, could have got a bite to eat but the food at the Pier Head was astronomically priced. This 14.05 sailing was a lot more busy than the morning sailing and there was a bit of a wait to get on board. That said, everything ran to time and I was soon back at Portsmouth reflecting on a relaxing and pleasant day. A lot of the Isle of Wight is based on tourism and I imagine gets quite busy, but there is enough there for everyone, and the island is large enough to have quiet and peaceful places to enjoy things to yourself. Well worth a visit.

VITAL STATISTICS – Isle of Wight
Mode of Transport – Catamaran /Train/Bike/Chain Ferry
Distance Travelled on Island–16m
High Point – 182ft, Whippingham

Population – 138,040 (2001)
Area – 384sq  km
Largest Town - Newport
Highest Point – St Boniface Down, 791ft

LINKS

Friday 12 April 2013

Island #3 Portsea Island & Island #4 Hayling Island


Portsea Island and Hayling Island

Silly, silly me. In my first island visit report, I rashly claimed that by taking the train to Sheppey I was making probably the only rail connection to an island in Britain. Nobody wrote in to correct me, so either no one is reading, or they too were unaware of Portsea Island.
I must admit, I thought Portsea Island was a peninsula, being land connected at the north end, but there is a channel of water, albeit very narrow and tough to distinguish on an OS map, that makes Portsmouth an island city.
The misapprehension was maintained even as I arrived, by train, from Havant. It was only when I was on Hayling Island and I checked the population on Wikipedia that Portsea came into being as an island in my mind. Portsea is the most populous island in Britain.
Dominated by Portsmouth and adjacent Southsea, this is clearly a maritime area, as most would appreciate even from afar. Portsmouth has a rich naval heritage.
It also has a football team, which was the main reason for my visit, not as an island, so this was an unexpected bonus to add to the tally. We won’t talk about the football, but we will talk about the sea, there is that unmistakable sea breeze present throughout Portsmouth which reminds you there is water nearby. The problem being that as you head north, i.e. towards the mainland, you really get the feeling you are heading inland, rather than just north on an island, such is the proximity of the mainland and the narrowness of the straight separating the two. The near constant urban sprawl, consisting predominantly or tightly packed terraces or metallic light industrial units, hardly breaks until you reach the M27 and the Hampshire mainland. And at this point, the sense is more of leaving a city than leaving an island. Uniquely, I believe (!) the road signs in Portsmouth direct you ‘Out of City’, rather than say, London or Southampton. Quite strange as if you took the car ferry to the Isle of Wight that would be ‘Out of City’ technically but that isn’t what they mean. To be fair, the endless mass of residential streets in parallel could leave a lost motorist in limbo for quite a while.
Or indeed, a lost cyclist. But I didn’t get lost, as I followed my nose, and a general bearing, through Southsea (where Portsmouth ended and Southsea began I have no idea) onto the promenade. Having spotted the promenade on the map, I thought I would cycle it’s southern facing length to the Hayling ferry. An experience user of promenades, I imagined this would be the best way to see the English Channel also. I was wrong. Inexpicably, cyclists are banned from cycling on the promenade. Like most promenades, it is wide, indeed  I would say this one is wider than most. More than enough room for a cycle lane. Instead cyclists are directed to a green (waste of paint, always) cycle lane on the adjacent, BUT LOWER, road. This meant that I could not see the sea for the most part. Even more bizarrely, the main cycle lane was on the right hand side of the road, for both directions, meaning cyclists heading east had cars going west passing head on. To cap it off, at various intervals, on the correct, landwards side of the road, a cycle lane appeared intermittently to tease and confuse anyone in the green lane. I myself kept to the correct side of the road, cycle lane or no cycle lane, hidden from the sea and buffeted by a channel of wind.
 To be fair, it would have been a pleasant walk, there were plenty of gardens and grassed areas, tennis courts, bowling greens and the like, but it was a frustrating cycle, particularly as it was a pleasant spring evening and hardly busy on the promenade.

I did have the temptation of the Hayling ferry to aim for, so I pressed on passed newer developments of standard apartment blocks at the eastern tip of the island, flanked by various boating and yachting clubs. These covered the end of the island so a detour inland was required to reach the ferry departure point, though this was well signposted into the district of Eastney, named for obvious reasons, being at the Eastern edge of things.
The road opened onto a wide concrete jetty pointing into the large, natural Langstone harbour. Hayling Island was barely 200m away eastwards as the harbour funnels through a narrow straight into the English Channel.
The ferry had a small landing stage reached over a narrow corrugated metal bridge. It is for foot passengers only, or bike passengers in my case.
Having discovered that the boat existed to cross to the island, it was quite difficult to find information on the timetable and fares etc., - it appears that despite being a key link for people who don’t own a car it isn’t a council service and is operated on a private, commercial basis. Hayling Island is otherwise only accessible at the Northern end over the Langstone Bridge, which is a significant detour that certainly could not be walked. I was on the 6 o’clock sailing to Hayling, which was the penultimate one of the day at this time of year. I believe the sailing hours are extended in summer but you can see that the island is quite cut off in the evenings otherwise. Having said that, not many people don’t own cars. The timetable only appears to be accessible via Facebook which doesn’t seem ideal to me.
Anyway, onto the boat, which wasn’t very big at all, with about half exposed and half undercover. I had a bit of trouble getting inside thanks to the bizarre sliding door. Clearly the other four or five people on board were regulars as they looked at me as if I was dumb. I then handed the Captain the £2.60 fare for the single crossing, and spot on 6pm, off we went. There was quite a swell across the narrow channel, and we certainly bobbed our way across, I imagine on a smooth day this sailing is quick and painless but we took our time today and coasted over the waves. Although it was by now, a very pleasant evening we were certainly exposed to the wind.
On board, I picked up a very handy ‘cycling map of Hayling Island’ which was just what the doctor ordered, good work from the cycling Hayling group indeed!
A similar landing stage and bridge greeted us on the other side, and off we went. I stopped for a couple of photos, and then remounted the bike to head eastwards.
Hayling Island is shaped a bit like a top hat, with the aforementioned road access at the very north end, and I had arrived at the end of the Western spit. It is 4 miles wide and 4 miles long at its longest points. Most of the population lives along the southern coast, in South Hayling. Roman artefacts have been found at North end, and like most places, the oldest building is the church of St Peter, where it is claimed one of the oldest peals in England still remains.
The road eastwards kept in touch with the harbour on the left and a golf course took up the land to the right. After almost a mile, residential buildings appeared on the left, but the golf course remained on the right. Gradually things got more built up and some flats appeared on the right, but then they gave way, and the golf course gave away to some public open land, beyond which, beach huts could be seen along the seafront. I then reached a roundabout where a fairground stood the right, with the occasional scream bellowing out. I turned towards the beach, which was shingle, but there was not a soul in sight, very surprising given it was a bank holiday and the weather was about as fine as it had been all year. An information board gave out facts about the beach and water quality, which showed that one week in 2012 E-Coli had been detected. Fear not, it wasn’t there the following week.
Back on the bike, and back eastwards, and like on Cumbrae it was pleasing to note the number of independent businesses, though like everywhere it seems, a sizeable proportion were takeaway outlets. How do they all survive? I then noticed that I was parallel with a miniature railway which appears to start in the fairground but was a least a mile long. Cars were warned to exercise caution when crossing the line to access the beach, like in Southsea it was disappointing the road did not afford sea views. At the end of the line there was a skate park and basketball area, with a mural of London 2012 athletes, most of whom won a medal (or was it done post games?) The road now turned inland and so I made it my aim to reach the eastern tip of the island, which I did by following the lines for the lifeboat station. This took me through some bog standard residential areas, again, it was very quiet, which leads me to believe this may well be a retirement destination. Reaching the eastern edge a wonderful vista opened up into Chichester harbour with the West Sussex hills beyond. The next land east which takes you down to Selsey Bill, was not as close as the entrance to Langstone Harbour but was certainly a lot narrower than the expanse of water it protected. The lifeboat station stood guard here and at the northern end was a yacht club. It was a peaceful calm scene, ideal for a spot of reflection as the sun’s increasingly golden glow shone down off the water, but this also meant daylight was ending, time to start heading for the main.
On the way out I had spotted signs for the Station Theatre, which had gained my attention so I decided to cycle past to see if it was the old station building. Hayling Island was served by a branch line from Havant, colloquially known as the ‘Hayling Billy’ due to the puffing Billy engine that hauled the carriages. It closed in 1963, as the bridge linking it to the mainline over the northern edge of Langstone Harbour was deemed too expensive to repair despite the fact the line actually returned a profit. As I later saw, the bridge wasn’t massive so this appears to be a classically short-sighted decision of the Beeching era. The length of the line on the island is now the Hayling Billy leisure trail and cycle way, indeed a family cycled on by as I read the information board providing some of the information on the former railway. However the surface was rough and stony, so not suitable for my trusty steed. Looking at the theatre, I guessed it was a new building on the site of the station, but Wikipedia corrects me, it was the former goods shed apparently. Some extensive restoration of the brick work must have taken place as it seemed new and clean.
Onwards, and through the area of south Hayling called West Town, I passed some shops with old style awnings and massive window displays, one was a tailors I think, which added to the retiring atmosphere, to complete the image, the phone number was ‘Hayling xxxx’ which I don’t think would get me very far these days. I entered another part of South Hayling which was called Mengham, but I’ll gloss over this part as it contained a Sainsbury’s local, Natwest and other such ubiquitous names, but there was a pub called Hayling Billy, though this looked the date from after the existence of Billy himself.
I turned onto West Lane and the buildings ended, I was now on the road north, parallel with the railway. This was the secondary road north and was quite exposed, with farmland either side, but few hedges or trees. After a couple of sharp bends we inevitably joined the main (only) road off the island for the last mile or so to Langstone bridge. Shortly before we reached the bridge, there was a lay by which gave fantastic views left into Langstone harbour, with the setting sun silhouetted against the Portsmouth skyline and the Spinaker tower. In the immediate foreground but beyond the rocky shallows at the waters edge, was a grassy embankment. This was where the railway travelled before joining the bridge over the narrow straight separating the Hampshire mainland and the island. Remarkably, a lone but derelict signal post stood sentry as a reminder of former glories. With the concrete road bridge dating from 1956 to the right it was clear how short the rail bridge would have been, and some of the pillars still stand still in the water having resisted demolition. I wonder how bad the traffic can get over the road bridge when it gets busy.
Another memorable location in the bank, it was over the road bridge and back to Portsea island on the train from Havant.
Once back in Portsmouth I had a couple of pints in the late evening passing through the shopping centre of Portsmouth and through the Guildhall and adjacent square, where despite being a massive, and I mean massive pedestrianised area, cycling was again prohibited.  The building themselves were nice though, as was the beer from the Irving brewery with associated naval names like dreadnought.
Hayling Island is certainly a very pleasant place to spend a few hours, and does give you that island feel thanks to the open views of the sea available, but arriving by boat is far more worthy than by road and certainly added to the experience. If Cumbrae was sleepy it seemed Hayling was dozing as I don’t think it would sustain the attention for quite as long.
As for Portsea, well it is an island, that cannot be denied, and Southsea seemed pleasant enough with some nice open spaces and things to do such as the Pier and Fair. But such is the mass of Portsmouth that the urban sprawl dominates and it really is an island in name only. And don’t try and cycle anywhere, they won’t let you.

VITAL STATISTICS – Portsea Island
Mode of Transport – Train/Bike
Distance Travelled on Island– 8m
High Point – Not much above sea  level

Population – 147,088 (2001)
Area – 24sq  km
Largest City – Portsmouth
Highest Point – 21ft, Kingston Cross

LINKS

VITAL STATISTICS – Hayling Island
Mode of Transport – Boat/Bike
Distance Travelled on Island– 9m
High Point – Not much above sea  level

Population – 16,887(2001)
Area – 12sq.miles
Largest Town – South Hayling
Highest Point – 20ft, St.Mary’s church

LINKS


Where Have I Been Before?


UK Islands I have visited before 2013
  • ·         Hilbre Island
  • ·         Middle Hilbre
  • ·         Little Eye
  • ·         Isle of Wight
  • ·         Anglesey
  • ·         Holy Island
  • ·         Mull
  • ·         Skye
  • ·         Barra
  • ·         South Uist
  • ·         Benbecula
  • ·         Lewis and Harris
  • ·         Isle of Man