Hurst Castle.

/ Andy Finnegan / Leave a comment

More from Thursday’s boat trip to Hurst Spit. From1544, Hurst Castle has guarded the entrance to the Solent; on Hurst Spit, its strategic location meant the castle was destined to be a powerful fortress.

From its beginnings as one of King Henry VIII’s chain of artillery fortresses in 1544, the Victorians extended the fort into a large artillery battery along with other forts across the Solent on the Isle of Wight.– It remained in military use until 1956, playing an active role through both World Wars.

Currently, the castle is undergoing extensive repairs to a 38-metre section of the Victorian east wing wall, and gun emplacements that collapsed on 26th February 2021 following severe storm damage and coastal erosion that undercut its foundations

Below is a stock photo of the storm damage before repairs began.

Wheatear.

/ Andy Finnegan / 2 Comments

A UK robin-sized chat, the wheatear is a summer visitor, arriving here in early March and leaving in September for its African wintering grounds. There were several of these good-looking birds on Hurst Spit today. They are mainly ground-dwelling birds. It hops or runs on the ground looking for food.

Hurst Spit.

/ Andy Finnegan / 2 Comments

Today we took a small ferry to Hurst Castle. On the spit, there is a lighthouse.

Hurst Point Lighthouse was built by Trinity House in 1867 to guide vessels through the hazardous western approaches to the Solent

The lighthouse was automated in 1923 and is now monitored and controlled from Trinity House’s Planning Centre in Harwich, Essex.

The old keeper’s cottages have fallen into disrepair.

Tidal stretch of the Hamble.

/ Andy Finnegan / 2 Comments

Along the River Hamble from Warsash, a favourite short walk for Sunday morning. Nothing new today but some old favourites

The tide was on the turn and starting to come in.

Blacktail Godwitts – there were good numbers of these waders, which have now lost their summer breeding plumage.

A high number of Little Egrets were on the river and in the surrounding areas.

Turnstone

Ring Plover.

Aftermath.

/ Andy Finnegan / 5 Comments

Today we walked into an area of the New Forest where we regularly walk about a six-mile circular walk. We know the area and its wildlife well. This time, it was heartbreaking to see the fire damage and total destruction to part of the walk.

On the 9th August 2026, a van caught fire on the A31 dual carriageway where it crosses Heathland close to Ringwood in the New Forest. Fueled by prolonged severe heatwave and drought conditions across the UK, the vehicle fire rapidly spread into the surrounding national park. 23 drivers had to abandon their cars as the fire spread. The wildfire damaged more than 100 hectares (247 acres). The fire was declared a major incident, and firefighters fought the blaze, even pumping water across the forest from a lake 5 miles away in special pipes they had to lay. The road was closed for 2 weeks. The emergency response was stood down on 23rd August.

Fire break cut into the heath.

Toot toot!

/ Andy Finnegan / 6 Comments

Hythe Pier stretches 700 yards from the centre of Hythe to the deep water channel of Southampton Water. It is the 7th-longest pier in the UK. It carries a pedestrian walkway on its northern side and the Hythe Pier Railway on its southern side.

The railway is the oldest continuously operating public pier passenger train in the world.  The narrow gauge trains date from WWI, now electric but originally battery powered, they were used in a mustard gas factory.