SHORE FOOTED

A few muddy walks in the rain fail to dampen Susan Taylor's enthusiasm for the beauties of coastal Hampshire

Perhaps deciding to spend a few days touring near the coast, just after one of the wettest Februarys for almost 200 years, wasn’t the best idea, but we reasoned that we are used to wet weather and have all the necessary gear.

So we weren’t going to let the rain put us off – we would carry on with our holiday plans!

We had booked to stay at Hurst View Leisure in Pennington, between Lymington and the Keyhaven Marshes Nature Reserve, the perfect spot for some waterside walking.

The hardstandings were a little bit waterlogged (at least we weren’t silly enough to try to pitch on grass), but once we had negotiated the mud just outside the motorhome door, we would be perfectly warm and dry inside.

However, it would soon turn out that leaving the ’van was when the trouble really started!

Worth the walk

Arriving in the late afternoon, with the rain having (temporarily) stopped, we decided to tackle the short walk to the nearby pub for dinner. Donning walking boots and waterproofs – even dog Willow was kitted out in her raincoat – we set off down a quiet road to the footpath. The very waterlogged footpath, churned up by all the hardy souls who had obviously ventured this way before we did.

No amount of waterproof gear could save us from the mud, which was ankle-deep in places. But we were determined to carry on. Fifteen minutes later, we were settled comfortably at a table by the fire in the welcoming 16th-century Chequers Inn, New Forest ale in hand, perusing the menu. Fish pie and whole plaice from the specials board really hit the spot, and the mud was forgotten for a while, at least.