Circular walking guide Lymington station

Leave the station, and turn left on Mill Lane. Continue to the end, going left along cobbled Quay Hill, bustling with shops and eateries. Turn left to Quay Street, and follow the signs to the Seawater Swimming Pool along Bath Road. Turn left after the Royal Lymington Yacht Club. Follow the path around to your right.

Pass through a gate labelled Lymington Yacht Marina. The Haven Bar & Bistro in the building to your left is a suggested refreshment stop.

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Continue ahead to a tarmac road and follow the green signs marked Solent Way. Turn right, and then left in 20 metres. At the next junction, turn left to follow the path above the marshes to the next junction going left. Veering right by a gate, pass an information board with a map of the Lymington-Keyhaven Nature Reserve.

Continue on the sea-wall path, passing a memorial bench with wonderful estuary views. Keep following the Solent Way signs, and you will pass the Eight Acre Pond and its prefabricated clubhouse on your right. Turn right inland and continue ahead. 

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At the T-junction, turn right, following the green arrow near the information board. Go left at the metal gate, passing Salterns Cottage. On your left are the “salterns”.

These were shallow lagoons where seawater was collected and left to evaporate, leaving valuable salt behind. Sea salt was produced in this area from Roman times until 1865, when rail transport and cheaper mined salt from Cheshire forced the last saltern to close.

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Emerge by Creek Cottage, turning right on the lane at the end of the drive. Pass the sign to Woodside Farm and arrive at The Chequers Inn, a 16th-century pub and restaurant, with an excellent outdoor bar in summer. Lunch portions are generous, and real ales are a speciality. The return to Lymington is along quiet, twisting country lanes.

Turn left out of The Chequers Inn, right on to Platoff Road and right again on to Maiden Lane. At the next junction, bear slightly left on Normandy Lane, passing Normandy Farm House to reach Pickney Path.

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Pass along the front of the Haven Boat Yard building and go right along the path at its side, emerging in the boatyard. Turn left and immediately left again, retracing your route back to Lymington via The Haven Bar & Bistro.

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When you get back to Quay Hill, you may want to continue uphill to the High Street, where a market selling everything from vegetables to antiques takes place on a Saturday. St Thomas the Apostle church is at the top end, and it’s worth a visit to see the restored windows, which were damaged in the Great Storm of 1987. The Tourist Information Office and the St Barbe Museum, with displays on the history and culture of the area, are on New Street.

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