Another two days of Rose rambling to report on …

Sunday 6th September 2026

Not the best start in that our bus was cancelled but we eventually got on a No. 700 (extremely busy) bus, disembarking at the top of the village of Prinsted. We walked down its very pretty lanes to the Thorney Island Coastal Footpath.

We were immediately faced with a locked gate as the island is MOD property, only allowing visitors to stick to the official Coast Path which is fenced off around the perimeter. We had to press a buzzer and listen to the rules and regulations before the gate was opened for us to get on our way. Seemed like a nice man, hope he had other jobs to do as there weren’t too many walkers about!

We had glorious views the whole day, waterways, mudflats with plenty of seabird activity, pretty sailing boats and even a section of sand dunes with perfectly white sand. The white sand beach was our picnic spot for the day – it felt like being in the Caribbean!

A little further on we came across St. Nicholas Church, a stunning Norman building which now serves the small island population, largely made up of British Army personnel and their families. Considering this, there was surprisingly four large graveyards, two of the older ones we walked through as part of the Coastal Path.

Now, I’m not one to moan, but as the day went on it got hotter and hotter! It’s like the island had its own sub-climate and heatwave! Made us realise that we were wise not to attempt walking during this recent summer’s extreme temperatures. Even with the coastal breezes it felt pretty stifling at times. At least we had plenty of water and foraged sweet blackberries as we wended our way.

At 7 miles we had completed the island circuit and buzzed our little man again to open the gate. We had then arrived in the town of Emsworth. We still had a further 3 miles from here to finish at Langstone, the start of Hayling Island. We suspected it might be road walking but in fact it was a very pleasurable waterside route the whole way.

At just on 10 miles, and almost 4pm, we arrived at The Ship Inn, Langstone where we had booked a table for an early dinner with our lovely friend Bridget, who had driven down from Crowborough to meet us. We all enjoyed a delicious chicken and leek pie in their upstairs restaurant … and they didn’t mind our walking attire!! It was lots of fun, lots of chatter and a little over zealous consumption of wine and beer (mostly Steve!!!). It was great to spend that time with Bridget who kindly stayed sober to drive us weary and ‘tiddled’ ramblers back to our airbnb, before setting off on her own long journey. Just can’t believe we forgot to take a photo – too busy nattering.

Monday 7th September 2026

Today’s plan was to walk from Prinsted to Bosham, an 8 mile walk largely circumnavigating Chichester Harbour. We again started at Prinsted waterfront, today walking to the left. A beautiful walk through Prinsted village again and now on the coastal path out there were equally stunning houses with their large windows overlooking their extensive rolling lawns down to the water edge. Not jealous at all – just making a comment!

It was a day of flat paths – a mixture of shoreline, sea walls, farm fields and quiet lanes. Paths were a little rocky in places – plenty of stumbling opportunities. We started out with some ugly looking grey clouds and even a little drizzle but mostly it turned out to be just the right temperature for walking – warm with a cool breeze.

Many years ago, in my late twenties, I sailed from this Harbour to the Isle of Wight. My lovely ex-boss (John Leighton) moored his yacht here and invited me and two others to join him on a sailing weekend. Walking alongside it today brought back wonderful memories. Another equally lovely ex-boss (David French) had lived on Hayling Island and he has been very much in my thoughts the last few days also.

When the Coastal Path diverted us off the sea wall onto farmland it felt considerably hot again, being more sheltered from the sea breeze. The farm paths were long and dry but it was a wonderful spectacle to see and smell some healthy looking vegetables – kale, cabbage, beetroot, cauliflowers, leeks and pumpkins. The soil looked rich too although we did see some evidence of some planting not having survived the summer temperatures.

Another day of no toilets or cafes but we had our one little lunchtime picnic break on a bench with a view. Steve voted for cutting a mile off the end and adding it to tomorrow’s walk and who was I to argue!! Just made sense logistically and we were soon on the 700 bus back to Havant.

So, 7 miles of walking with a late start and an early finish. A good chance for me to catch up on blogging and for Steve to have an afternoon kip. Our last walk tomorrow now stands at 11 miles rather than 10 – did we make a wise decision!? Let’s see. x