John and Helen drove to Hampshire yesterday to meet with some friends, Mark and Natalie, and checked in last night at our overnight accommodation in Lymington, the Angel and Blue Pig. Mike has travelled from Taplow and meets Ben and Gary at Southampton Airport Parkway. They take a taxi to Exbury where John and Helen are waiting at the church along with Mark who is joining us for the next couple of days.
It soon becomes apparent that John and Helen aren’t too impressed with the A&BP. Having already paid for one night of their stay when they checked in, they were only informed when they came down from their room this morning for a leisurely breakfast that the kitchen had been closed so nothing was available. This will change our plans for supper this evening but, because of a scheduled early start, not for breakfast tomorrow. Also, the weather forecast for the next couple of days is not particularly promising – rain likely throughout today, and rain accompanied by very strong (40 to 50 mph) head winds tomorrow. Ben, Mike and Gary encountered pretty heavy rain on their way to Exbury in the taxi but, as we set off from the church just before 11 o’clock, it seems to have cleared and, indeed, holds off for the rest of the day.
For the first hour, we walk north alongside a minor road running parallel with, but some distance away from, the Beaulieu River. We then enter Beaulieu itself before turning back towards the coast. The route south does afford some glimpses of the river, particularly at Bucklers Hard, the site of a shipyard in the 18th and 19th centuries and where Sir Francis Chichester began and ended his solo voyage around the world in Gipsy Moth IV. Today it is the site of a yachting marina and of the Master Builder’s House, a hotel and bar where we make a brief stop for a glass of refreshment. For some, this is a pint of organic (i.e. cloudy) beer which tastes far nicer than it looks!
On leaving Bucklers Hard, we again move away from the river and then follow the Solent Way westwards. Despite its name, this does not run by the sea shore, but anything up to a mile inland along narrow lanes and wooded paths, past Pylewell Park Cricket Club, and eventually to the east bank of the Lymington River. We walk north past the ferry terminal and then cross the bridge over the river and into the town. Today’s walk ends shortly before 4:30 by the King’s Head Inn at the end of the High Street. During the course of the afternoon, John booked a table there for supper this evening, but we decide not to take a sneak preview of the drinks on offer and instead walk up the High Street to the A&BP. John and Helen were assured this morning that the bar would be open on our arrival this afternoon. However, given their no breakfast experience, it comes as no great surprise to find the front door firmly shut with a sign saying that the bar will open at 5 o’clock. We continue along the High Street to the local Wetherspoon’s, The Six Bells, where the customarily cheap drinks are available, but not the side shows which we witnessed during our previous Wetherspoon’s experience in Chichester.
Mark returns home, and the rest of us return to the A&BP. Standing by the check-in counter is a man whose view of the establishment is clearly no more favourable than that of John and Helen. He’s been waiting, apparently for some time, to speak to the Manager. When told that the Manager will be a few more minutes, his reaction is to go to his room with a comment to the effect that, when the Manager appears, he can do the waiting. At least when we get to our rooms, the immediate requirement of hot and efficient showers is met.
The food at the King’s Head is good, and sufficiently substantial for us to have nothing more than a main course, accompanied by two bottles of white and one of red. On our return to the A&BP, Ben goes straight to his room and the other four go straight to the bar where no issues arise. It is open, the service is friendly, the double stickies (two each) are reasonably priced, and John is allowed to have a few raspberries from the bowl (cocktail bowl?) on the bar. Just before we leave, Gary feels it necessary to inform Mike that Burnley have just scored to go 2-1 up at Nottingham Forest.
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