Hamble Ferry, Hampshire
FERRY 5 minutes WALK 7 miles
There’s been a ferry here since the 1400s, and in the noughties it turned bright pink.
It would take a hard heart indeed not to fall a bit in love with the pair of little hot pink ferries – Claire and Emily – that cross the River Hamble. This service between the historic villages of Hamble-le-Rice and Warsash has been running (with occasional pauses) since at least 1493, conveying countless pilgrims, workers and walkers over the waves. On alighting at Warsash, take the Solent Way past a shoreline nature reserve and Hook Lake. Breezing alongside Southampton Water, with Henry VIII’s Calshot Castle on the far side, you come to The Solent and views of Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Make your way inland by footpath to Lower Brownwich Farm, following farmland tracks to Chilling and the Workman’s Lane path to Hook, returning along the riverfront to the quay at Warsash.
All year; hambleferry.co.uk