Mudeford Spit from Mudeford Quay
About the walk
Two years ago a weekend visit to our friends Chris and Jill in Christchurch opened our minds to the joys of Poole and the rest of Dorset. It feels very appropriate to now be continuing the Bournemouth Coast Path with them. We parked at Avon Beach and walked along to Mudeford Quay to pick up the route.
Two things struck us strongly. Firstly how wide the mouth of Christchurch Harbour is compared to Poole Harbour. And secondly all the people avidly fishing for crabs. They seemed to be using fish bait in a loosely woven bag - presumably the crabs get their claws entangled. Chris told us that the end of a session the convention is to set the crabs free and let them race to the edge of the quay.
We walked along the path behind the beach for a while enjoying the view over the beach huts towards the Isle of Wight.
We were startled by the contrast in some of the houses on the landward side. The house on the left of the thatched one is also of the modern luxury sea-view type.
Soon the long sweep of Christchurch Bay became apparent.
Further along we climbed gently to reach Steamer Point. This seemed an improbable name for a spaot on the inside edge of gently curving bay, but it turned out not to be a point in the normal sense, but simply the place where a steamer delivering stone for the building of nearby Highcliffe Castle was beached in a storm in 1835. Our guide book says that it was used as a beach hut, which does sound rather improbable.
We now entered Steamer Point Woods, once part of the grounds of Highcliffe Castle, but open to the public since 1984. There was a fine view back to Christchchurch Harbour and Hengistbury Head, albeit into the sun. The shadowy shape of Ballard Down can be seen behind.
Soon we came to Highcliffe Castle and detoured to walk around the outside. There was once a house here built by Robert Adam in the 1770s, but the house you now see dates from 1835 and was built by the architect William Donthorne for Lord Stuart de Rothsay, grandson of the Marquis of Bute. We especially admired the giant north porch ...
... and the oriel window on the left in the impressive south front, which came from the Grande Maison des Andelys in Normandy, also owned by Lord Stuart.
After the castle the path descends to sea level with increasingly clear views across the to Isle of Wight.
A bit further along you come to Chewton Bunny. What a great name! A bunny is the local equivalent of a chine, a coastal valley. Here you have to go inland as there is no coastal right of way on the next section of coast, occupied by the Naish holiday park - and anyway cliff falls have made an extension to the coast path very problematic.
The route up the Bunny is wooded and meets the Highcliffe-Lymington road after a small waterfall - the Walkford Brook.
We now walked through a series of paths through a housing estates on the edge of Barton-on-Sea to eventually reach the grassy cliffside, with now a really fine view across to the Isle of Wight.
Rather surprisingly, Barton, which now looks very suburban, is famous for its 40-million-year-old fossils and rock or clay of this period is known throughout the world as Bartonian.
Distance: about 4.5 miles.
Conditions: warm and sunny under a blue sky.
Rating: four stars. Remarkably interesting and varied.
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