Railway Relic

With most schools breaking up today, and the hot weather in the South of the UK continuing unabated, I decided a trip to the coast was in order before the staycationers took over.  Endless sand or sitting around soaking up the sun is not "my thing", so instead I headed to Hayling Island near Portsmouth and parked up at near the bridge across Langstone Harbour onto the island.

This point gives access onto the "Billy Line", a coastal footpath, bridlepath and cycleway along the shoreline of Langstone Harbour, following the route of the former Hayling Billy railway.  I walked about two thirds of the track and back, a round trip of around 6miles. My minor regret was that I had not popped the bike into the boot, as then I would have been able to cycle the full length to the south end of the island and its beaches ... perhaps another time when it wasn't so hot!

The railway line was closed in1962 as the wooden swing bridge needed replacing.  You can see the remains of the swing bridge structure, along with the large concrete platoons supportng the original track.