This 5 mile walk between Emsworth and Langstone uses some of the most attractive paths in the harbour and is full of historical interest. It is described starting and finishing at Stelling but parking is available in Langstone, Emsworth and at the end of Warblington Road.

PRE WALK INFORMATION

Pubs - there are several pubs in Emsworth and two at Langstone on the route of this walk.
Special note - In wet weather, some of the paths can be very muddy.
Tides - tide times must be consulted as part of the walk floods at high tide. Avoid walking at least 1 hour either side of high tide. For tide information phone the Harbour Office 01243 512301 or, or see the tide tables on the Chichester Harbour Conservancy notice boards on the quay at Emsworth, at the end of Bath Road and Warblington Road, Emsworth, and at Langstone. Online tide tables can be found at: http://easytide.ukho.gov.uk/easytide/easytide/index.aspx

Walk instructions - the green text is the detailed walk route, black text gives you some background information on the area in which you are walking.

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service.
Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey  and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

START by walking down South Street to The Quay

Take the path alongside Emsworth Slipper Sailing Club and along the promenade.
To your left you can see Thorney Island; ahead and beyond are Hayling Island and the entrance to the harbour. Along the promenade you will pass the public jetty opened in 1996 by Chichester Harbour Conservancy.
At the end of the promenade, the path crosses the end of Bath Road and passes Emsworth Sailing Club and through a narrow passage between dinghy storage areas. From there it continues along the foreshore.
The slope made of Portland stone is called Rip-Rap, these irregular sized rocks are set at an angle to the land and form an effective sea defence.

After about half a mile you reach the end of the built up area and approach Nore Barn Woods open space which is signposted. To your right there is an attractive wet area of reeds and willow woodland; ahead is another small woodland through which you are free to wander. From the foreshore path in winter you can see several species of ducks and waders, examples of the many thousands which spend the winter months in the Harbour feeding on the mud. Look out for Teal, Shelduck, Brent geese, Redshank and Curlew among others. The shoreside plants are also interesting, and include Sea Purslane and the less common Golden Samphire and Tamarisk.
The walk can be followed as described, with the outward journey along the foreshore and the return to Nore Barn inland past Warblington Church. Alternatively you can choose the reverse direction - this is sometimes necessary if the tide is high.

Take the shoreside path which follows the contours of a series of small bays towards Langstone.
As well as observing wildlife along the foreshore you can also watch boats passing up and down the channels, often making for Northney Marina on the North Hayling shore opposite.
The approach to Langstone is dominated by the old mill and its associated pond. The mill was unusual in being both a wind and water mill. The house is now a private residence and the pond is a private nature reserve.

The path passes between the mill and the pond, and then continues round the shore past the seventeenth century Royal Oak public house.

Langstone High Street runs down to the foreshore here, and it is worth diverting along it to look at the variety of buildings such as the row of eighteenth century thatched cottages on the right, and Langstone Towers, an unusual Victorian House opposite. As well as being a milling centre, Langstone was the port for Havant, and was also popular with smugglers.

On the shoreline at the end of the High Street is the old ' Wadeway ', a hardened causeway linking Hayling Island and the mainland. Until the 1 820's when the first bridge was built this was the only access to the island. It has now decayed and is not safe to use.~

From the High Street, the path continues in front of shoreside houses and the nineteenth century coastguard lookout tower and ends in the public car park outside the Ship Inn, formerly a maltmgs. There are public toilets in this car park.

To return to Emsworth, retrace your steps to Langstone Mill and back along the shore for about half a mile. Look for the footpath signpost across a field. Follow the path over the stile that leads inland diagonally across the field to Warblington cemetery and church. Passing through the kissing gate; the route weaves diagonally across the cemetery to arrive at the gates near the church.
The church is thirteenth century with Saxon origins. In the churchyard are two unusual 'gravewatchers huts'. The church is usually locked midweek. Ahead you can see the remains of Warblington Castle. (They are privately owned and are not open to the public). It was built in the 16th century for Margaret, Countess of Salisbury; later, when the manor passed to the Cotton family, Queen
Elizabeth was entertained there. In the Civil War it was taken and destroyed by the Parliamentarians, leaving only one  tower remaining. From the cemetery gates turn right and continue along the path with the church to your left. The path runs next to the farm track, through a kissing gate and crosses a stream, formerly part of a system of watercress beds.

Continue along the field edge to another kissing gate. Continue along the rough footpath over another stream and re-enter Nore Barn Woods.  Follow the Footpath along the northern edge of the woods returning to Stelling by your outward route.
 

Walk with adaptations from Chichester Harbour Conservancy Walk No.9