Chichester area

The Emsworth to Chichester area, south slopes of the Downs etc is nice.
Further west, you could look at Meon valley if you kept your boat on the Hamble or Port Solent.
Further east, you could do worse than near the Arun if you can get a mooring in LA. aka Littlehampton.

A lot of the area is horribly crowded now though, traffic can be dire.
So it's good to live really near your boat, but that's not compatible with an acre of land unless you have pots of cash.

Don't forget places at the tops of the harbours, you've got an hour dieseling to get to the actual sea. And many are very tidal.
 
bdh198 said:
Also well worth looking at some of the small villages just outside Chichester. I lived in Oving for 2 years and it has a fantastic little pub called the Gribble Inn with a really good selection of home brewed beer from their onsite brewery. More than once I had a fuzzy walk home after one too many pints of Fuzzy Duck!
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Ah, yes.... and the "Plucking Pheasant"... happy days.... :)
 
Little Grebe said:
What is to be avoided about Havant?
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...know locally as Chavant... the women... frightening.... not a one under 300 pounds (weight) and not a quarter inch not covered in tramp stamps.... ergghhhh.... shudder.... (this is of course a huge over generalisation.. but it's not the most picturesque of places... and it is on the outskirts of what was for a long time, I believe, the largest council estate in Europe)
 
Little Grebe said:
What is to be avoided about Havant?
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You would need to be a local to know what parts are ok, as there are some really nice places but some of them are right next to Leigh Park. You can get a lot more for your money in Havant, but comparing it to its neighbours it will always come up wanting. If you were able to share your budget and wish list I bet between us locals we could come up with some really good suggestions, as we know all the little nooks and crannies of the local area.
 
I think the partial wish list was detailed in the o/p. Hopefully the budget for those criteria will be in excess of £1mil.
 
I'm afraid Fantasie19 is right about the Havant ladies.

I'm a keen walker, and when in that area, sometimes get the bus from Havant Bus Station to the start of walks as taking a car confines you to a circular route.

Despite being plump and scruffy next to a normal woman, I feel impossibly glamorous next to the average Havant Bus Station female. It's kind of like a Viz Top Tip: Ladies! Want to feel better about yourself? Head for Havant Bus Station!
 
Wansworth said:
Its got a Waitrose......
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Waitrose marks the far corner of civilisation in Havant.
There are some nice areas to the east of the town centre, towards Warblington. big houses on leafy streets.
Slightly to the East is Tesco, and Asda is over by the A3M.
 
Chichester Harbour is undeniably idyllic - but do you want to be leaving such a scene to be visiting less picturesque places and that is, by comparison, most other places on the Solent. You might consider basing yourself somewhere slightly less attractive (Portsmouth Harbour has variety and all tide access) so you can visit elsewhere - do you want to arrive somewhere and think you'd rather be on your home mooring? Additionally, if you want to go somewhere on a day sail, outside the harbour, you have more choice if you are actually on the Solent.

I live just north of Petersfield and often drive down to the boat in Portsmouth Harbour avoiding the A3 (my 44 year old Morgan isn't at its best on a motorway) and heading through the Downs between the A3 and A32 there are some wonderful villages along the way, although as others have said, a house and 2 acres is probably a million and a half for starters - then there's the boat.

I'm at Wicormarine Yachthaven, only a few minutes from the M27. Some don't like the trip to and from the harbour mouth, but going out I find its good preparation for going to sea and coming back its a gentle wind down in calmer waters, an opportunity to get things stowed and sometimes the best sail of the day. I'd rather be sailing than waiting for a lock (Port Solent) or driving up from Gosport to the M27 (Haslar, Royal Clarence, Gosport). Its a boatyard with moorings, rather than a marina (which in my view is positive) but it does mean you have to get your tender out to get to the boat in mid-river - there's no water taxi.

Mark
 
I've never heard of that happening, though I did hear - years ago - of squaddies from Thorney becoming a bit lively in The Coal Exchange.

Having had a mooring in Portsmouth and - at a different time - a flat on Southsea seafront, I think it's a fair generalisation to say potential yob trouble starts west of Emsworth, thankfully doesn't come south towards Langstone or Hayling much if at all - touchwood - but does extend right through Portsmouth and Southampton just to the west of there !
 
I think Havant will expand northwards if at all - I don't recall seeing any sign of expansion lately - as thankfully the land towards Emsworth is super-expensive and includes places like Warblington cemetery which would be sacrelege in every way to build on !

That reminds me of more pleasant area info...

If one starts at the Ship Inn, Langstone - with its relatively large public car park - one can walk along the shore eastwards at low to half tide to the Royal Oak, then just past there behind the old mill is a small but lovely nature reserve, and a walk all the way to Emsworth which takes in Warblington cemetery where many old sailors lay, including round the world racer Sir Peter Blake - an Emsworth lad, shot by modern day pirates on his blue water cruising boat as he protected his family - a tradition has grown up of leaving a coin on his grave.

There's also Pook Lane at the shoreline end, this goes for miles inland well past Chichester's Brandy Hole Lane - a real old smuggler's route, apparently ' Pook ' is thought to be a corruption of ' Spook ' due to the nocturnal goings on.

Also, believe it or not ( I probably wouldn't if I hadn't seen the photo's ) a British WW1 submarine was grounded and scrapped just on the Emsworth side of the mill, a lot of its steel plates were used to shore up the beach end of the fields until a few years ago, I expect I could drag the pics from the depths of my pc.

The mill itself ( logo on Langstone Sailing Club's burgee ) was used as a quiet place of rest by author and aircraft designer Nevil Shute during WWII, after he founded Airspeed Ltd at the old Portsmouth Airfield with the approach over Langstone harbour, the runway end was just by the shoreside Eastern Road which goes off the M27 into Portsmouth - the airfield is no more, under PC World now, but the road names all have aviation links.

If you recall the ' Portsmouth Yardstick ' handicap system, this was devised by an LSC member ( Sinbad Milledge I think ) - the actual yardstick, a thing like a giant slide rule, is on the wall at Langstone SC.
 
Seajet said:
I think Havant will expand northwards if at all - I don't recall seeing any sign of expansion lately - as thankfully the land towards Emsworth is super-expensive and includes places like Warblington cemetery which would be sacrelege in every way to build on !
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Apart from the 150 odd houses built just North of Warblington Station over the last couple of years that is!

I hope you are right but I suspect in the longer term it won't be the case.
 
Well, apologies for resurrecting my own thread :) we're moving slowly in the right direction!

We've now relocated our boat from Eastbourne to Chichester Marina, had a stonking sail in F4-F6 winds, heading West to Chichester from Brighton on Saturday. Outstanding. I was really pleased with how the boat performed in these winds. The in-mast furling worked perfectly, rolling the main away a bit at a time as the wind built over the afternoon.

The marina is very peaceful once locked in, but negotiating the channel LW + 2 and locking in in a 30kt NE was "interesting". Ran aground for a few mins in the channel. Keel intact by the way.

Point of this thread resurrection is to ask if anyone who knows that specific area might comment on the adverse impact of N / NE winds, on actual height of tide at the N end of the harbour? There was about 1m less water than predicted. Schoolboy error was failing to ask the lock keeper before attempting the final 500 metres.
 
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Hi Graham,

I don't think wind direction has much to do with it, what got you was probably the high atmospheric pressure last weekend; as you say, always worth calling up the office, on the landline via mobile for privacy.

I've sailed there since a boy, you've chosen a lovely place; the chandlery is boutique - like now, no smell of tar - a shame - but a big cabinet full of ice cream ! :encouragement:
 
Seajet said:
Hi Graham,

I don't think wind direction has much to do with it, what got you was probably the high atmospheric pressure last weekend; as you say, always worth calling up the office, on the landline via mobile for privacy.

I've sailed there since a boy, you've chosen a lovely place; the chandlery is boutique - like now, no smell of tar - a shame - but a big cabinet full of ice cream ! :encouragement:
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Youd need an extremely high pressure to cause a metre effect on the tide( IIRC it's approx 1cm for every 1mb)

The pressure on Saturday does not seem to have had much effect on the height at Portsmouth tide gauge so I guess what Scala experienced was due to the wind strength and direction

http://www.ntslf.org/files/ntslf_php/pltdata_tgi.php?port=Portsmouth&span=4&from=20180526

I believe there is a tide gauge t the beginning of the entrance channe lto Birdham and a depth gauge at the entrance to the channel into Chi marina
 
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