Bob Mockford Online

From home to St Denys Road, Cobden Bridge, Bitterne Park Triangle, Bullar Road, Bitterne Road, Northam Bridge, Northam, Chapel, Itchen Bridge, Woolston, Weston Shore, Netley Abbey, Royal Victoria Country Park, Hamble Lane, Hamble Square, Hamble Quay. 8.34mi 13.42km.

Hamble Quay, Green Lane, School Lane and footpath, Hamble Point, Hamble Shore and footpaths (high tide), then across the Royal Victoria Country Park to the cafe. 2.75mi 4.43km.

A break for a drink on a bench in the sun, then out to Hound Road, footpath and The Badgers to Netley station. 0.56mi 0.90km.

11.65mi 18.75km. Train home.

Cold but sunny, more breeze later on.

Wednesday 2 December

Itchen Bridge

From home to St Denys (Horseshoe Bridge), Itchen boardwalk and river path, under Northam Bridge then Northam, Chapel, Itchen Bridge, Woolston, Portsmouth Road, Old Netley, Pound Road, Hamble Lane, Satchell Lane and Hamble Square. 8.03mi 12.92km.

From Hamble Square via Hamble Lane, Hound Road, Hound Way, Station Road and Victoria Road, then across the Royal Victoria Country Park to the cafe. 3.55mi 5.71km.

A break for a drink, out to Hound Road, the footpath and The Badgers to Netley station. 0.57mi 0.92km.

12.15mi 19.55km. Train home.

Calm. cloudy and a few spots of rain.

Friday 4 December

Hamble Quay

From Hamble Quay via Green Lane, School Lane and footpath, Hamble Quay, Hamble Shore and footpaths (high tide), Westfield Common, Coach Road, Hamble Lane, Hound Road, Hound Way, Station Road and Victoria Road, then across the Royal Victoria Country Park to the cafe. 5.10mi 8.21km.

A break for a drink, then out to Hound Road, the footpath and The Badgers to Netley station. 0.56mi 0.90km.

13.91mi 22.39km. Train home.

Started cloudy, the sun came out later. A cold breeze.

Monday 7 December

Hamble Quay

Hamble Quay, Green Lane, School Lane, Hamble Lane, Coach Road, Westfield Common and the footpath into the Royal Victoria Country Park. Across the park to the cafe. 2.15mi 3.46km.

A break for a drink, then out to Hound Road, Hound Way, Station Road and The Badgers to Netley station. 1.20mi 1.93km.

11.58mi 18.64km. Train home.

A foggy start and zero degrees. Fog lifted to cloud with occasional sunshine. Temperature didn't get above three.

Tuesday 8 December

Hamble Shore

From Hamble Quay via Green Lane and Hamble Common to Hamble Point, along Hamble Shore, then across the Royal Victoria Country Park to the cafe. 2.65mi 4.26km.

A break for a drink then out to Hound Road, the footpath and The Badgers to Netley station. 0.56mi 0.90km.

11.44mi 18.41km. Train home.

Cold again but good spells of sunshine made it feel better.

Wednesday 9 December

Weston Shore

From home to St Denys (Horseshoe Bridge), Itchen boardwalk and river path, under Northam Bridge then Northam, Chapel, Itchen Bridge, Woolston, Weston Shore, Netley Abbey, Royal Victoria Country Park, Hamble Lane, Hamble Square and Hamble Quay. 7.86mi 12.65km.

From Hamble Quay via Green Lane, School Lane and footpath to Hamble Point, along Hamble Shore and across the Royal Victoria Country Park to the cafe. 2.79mi 4.49km.

A break for a drink then out to Hound Road, Hound Way and Station Road to Netley station. 1.22mi 1.96km.

11.87mi 19.10km. Train home.

Cloudy, not quite as cold as the previous two days.

Thursday 10 December

Netley Hard

From home to St Denys (Cobden Bridge), Bitterne Park Triangle, Bullar Road, Athelstan Road, Peartree, Woolston, Portsmouth Road, Old Netley, Pound Road, Hamble Lane, Satchell Lane, Hamble Square and Hamble Quay. 7.80mi 12.55km.

Hamble Quay, Green Lane, School Lane, Hamble Lane, Hound Road, Hound Way, Station Road, Victoria Road (Netley) and into the Royal Victoria Country Park. Across the park to the cafe. 3.80mi 6.12km.

A break for a drink. Out to Hound Road, then the footpath and The Badgers to Netley station. 0.57mi 0.92km.

12.17mi 19.59km. Train home.

A little milder, dry after a damp start.

Friday 11 December

Hamble Shore

From home to St Denys (Cobden Bridge), Bitterne Park Triangle, Bullar Road, Bitterne Road, Northam Bridge, Northam, Chapel, Itchen Bridge, Woolston, Weston Shore, Netley Abbey, Royal Victoria Country Park, Hamble Lane, Hamble Square and Hamble Quay. 8.39mi 13.50km.

From Hamble Quay back up to Hamble Square, then Hamble Lane, Coach Road and Westfield Common to Hamble Shore, then across the country park to the cafe. 2.00mi 3.22km.

A break for a drink then out to Hound Road, the footpath and The Badgers to Netley station. 0.54mi 0.87km.

10.93mi 17.59km. Train home.

Mider and a mostly sunny afternoon after a wet morning.

Saturday 12 December

Royal Victoria Country Park

From Hamble Square via Hamble Lane and the Hamble rec footpath into the Royal Victoria Country. Down to the shore and round the park to the cafe. 1.85mi 2.98km.

A break for a drink then out to Hound Road, Hound Way and Station Road to Netley station.1.20mi 1.93km.

11.14mi 17.93km. Train home.

After a cloudy morning, an afternoon walk in the sunshine. A chilly breeze along the shore.

Thursday 17 December

Hamble Shore

From Hamble Quay via Green Lane, School Lane, Hamble Lane, Coach Road and Westfield Common to Hamble Shore, then across the Royal Victoria Country Park to the cafe. 2.09mi 3.36km.

A break for a drink. Out to Hound Road, then the footpath and The Badgers to Netley station. 0.55mi 0.89km.

10.86mi 17.48km. Train home.

Sunny with well broken cloud. Breezy later.

Monday 21 December

Westfield Common and Hamble Shore

From home to St Denys Road, Cobden Bridge, Bitterne Park Triangle, Bullar Road, Bitterne Road, Northam Bridge, Northam, Chapel, Itchen Bridge, Woolston, Portsmouth Road, Old Netley, Pound Road, Hamble Lane, Satchell Lane, Hamble Square and Hamble Quay. 8.76mi 14.10km.

From Hamble Quay back up to Hamble Square then Hamble Lane, Coach Road and Westfield Common to Hamble Shore. Round the Royal Victoria Country Park to the cafe. 2.25mi 3.62km.

A break for a drink. Out via Victoria Road, Station Road and The Badgers to Netley station. 1.25mi 2.01km.

12.26mi 19.73km. Train home.

Mild, misty and breezy. A lot of standing water and mud after recent rain.

Tuesday 22 December

Hamble Quay

From Hamble Quay via Green Lane and School Lane then Hamble Lane, Coach Road and Westfield Common to Hamble Shore. Round the Royal Victoria Country Park to the cafe. 2.46mi 3.96km.

A break for a drink then to Hound Road, the footpath and The Badgers to Netley station. 0.56mi 0.90km.

11.74mi 18.89km. Train home.

Mild again, less breeze than yesterday, more rain.

Thursday 24 December

Hamble Quay

From Hamble Quay via Green Lane, School Lane, Hamble Point and Hamble Shore to the Royal Victoria Country Park. Across the country park to the cafe. 2.68mi 4.31km.

A break for a drink. Out via Hound Road, the footpath and The Badgers to Netley station. 0.58mi 0.93km.

12.00mi 19.31km. Train home.

Very nice in the sunshine despite the chilly breeze. Often wet underfoot.

Saturday 26 December

Hamble Shore

From home to St Denys Road, Cobden Bridge, Riverside Park, Mansbridge, the A27, Hamble Lane, Coach Road, Westfield Common, Hamble Shore and round the Royal Victoria Country Park to the cafe. 9.72mi 15.64km.

A cup of tea then home via Hound Road, Woolston Road, Newtown Road, Wright's Hill, Portsmouth Road, Woolston, Itchen Bridge, Chapel, Northam, under Northam Bridge, along the river Itchen footpath and St Denys. 6.34mi 10.20km.

16.06mi 25.85km.

Heavy cloud, a brief bright spell, becoming windy ahead of Storm Bella.

Wednesday 30 December

Hamble Quay

From Hamble Quay via Green Lane, School Lane, to Hamble Point then footpaths and Hamble Shore (high tide) to the Royal Victoria Country Park. Across the country park to the cafe. 2.66mi 4.28km.

Stopped for a drink, then out to Hound Road, Hound Way, Station Road, The Badgers and Netley station. 1.20mi 1.93km.

12.58mi 20.25km. Train home.

Very cold but good for walking with little breeze. Footpaths from Hamble Point were flooded and muddy.

2020 Summary

2018 and 2019 each set a new record for days and distance walked. In 2020 I had planned to do this again. January, February and the first half of March were well ahead of target, but the Covid-19 pandemic would change everything. With the first national lockdown I introduced my own restrictions, with limits on when and where I could go plus a ban on using public transport. A few adjustments during the course of the year meant a bit more flexibility but in December the rate of infection soared with a new variant of the virus. I reduced the area within which I can travel to 7 miles from home. This meant that the available routes remained limited. Despite all this, 2020 turned out to be the third best year on record. I hope to be able to add more routes in the spring of 2021.