Emsworth

Emsworth is a very pretty little town and well worth a visit should you ever be in the vicinity. 

The High Street was very busy when we arrived at mid day. There isn't a huge selection of shops but what they do have includes a traditional butchers and fishmongers, a deli, a lovely florists, a bakers, gift shops, 4 charity shops and a happy find for G, a vinyl record shop.

Purchases were made.

The houses in the town centre are just as picturesque as you would expect.

Should you visit and need refreshment then we would recommend The Greenhouse Cafe. Being lunch time when we arrived and we had planned on going on a 3.7 mile walk, we needed filling up first.
G had a big breakfast, S had the all day breakfast and I had bacon and egg on toast. The food was delicious and the staff friendly, the place had a welcoming atmosphere about it. Apparently it was once a cinema, it certainly is an attractive building.
This photo was taken from across the road later on in the afternoon and isn't great, but it was so busy when we left I didn't want to hang around outside taking a photo of people tucking into their food!
Judging by the cakes on display (custard crumble cake!) it would also have made an ideal afternoon tea stop.

Our walk started down at the harbour and to get there we walked past a pub with a sign outside which made us chuckle.

The sun did try and come out a couple of times but it wasn't very successful and most of the day was pretty overcast as can be seen in most of the photos.

We were able to walk along the foreshore as the tide was out and in the middle of the photo below you can just about make out the remains of the oyster beds which used to be a busy industry for the fishermen of Emsworth. Didn't know that until yesterday.

S skipping along the foreshore, brolly in hand which she needed later in the day.

When I took this photo I said to G 'Bloggers like a door photo, especially one set into an old brick wall.' I'm right, aren't I?!

We passed an old boat building yard and then walked along the side of Slipper mill pond which is now a nature reserve and the mill has been converted into offices.

This led us onto the first of two marinas where there is a little community of houses on stilts. Apparently they were originally built as holiday homes but some are now lived in full time. I would like to have a look around one to see what the lay out is like inside.

Then a walk across a field and down a long lane and we came to the second marina, Thornham Marina, as modelled here by S still with that brolly, not yet up although the hood is!

It was here we saw a blue whale, don't get to say that every day.

It was here that the weather turned pretty mizzly. You can just see S's umbrella in the far left. On a clear day I bet the view out across the water would have been lovely.

We left the sea wall just a couple of hundred metres on from the spot above and turned into a little village called Prinsted. According to our walking guide it is one of the most sought after places to live because of it's plethora of thatched cottages and attractive houses. Something we can vouch for after the hand full we saw. I did a quick search for information about it, as again according to the guide, it's name derives from once being a pear orchard. I couldn't find anything about that but did find out that Hugh Grant lives there. 

I absolutely loved this wall and hope you do too Diane! The rows are so solid and textural and it was such a beautiful piece of craftsmanship

and then to have seen the whole of a farm out building constructed the same way I could have looked at it for ages.  
But we needed to press on. Across one more field, past some houses, across a road and we were back to Slipper Pond, 

and within a few hundred yards back to the High Street and the picturesque houses.