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1. Lord Montague's Palace House which sits
at the head of the river by the mill pond. Within the grounds
of Montague's residential home is the National Motor Museum
and the Palace House itself is open to the public. |
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2. Bailey's Hard. A busy place during the
war building acoustic minesweepers and such like. Now, a peaceful
creek and an excellent viewing point along the Beaulieu River
Footpath. |
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3. The Yachtsman's Bar. Caters more for
the coach trippers than its name sake over lunchtime. However,
all's compensated for in the evening where really good affordable
pub food is served with realistic prices. |
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4. The Beaulieu River Footpath which forms
part of the Solent Way. The path follows along the rivers edge
with a gradual transition from woodland into saltmarsh with
plenty of wildlife to observe. |
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5. Bucklers Hard is a private village which
has retained much of the atmosphere of its shipbuilding origins.
Between the two rows of terraced houses, wooden war ships were
built and launched on to the river.
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6. Bucklers Hard. In the foreground is
the scrubbing grid berth and the marina is in the background. |
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7. The scrubbing berth at Bucklers Hard. |
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8. The private haven of Brickyard Quay
which belongs to the Exbury Estate. This haven leads to the
mouth of the river with the Solent beyond that. In the distance
is the Isle of Wight. |
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9. The footboard labyrinth of Brickyard
Quay near the mouth of the river. |
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10. The Beaulieu River Dolphin, the first
of the many beacon piles to pilot you up the river. |
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11. The quiet and peaceful walk of the
Beaulieu River Footpath. |
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12. The marina fuel berth. The tender moored
to it, is selfishly in the wrong place. It's strongly requested
by the Harbour Master that all tenders should be tied up behind
the fuel berth pontoon. |
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13. The relatively new Bucklers Hard marina.
The only major development on the river since the war. |
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14. The river view and terraced restaurant
of the Master Builders Hotel. Reservations can be requested
by mailing res@themasterbuilders.co.uk |
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15. The mill pond at the head of the river. |
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16. The Millennium Beacon Lighthouse which
is the sector light for the river approaches. |
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17. A view through the reed beds of the
mill pond
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18. The Bucklers Hard Maritime Museum.
This museum superbly illustrates how the yard would have looked
and also takes you through the history of the famous ships that
were built here including Nelson’s favourite HMS Agamemnon.
Within the museum they’ve reconstructed 18th Century life
in the yard with a very realistic walkthrough virtual tour —
a sort of Madam Tussauds version of Bucklers Hard. |
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19. This isn't a drowned tree flooded by
the river. This is a 'perch' sometimes called 'withies', many
of which mark the channel of the river beyond Needs Ore point.
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20. Quaint quays like this exist all along
the river. |
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21. Little glimpses of the river like this
can be seen all along the Beaulieu River Footpath.
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22. Many commentators have described the
Beaulieu River as a forested version of the Orwell. |
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23. A river path view. The old barge is
the Victor which regularly visits Beaulieu every year. |
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24. The annex house to the Royal Southampton
Yacht Club. Reciprocal members can enjoy its facilities which
include some club moorings, a slipway, a landing point and its
own pontoon with fresh water and shore power.
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25. The scrubbing berth at Bucklers Hard.
During the war this was a busy yard building MTBs and landing
craft. |
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26. For trailer sailors, the facilities
at Beaulieu are very good. Visitors are welcome and parking
arrangement are good. |
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27. The marina toilets, shower and laundry
facilities lie behind the rather limited chandlery.
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28. Behind the marina berths are the visitor
pile moorings. |
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29. This is as far as the navigable river goes. For the
adventurous, a 25 footer or so, can lean-to against the brick
wall. The river completely dries out here so naturally this
berth can only be reached and vacated at the height of the
tide. This truly picturesque berth is more or less alongside
the village green and under the gaze of the palace house.
This location provides great access to the Motor Museum and
Monty’s Bar and Brasserie which compliments the Montague
Arms Hotel which will provide an excellent meal or snack.
Overnight this berth could be noisy since the busy High Street
runs over the sluice bridge.
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