Tour of Hayling

From the Good Companion we follow the cycle path alongside the Eastern Road up to Farlington Marshes. The cycleway parallel to the A27 takes us along the northern edge of Langstone Harbour. Along here we get a great view of the harbour, and if we are lucky, the sight of a large flock of geese on the nature reserve. We then continue on the shared footpath through to Langstone Technology Park, and under the A27, past the Tesco superstore into Havant town centre. We are allowed to cycle through Havant Park now, and will need to time it to avoid one of the cricket players hitting a six! We go past Havant railway station – so if you want to try the ride again you can start from here. All of this ride is on parts of the national cycle network, and in Havant you can take NCN22 north towards Petersfield and the South Downs. However, we now move onto the traffic-free Billy Trail, the disused railway line from Havant to Hayling Island. For a short length we cycle on the shared footpath by the main road, then back onto the Billy Trail proper. Again, we get a fantastic view across Langstone Harbour, avoiding any traffic. Halfway down the Billy Trail we take a quiet lane, crossing Havant Road at the Yew Tree pub, then follow a quiet lane around to Northney. From here we take a similar route home.