Howard's Way?

Decide to head out of the city for a couple of days and down to a part of the country I've never been to before, the New Forest and East Dorset.

Potter around Lymington for a while and take in the delightful St Barbe Museum. It's the sort of wonderful local museum that small towns throughout the UK do so well - often supported by groups of hearty volunteers.

It's never going to be a glamorous uber-museum but it's a lovely, well kept small museum full of local history and I warmly recommend it should you ever find yourself in the area. There are also numerous coffee shops in which to refresh afterwards - one of the observations the museum makes is that there are now more coffee shops on Lymington High Street than pubs, a major social change of the past 10 years!

The area is obviously where significant parts of the UK yachting set head to - not a social strata I'm exactly familiar with. Hey I was brought up in Birmingham, not exactly a coastal area!

Head a bit further down the coast. A bracing stroll gives lovely views across to foreign parts - well, the Isle of Wight - and the Needles are clearly visible on the horizon. Continue down the coast and head to where I've booked to stay.