The Waterside
Sports therapy near Blackfield for rugby players, parkrunners and Lepe Loop walkers
From Blackfield it’s about 4 miles to my Hythe clinic, roughly 9 minutes by car past Holbury. Whether a tackle on Newlands Road has jarred your shoulder, a walk round the Lepe Loop has left your knees grumbling or a long week at a desk has stiffened your neck, I’ll start with a proper injury assessment and we’ll plan what comes next together.
About Blackfield
A village that grew up on the moor
Blackfield is young by the standards of this coast. When the Victoria County History of Hampshire was published in 1908, the settlement on the moor in Fawley parish was usually called ‘Blackfields’. Its first homes were mud cottages, later replaced by small red-brick houses, and an enclosed plot on the moor had been sold off in small allotments since about 1858. The western part of the moor was known as Hugh’s Common, and there was a Baptist chapel in the settlement as well.
The places around it go back much further. Langley, just to the south, appears in Domesday Book in 1086 as two holdings of the king’s thegns, one held by Cola the huntsman and the other by Hugh de St Quintin, and Stanswood was a Domesday manor where a mill stood until not long before that history was written. The same history describes the parish as a low stretch of sandy land running east from the New Forest’s boundary to Southampton Water.
Elsewhere in the parish, work on Esso’s new refinery at Fawley began in 1949, and it was opened by Clement Attlee in September 1951. By the 2021 census the Blackfield built-up area was home to 5,848 people, with Holbury and Fawley each only about a mile away and the Solent shore at Lepe a little under 2.5 miles to the south. That shore is where a knee’s rehabilitation can get its final test.
Places you’ll know
- Lepe Country Park
- Hampshire County Council’s park on the Solent shore south of the village, and home to the waymarked 5-mile Lepe Loop, about 2 hours at a leisurely pace.
- Mulberry harbour platforms, Stanswood Bay
- Concrete platforms about 374 m long where Phoenix caissons for the D-Day Mulberry harbours were partly built from January 1944. Remains of the platforms, the launching slipways and the ‘dolphins’ of the old pier head can still be seen.
- Lepe Coastguard Cottages and Watch House
- Completed in 1828 for a coastguard station set up to fight smuggling in the west Solent.
- QE2 Recreation Ground
- The parish council’s ground on Thornbury Avenue, with three full-size football pitches, a junior pitch, two basketball courts, an under-12s play area and a cricket square that can be hired from May to September.
- Gang Warily Recreation Centre
- Fawley Parish Council’s sports and community centre on Newlands Road. The council says the name means ‘Go Carefully’ and goes back to the Drummond family, who gave it to part of their Hampshire land.
Staying active
Pitches, nets and the shore at Lepe
On Newlands Road, Gang Warily brings together the Sunday junior parkrun, the indoor cricket nets with a bowling machine and the 3G five-a-side pitches, and it is where Fawley RFC’s mini to senior sides play, the kind of rugby I can cover with pitch-side and event first aid. The junior parkrun is a free 2 km run for children aged 4 to 14, starting at 9am, and there is a gym on site too, a handy base for strength and conditioning. In the village itself, QE2 on Thornbury Avenue has football pitches, basketball courts and a summer cricket square, while the Lepe Loop and Calshot’s climbing wall and paddlesports draw people to the coast.
Tackles and turns at Gang Warily are hard on necks and ankles, net bowling strains sides and backs, Calshot’s climbing wall tightens forearms and fingers, and paddling leaves shoulders sore. After an injury assessment, treatment and rehabilitation are shaped around what you’re missing most, whether that’s a game on Newlands Road, the nets or a paddle from Calshot. Sports taping can hold a nearly-ready ankle for the 3G. Paddlers’ tight shoulders can have myofascial cupping, alone or with a sports massage.
How I can help
- Injury Assessment From £55
Whether it’s a knock from youth rugby on Newlands Road or an ankle turned on the five-a-side 3G, an assessment helps us work out what’s injured and what needs to happen before your next game.
- Sports Massage From £30
Five miles of the Lepe Loop or a long net session against the bowling machine can leave legs and backs feeling tight; massage can help loosen them off before your next outing.
- Strength & Conditioning From £50
Once we’ve had a free online consultation, I’ll put together a programme for the gym at Gang Warily or for home, so getting stronger doesn’t mean a drive to Hythe every time.
Also available: Rehabilitation, Myofascial Cupping, Sports Taping, Pitch-side & Event First Aid.
Getting here
Getting to the clinic from Blackfield
By road it is about 4 miles to my clinic, heading north through Holbury and then up the A326, or a straight line of about 3.8 miles. That road is the main link for the whole Waterside, so peak-hour trips take longer. The clinic itself, at 3A Ferryboat House on Pylewell Road (SO45 6AR), is close to Hythe Marina and the village centre.
For the bus, wait at Blackfield Crossroads for a northbound Bluestar 9, which runs up through Holbury and Netley View to Hythe Pier; from the pier it’s a short walk to my door. The 9 starts in Southampton and finishes at Langley, Fawley or Calshot, and a night N9 follows the same line. Check the current timetable with the operator before you set off.
I see people by appointment only. Book online (opens in a new tab), send an enquiry or email mendandmovest@outlook.com.
Also close by: Langley, Fawley, Holbury, Hardley, Calshot, Lepe, Stanswood, Exbury, Ashlett, Hythe, Dibden Purlieu, Beaulieu.
Postcodes covered
- SO45 1
- Most of the village, plus Lepe Country Park and QE2 Recreation Ground
- SO45 2
- The northern edge of the village, towards Holbury
- SO45
- The district Blackfield shares with Hythe, Fawley and the villages in between
Services & pricing
Prices
The same prices apply wherever you travel from.
Treatment & assessment
Rehabilitation & extras
Programme costs may vary depending on individual requirements. Please enquire for current availability and appointment location.
Price list with full detailsGood to know
Questions from Blackfield
- How busy is the A326 from Blackfield?
- Hampshire County Council says up to 30,000 vehicles a day travel along parts of it, so leave extra time if your appointment falls in the rush hour. If you’d rather not drive, route 9 runs from Blackfield Crossroads to Hythe Pier; check the current timetable with Bluestar, the operator, first.
- Could you be the first aider for a fixture or event at Gang Warily or QE2?
- I offer pitch-side first aid for matches and events like these, from a youth rugby fixture on Newlands Road to a summer match on the QE2 cricket square. Email mendandmovest@outlook.com telling me which ground, which day and what sort of event it is, and I’ll let you know whether I’m free and what it would cost.
- Do I need to come to Hythe for every session?
- Injury assessments take place at the clinic in Hythe. So do sports massage and myofascial cupping. Strength and conditioning is more flexible, because both the first consultation and your programme are online, so you can train wherever suits you between appointments.
Ready to make a start?
Book online in a couple of minutes, or send me a message if you’d like to talk it through first.