The Waterside
Rehab, sports massage and strength coaching for Calshot sailors and climbers
From the spit, sports therapy is roughly 12 minutes by car back up Southampton Water, at my clinic in Hythe. I’m Alice, a sports therapist, and whether you race a dinghy off the shingle, climb or ride the track in the old hangar, or simply walk out to the castle, I can assess a new injury, guide your rehabilitation and take the tightness out of tired muscles with sports massage.
About Calshot
A spit shaped by storms, forts and flying boats
Calshot is a coastal village in Fawley parish, at the western corner of Southampton Water’s mouth, where it opens into the Solent. Its spit is a bank of sand and shingle about a mile long. It was low and often partly flooded at high tide until the Great Storm of 1703, which is credited with piling up enough shingle to give it real substance. Today the approach road runs along its landward side, the spit has plenty of beach huts, and salt marsh lies between it and the main shore. Henry VIII saw the spit’s value long before the storm. Calshot Castle went up at its end in 1539-40 as one of his Device Forts, built mostly of Portland stone and probably reusing stone and lead from the newly dissolved Beaulieu and Netley abbeys.
The twentieth century put the place on the map for flying. An air station for testing seaplanes opened on the spit in 1913 and passed to the new Royal Air Force in 1918. As RAF Calshot it served as a flying-boat base until it closed in 1961. The spit hosted the Schneider Trophy races in 1929 and 1931, and John Boothman’s 1931 win in a Supermarine S.6B meant Britain kept the trophy for good. T. E. Lawrence, then serving as Aircraftman Shaw, was posted here to help with the 1929 races.
In January 1962 islanders evacuated from Tristan da Cunha after its 1961 volcanic eruption moved into former RAF married quarters here, and the road was renamed Tristan Close in their honour. Most had gone home by late 1963, and the harbour on Tristan is named Calshot Harbour after their time here.
Places you’ll know
- Calshot Castle
- Henry VIII’s Device Fort on the spit, an English Heritage property run by Hampshire County Council. You can climb the keep for views over the Solent and see a display on wartime Calshot and the Sunderland flying boat. It opens on selected dates in the season.
- Calshot Activities Centre
- Housed in an old flying-boat hangar on the spit, with an indoor velodrome, a dry ski slope, climbing and bouldering, and water sports.
- RNLI lifeboat station and Calshot Tower
- The lifeboat station on the spit opened in 1970 and runs an Atlantic 85 and a D-class boat. Volunteers from the National Coastwatch Institution keep watch over the water from Calshot Tower, directly above it.
- Luttrell’s Tower
- A Grade II* listed folly of around 1780 on the Solent shore by Eaglehurst, owned by the Landmark Trust since 1968 and let as a holiday home.
- Lepe Country Park
- A mile of beach along the shore to the west. It was one of the D-Day embarkation points and the place where the PLUTO fuel pipeline left the mainland.
Staying active
Sailing, climbing and track cycling on the spit
Life on the spit leans towards the water. Calshot Sailing Club, out on the spit, races almost every weekend from March to December, welcomes adults and juniors of all abilities and offers newcomers a trial sail. A dinghy marina sits beside the hangar, where the activities centre pairs climbing walls, a dry ski slope and a velodrome with water sports. Strength and conditioning for any of these begins with a free online consultation.
Hiking out in a dinghy loads the knees, hips and lower back. Paddling and climbing can leave shoulders, elbows and forearms sore, and track cycling and skiing load the knees too. A new injury gets a full injury assessment first, then rehabilitation that leads back to the water, the wall or the track. Sports massage keeps a busy season’s tightness in check, and myofascial cupping is a useful add-on after a long ride round the velodrome.
How I can help
- Sports Massage From £30
A March-to-December racing calendar and long sessions at the climbing wall load forearms, shoulders and backs week after week. A massage between sessions aims to work that tightness out before the next race or climb.
- Rehabilitation From £45
Whether it’s a knee twisted on the dry slope or a shoulder that aches after a weekend on the water, I set out rehab in clear stages that aim to get you back doing it, not just out of pain.
- Strength & Conditioning From £50
Hiking out, pulling on holds and pushing a big gear round the velodrome all demand a lot from your legs and trunk. The programme is written around the kit you have at home or in the gym, with check-ins as you go.
Also available: Injury Assessment, Myofascial Cupping, Sports Taping, Pitch-side & Event First Aid.
Getting here
Getting to the clinic from Calshot
Look for 3A Ferryboat House, Pylewell Road, Hythe SO45 6AR, close to Hythe Marina and the village centre and a short walk from Hythe Pier. The clinic lies north-west of Calshot: about 6 miles by road, roughly 12 minutes in the car, though the straight-line distance is only about 5.2 miles.
If you’re coming by bus, Bluestar’s route 9 is the one that serves Calshot. It runs between Southampton and Calshot through Hythe, Netley View, Holbury and Blackfield, and Calshot Beach is its timetable stop out here. In Hythe it calls at a stop named Hythe Pier. Not every journey goes as far as Calshot, as the route also runs to Langley and Fawley, so check the current timetable with the operator.
I see people by appointment only. Book online (opens in a new tab), send an enquiry or email mendandmovest@outlook.com.
Also close by: Fawley, Lepe, Blackfield, Langley, Holbury, Ashlett, Hardley, Hythe, Eaglehurst, Stanswood Bay, Exbury.
Postcodes covered
- SO45
- Southampton post town district covering Calshot, shared with my Hythe clinic (SO45 6AR)
- SO45 1
- Calshot village and the spit, including SO45 1BR, the sailing club’s postcode out on the spit
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 Calshot
- Does the bus run all the way out to the spit?
- Some route 9 journeys do, with Calshot Beach as the stop on the timetable, but the route also runs to Langley and Fawley, so not every bus goes that far. Before you set out, check the current timetable with the operator.
- Sailing on the Solent leaves me stiff by Monday. What can you do about that?
- First I’ll find where the stiffness is coming from. Over a long season, a package of three sports massage sessions keeps on top of it, and myofascial cupping slots into any of those. Strength and mobility work carries you through to December’s last races. You don’t need to be competing to book in.
- Do you cover events on the spit?
- Yes. For pitch-side and event first aid, email mendandmovest@outlook.com with the date, the venue and the sport, and I’ll reply with availability and a price. Say if you’d like sports taping for competitors beforehand. Treatment appointments are always at the clinic in Hythe.
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.