The Waterside
Sports therapy near Fawley for rugby, squash, sailing and everyday aches
Sports therapy for Fawley starts about 10 minutes up the A326 at my Hythe clinic, with Bluestar route 9 linking the village and Hythe if you’d rather not drive. I’m Alice, the sports therapist behind Mend & Move, and I treat sports injuries and everyday aches alike: a shoulder jarred in a tackle at Gang Warily, a back that complains once the boat is back at Ashlett, or stiffness with no sporting cause at all. Every new problem begins with an injury assessment to find where it is coming from, then we plan the treatment and exercise that suit it.
About Fawley
A Domesday village on Southampton Water
Fawley lies on Southampton Water’s western side, not far from the Solent and about seven miles south of Southampton, and its parish takes in Hardley, Langley, Ashlett and Calshot. The village is older than its industry suggests: in 1086 Domesday Book listed it as held by the Bishop of Winchester to support the monks of Winchester. All Saints’ Church, now Grade I listed, was built in two phases between about 1170 and 1340, and records mention an earlier church, possibly on the same site, as far back as 971. Bombing in November 1940 badly damaged it and destroyed all of its medieval stained glass, and it was repaired and reconsecrated in 1954.
The 20th century reshaped the shoreline. The Atlantic, Gulf and West Indies Oil Company founded a refinery here in 1921, Esso’s British affiliate took it over in 1925, and Prime Minister Clement Attlee opened the rebuilt and extended refinery in 1951; it is now the UK’s largest oil refinery. Much of it was built over the old Cadland estate, which stretched for nearly eight miles down the coast of Southampton Water and was home to the Drummonds, who owned most of the land in the parish. Cadland House, rebuilt in 1935 after burning down in 1916, was demolished as the refinery grew.
Ashlett Creek still shows the older, quieter side of the parish. Its Grade II listed mill was built in 1816 to replace an earlier mill that may have been medieval, and it ground corn until about 1910. Fawley Green, which the Ashlett Creek walk crosses, is grazed by New Forest ponies.
Places you’ll know
- All Saints’ Church
- Its oldest part is St Nicholas’s Chapel, where the west window holds a collage made from recovered stained glass. The porch at the west entrance was added in 1840.
- Victoria Quay, Ashlett
- Built in 1887 for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee and used by flat-bottomed sailing barges to load and unload grain, salt and other supplies. In the 1920s much larger ships brought in materials here to build the first refinery.
- Calshot Marshes Nature Reserve
- Reached over a swing bridge on the Ashlett Creek walk, on a stretch of coast where globally important numbers of dark-bellied brent geese spend the winter. From the gravel beach on the same walk there are wide views of the Solent and the Isle of Wight.
- Fawley Power Station site
- Between the village and Calshot, the oil-fired station burned heavy fuel oil piped from the nearby refinery from 1971 until 2013, and its 198-metre chimney came down in October 2021. Its round control room appeared as the ‘World Control Center’ in the 1975 film Rollerball.
- Fawley Refinery
- On the Southampton Water shore at Fawley, and described as one of the most complex refineries in Europe.
Staying active
Pitches, courts and the creek path
Fawley Parish Council’s Gang Warily Recreation Centre on Newlands Road has a gym and fitness classes, squash, badminton, pickleball, table tennis, all-weather football pitches and cricket; I write strength and conditioning programmes around its gym kit. Fawley RFC plays there too, from youth and junior rugby to senior, veterans and walking rugby, and clubs like these can book pitch-side and event first aid. Ashlett Sailing Club, a small self-help club, sits in the creek behind the tanker moorings, and the National Park’s Ashlett Creek walk runs about three miles along the shore from Fawley Square, past Calshot Marshes, to Calshot; one stretch is tidal, with a higher, narrower path alongside, and it gets very muddy when wet.
Pitches bring ankle and knee knocks, rugby neck and shoulder strain, squash sore wrists and elbows, and dinghies at Ashlett tight forearms and lower backs; the muddy creek path turns ankles too. An injury assessment tells us what has happened, then rehabilitation leads back to pitch, court or creek, with sports taping for a healing ankle on match day and sports massage for what the week tightened.
How I can help
- Rehabilitation From £45
A rolled ankle on Gang Warily’s all-weather pitches, or a knee that hasn’t felt right since a rugby tackle, starts with an injury assessment, then a staged rehabilitation plan back to playing.
- Sports Massage From £30
After a squash match, an afternoon sailing out of Ashlett or the shore walk past Calshot Marshes, a sports massage can help loosen the calves, hamstrings and upper back that took the strain.
- Pitch-side & Event First Aid On request
With rugby from juniors to walking rugby and Wessex League football all played in the parish, I can quote for first aid at local matches and events. I’ve completed PHICIS Level 2 (Pre-Hospital Immediate Care in Sport), an England Rugby course.
Also available: Injury Assessment, Myofascial Cupping, Strength & Conditioning, Sports Taping.
Getting here
Getting to the clinic from Fawley
The address is 3A Ferryboat House, Pylewell Road, Hythe SO45 6AR. It is close to Hythe’s village centre, and Hythe Pier meets the shore about 100 metres away. By car it is about 4.5 miles from Fawley, roughly 10 minutes, heading north-west on the A326 past Holbury and leaving it for Hythe’s village centre. Measured in a straight line, the distance is closer to 3.7 miles.
Bluestar’s route 9 serves both Fawley Square and Hythe Pier, with Holbury and Blackfield also on the route, so the bus is an option too. Not every route 9 journey goes on to Fawley, so check the current timetable with the operator, then choose a bus that suits your appointment.
I see people by appointment only. Book online (opens in a new tab), send an enquiry or email mendandmovest@outlook.com.
Also close by: Holbury, Blackfield, Langley, Hardley, Ashlett, Calshot, Lepe, Hythe, Dibden Purlieu, Marchwood.
Postcodes covered
- SO45
- Postcode district shared with Hythe
- SO45 1
- Fawley village, Blackfield and Calshot
- SO45 2
- Edges of the village and Holbury
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 Fawley
- Does every route 9 bus run to Fawley Square?
- No. Route 9 runs out from Southampton through Hythe, Holbury and Blackfield, and some journeys go on to Langley without calling at Fawley Square. Check the current timetable with the operator, Bluestar, before you book a time. Hythe Pier is the stop to get off at, and from there it’s a short walk.
- Do you cover first aid at matches and events around the parish?
- Yes, if I’m available, whether it’s a rugby fixture at Gang Warily or a Fawley AFC match at Long Lane in Holbury, where the Oilers play Wessex League football. Pitch-side and event first aid is quoted per booking: email mendandmovest@outlook.com with the date, the venue, the sort of event and roughly how many people. Pre-match sports taping can be included too.
- I sail out of Ashlett Creek and my back and shoulders ache afterwards. Can you help?
- I can take a look. It helps to know whether the ache started while you were sailing or while lifting and moving the boat ashore, as that changes what I look at first. Treatment is often a sports massage, with myofascial cupping added if it suits you, alongside exercises to build back and shoulder strength for your next sail.
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.