The Waterside
Sports therapy in Hythe for sailing backs, football ankles and desk-stiff shoulders
Sports therapy in Hythe shouldn’t mean a trip round the water to Southampton. My clinic is on Pylewell Road, close to the marina and a short walk from the pier, and I can help dinghy sailors, footballers, cricketers and anyone whose back or shoulders are fed up with a desk, whether that calls for a sports massage or an injury assessment.
About Hythe
A landing place on Southampton Water
Hythe’s name means a landing-place or haven, and it suits a village on the shore of Southampton Water, looking straight across at Southampton. It appears in a Parliamentary roll of 1293, and the ferry crossing is already marked on Christopher Saxton’s map of 1575. Dibden, which shares the parish, is older on paper still, with an entry in the Domesday survey of 1086.
From the 1920s the waterfront filled with boats and aircraft. Supermarine acquired the flying boat site here in 1925, and in 1927 Hubert Scott-Paine bought the shipyard and renamed it the British Power Boat Company. Its wartime boats are credited with saving the lives of more than 13,000 service personnel. T. E. Lawrence, under the name T. E. Shaw, stayed at Myrtle Cottage on the corner of St John Street and Shore Road in 1931 and 1932, and carried out boat trials for the RAF with the company. Imperial Airways opened its Empire flying boat base here in 1937, flying boat maintenance carried on under BOAC until 1950, and Christopher Cockerell’s Hovercraft Development Company moved here in 1960.
Post-war housing for Fawley Refinery’s workforce expanded Hythe and Dibden Purlieu into a small town, and by the 2011 census the parish of Hythe and Dibden had 20,526 residents.
Places you’ll know
- Hythe Pier
- Opened on 1 January 1881, it runs about 700 yards into Southampton Water, is the UK’s seventh-longest pier and was Grade II listed in 2021.
- Hythe Pier Railway
- Electric since 1922 and recognised by Guinness World Records as the oldest pier train, with two Brush locomotives built in 1917 and first used at a First World War factory at Avonmouth.
- Church of St John the Baptist
- Built in 1874 to designs by John Oldrid Scott, replacing an earlier church of 1823.
- Hythe Marina Village
- Work began in 1985, and MDL describes it as the first marina village built in the UK, with 206 berths behind lock gates that operate around the clock. The marina has hosted the RNLI Great Waterside Raft Race.
- Hythe Marine Park
- The former flying boat site, later RAF Hythe, which the US Army used mainly for small boat repairs until 2006, when it closed as the last US Army installation in the UK.
Staying active
How Hythe keeps moving
Plenty of people here stay active on the water. Hythe Sailing Club on Shore Road runs dinghy training and racing, cruising around the Solent, kayaking and a junior section from age 8. On land there is Hythe & Dibden FC at Clayfields and Hythe & Dibden Cricket Club, formed in 1948, and I offer pitch-side and event first aid for fixtures and tournaments. The pool, gym and classes at Applemore Health & Leisure in Dibden suit anyone on my strength and conditioning programmes. There is no parkrun in the village itself, but runners can head to Totton for Bartley Park parkrun or into the city for Southampton parkrun on the Common, and younger runners have Gang Warily junior parkrun near Blackfield.
Sailors tend to arrive with an aching lower back and sore forearms from leaning out and pulling on ropes, footballers with ankles and hamstrings that want sports taping before kick-off at Clayfields, and cricketers with a tired bowling shoulder by late summer. Whether it’s a sailing back or a cricket shoulder, an injury assessment gets to the bottom of it and I’ll plan your rehabilitation around the next race or fixture.
How I can help
- Sports Massage From £30
Dinghy sailing, swimming at Applemore and hours at a desk all build tension in the back, shoulders and forearms. With the clinic in the village, a regular massage is easy to fit around work or a sail, and a package of three sessions keeps the cost down.
- Rehabilitation From £45
Whether the goal is football again, racing a dinghy on Southampton Water or simply walking the length of the pier, I plan each stage of your rehab around it.
- Strength & Conditioning From £50
To get stronger for the sailing season or a summer of cricket, start with the free online consultation. The programme that follows can be done online and planned around tides, shifts and fixtures.
Also available: Injury Assessment, Myofascial Cupping, Sports Taping, Pitch-side & Event First Aid.
Getting here
Getting to the clinic from Hythe
You’ll find me at 3A Ferryboat House, Pylewell Road, Hythe SO45 6AR, about 100 metres from the landward end of Hythe Pier and about 500 metres from Hythe Marina Village. If you live in central Hythe, you may well find it quickest to walk.
Without a car, Bluestar’s H1 and H2 come into Hythe from Applemore by way of Dibden Purlieu, Buttsash and Langdown, so they are worth knowing about if you live on that side of the parish. Route 9, with N9 journeys at night, runs through the village between Southampton and Langley, Fawley or Calshot, stopping at Hythe Pier and passing through Applemore and Dibden Purlieu on one side and Netley View, Holbury and Blackfield on the other. Route 8 ends at Hythe Pier, coming from Southampton via Millbrook, Totton, Hounsdown, Pooksgreen and Applemore. Please check the current timetable with the operator before you travel.
I see people by appointment only. Book online (opens in a new tab), send an enquiry or email mendandmovest@outlook.com.
Also close by: Dibden, Dibden Purlieu, Marchwood, Fawley, Holbury, Blackfield, Langley, Calshot, Totton, Beaulieu, Southampton.
Postcodes covered
- SO45 6
- Central Hythe, the High Street and waterfront (the clinic is SO45 6AR)
- SO45 3
- The southern side of Hythe
- SO45 5
- Hythe towards Dibden, including Applemore
- SO45 4
- Dibden Purlieu and parts of Hythe
- SO45
- The wider SO45 district, which also takes in Holbury, Blackfield and Fawley
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 Hythe
- Can I get the ferry across from Southampton to your clinic?
- No. The Hythe Ferry isn’t running at the moment, and no restart date has been announced. Bluestar routes 8 and 9 both run from Southampton to the Hythe Pier stop, near the clinic, so come by bus or by road instead, and check the current timetable with the operator before you set out.
- I’m often in the village centre. Can I just drop in?
- Please book first rather than calling in. I only see people by appointment, so I may well be with someone else when you arrive. Booking is online, through Rehab Guru, and if you have a question first, or want a quote for pitch-side and event first aid, email mendandmovest@outlook.com.
- I sail at the club on Shore Road. Is there anything you can do for the back and forearm aches?
- Yes, I can help with that. Holding yourself out over the side keeps your lower back working for long spells, and a session of gripping and pulling tires the forearms. I’ll check how your back and hips move, ease the tight spots with sports massage, adding myofascial cupping if the forearms need more persuading, and give you trunk and grip exercises that aim to make the next outing on Southampton Water less of a strain.
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.