The Waterside
Sports injury assessment, rehab and massage for Totton parkrunners and footballers
From Totton it’s roughly 13 minutes down the A326 to my clinic at 3A Ferryboat House in Hythe. Winters of football on the town’s pitches, long stretches of the Test Way and working weeks spent driving or at a desk can all leave their mark. As a sports therapist I start with an injury assessment to find the reason behind the ache, and the rehabilitation that follows is written down, not left to guesswork.
About Totton
From Totta’s farm to the largest village in England
The name is older than most people expect. It was written as Totinctone in 985 and as Dodintune in the Domesday Book, and is thought to mean the farm of a man called Totta. Eling, next door, is in Domesday too, as Edlinges, or ‘Edla’s people’. The parish was originally just called Eling, although by 1875 Totton was already described as its principal place.
For years the place called itself the largest village in England, and it only became a town in 1974. It grew as new housing joined up smaller villages such as Testwood, Calmore and Hammonds Green: the Calmore estate went up in the early 1970s, more housing spread towards Hounsdown through the same decade, and the west of the town was built up in the late 1980s and 1990s. New Forest ponies were free to roam its streets until the fencing of the 1967 forest perambulation, and 28,094 people lived here at the 2021 census.
The story goes back much further than the housing. Digging out Testwood Lakes uncovered one of the oldest known bridges in England, believed to date from around 1500 BC, and the Iron Age hillfort at Tatchbury Mount shows people settled in the area early. Totton lies between the River Test and the Forest’s eastern fringe, and there are no fixed crossings of the Test estuary or Southampton Water south of the bridges linking it with Redbridge.
Places you’ll know
- Eling Tide Mill
- One of only two tide mills still operating in the UK, owned by Winchester College from 1382 until 1975 and reached over a causeway where tolls are still collected from vehicles.
- St Mary’s Church, Eling
- A Grade II* listed church on Eling Hill, of Saxon and Norman origin, with a small Norman window at the east end of the chancel.
- Testwood Lakes
- A 55-hectare nature reserve on Brunel Road, Calmore, with surfaced paths all the way round and two accessible bird hides. Dogs are allowed on leads, and only on parts of the reserve.
- Bartley Park
- Home to the free weekly Bartley Park parkrun, and to a BMX track.
- Eling Quay
- Where the 44-mile Test Way finishes, after running down from Walbury Hill in West Berkshire through Romsey.
Staying active
Parkrun, pitches and the pool on Water Lane
Bartley Park has a free weekly 5k parkrun and a BMX track, and Totton Health & Leisure on Water Lane has a pool, a gym and more than 50 instructor-led classes a week. If you train there, a strength and conditioning programme can give those sessions a direction. Cricket is played at Southern Gardens and football at the Snows Stadium and Miller Park, while walkers have the surfaced paths round Testwood Lakes and the final stretch of the Test Way down to Eling Quay.
A weekly 5k in Bartley Park finds out calves, shins and knees. Lengths and classes on Water Lane can leave shoulders and lower backs grumbling, and a sports massage, sometimes with myofascial cupping on top, is my usual suggestion. A season of football or cricket brings sprains, knocks and hamstrings that need rehabilitation, not rest and hope.
How I can help
- Rehabilitation From £45
If a hamstring goes during a match at Miller Park or an ankle turns in the field at Southern Gardens, rehab maps out each step back to match fitness, instead of guessing when it’s safe to play.
- Sports Massage From £30
After a long stretch of the Test Way down to Eling Quay, or weeks of lengths at Totton Health & Leisure, massage can loosen off legs that have done the walking or shoulders that have done the swimming, before the tightness starts to nag.
- Strength & Conditioning From £50
If the gym on Water Lane is already part of your week, a programme written around it means each session builds towards something, whether that’s more strength for the football or cricket season or the legs to walk the whole Test Way. The first step, a consultation held online, is free.
Also available: Injury Assessment, Myofascial Cupping, Sports Taping, Pitch-side & Event First Aid.
Getting here
Getting to the clinic from Totton
Heading out of Totton, pick up the A326 south, past Marchwood and on towards Dibden, then leave it for Hythe and my clinic at 3A Ferryboat House, Pylewell Road, Hythe SO45 6AR. The drive is about 6.9 miles and takes roughly 13 minutes, while the direct distance is about 5.1 miles. Traffic around Totton and along the A326 can build up at rush hour, so leave some slack.
Bluestar route 8 runs between Southampton, Totton and Hythe. Its timetable lists stops at Totton RC Church, Rushington Roundabout and Spicers Hill in Hounsdown, and from there it heads down through Pooksgreen and Applemore to finish at Hythe Pier; from the pier, the clinic is only a short walk. Check Bluestar’s current timetable 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: Eling, Calmore, Testwood, Hounsdown, Rushington, Netley Marsh, Ower, Ashurst, Cadnam, Marchwood, Redbridge, Southampton, Hythe, Dibden, Lyndhurst, Romsey.
Postcodes covered
- SO40
- Totton, Eling and the surrounding villages
- SO40 3
- Central Totton, including Water Lane and Calmore
- SO40 8
- Totton, including Ringwood Road and Southern Gardens
- SO40 9
- South Totton and Eling, including Eling Hill
- SO40 2
- North Totton, with Copythorne and Netley Marsh
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 Totton
- Is there a direct bus from Totton?
- Yes. Route 8, run by Bluestar, picks up in Totton on its way from Southampton to Hythe, so you won’t need to go into the city and change. Check the current timetable with the operator against your appointment time.
- My knee starts to ache partway round the Bartley Park parkrun. Is that worth getting looked at?
- Yes, especially if it keeps happening week after week. In an injury assessment we’ll talk through the knee and your running, I’ll watch how you move and test the area, and you’ll go home with a written plan. Where it’s sensible, we’ll look at how you can keep running while it settles.
- Do you see people in Totton itself?
- No. Hands-on treatment happens at the Hythe clinic. I travel for one thing, pitch-side and event first aid, so if a Totton club needs match cover I come to you, and sports taping before kick-off can be part of the visit. Strength and conditioning is online, so you can train on Water Lane or at home and only come down the A326 when hands-on treatment would help.
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.