The Waterside
One sports therapy clinic for the whole Waterside, Totton to Calshot
The Waterside stretches from Totton, beside the River Test, down to Calshot Spit, where Southampton Water meets the Solent. I’m Alice Day, a sports therapist. My clinic at 3A Ferryboat House in Hythe sits roughly midway along that stretch, so Totton and Calshot are almost the same drive away. I see athletes, people getting back into exercise and people with everyday aches, and I coach strength and conditioning as well.
About Waterside
A strip of shore with a railway of its own
The Waterside is the local name for the string of towns and villages on the New Forest side of Southampton Water: Totton and Marchwood, Hythe and Dibden, then Holbury, Blackfield, Fawley and Calshot. It is a narrow band of land. Salt marsh fringes much of the shore, and on the landward side is the New Forest National Park, designated on 1 March 2005, with Totton, Marchwood, Hythe, Dibden and Fawley left outside its boundary. The water itself is fed by the Test, the Itchen and the Hamble.
1925 was a turning point: Esso’s British company took over the four-year-old Fawley refinery, and the Totton, Hythe and Fawley Light Railway opened. Its passenger trains called at Marchwood, Hythe and Fawley, and from 1958 to 1965 a halt at Hardley served workmen. Two years after the railway arrived, Hythe’s shipyard passed to Hubert Scott-Paine and became his British Power Boat Company. The Hythe, Marchwood and Calshot pages pick up the stories of the powerboats, the Military Port and the flying boats.
Places you’ll know
- The Waterside line
- Another name for the Fawley branch, which leaves the main line at Totton. It has carried no passengers since 14 February 1966 and now serves Marchwood Military Port with freight.
- Southampton Water
- A ria, or drowned river valley, that meets the Solent between Calshot Spit and Hill Head. A ‘double tide’ gives it unusually long spells of high water, which makes it easier for very large ships to move up and down.
- Hythe Pier
- A Victorian pier of 1881, 700 yards long and a short walk from my clinic. The Hythe page has more on its railway.
- Eling Tide Mill
- At the Totton end of the Waterside, this working tide mill on the Eling causeway still produces flour for sale.
Staying active
Pools, pitches, a velodrome and the water
Start at the Totton end, where the Water Lane centre, Totton Health & Leisure, has a pool, gym and fitness classes, and football is played at the Snows Stadium. Around Hythe and Dibden, Applemore Health & Leisure adds a second pool alongside its own gym and classes, there’s football at Clayfields, and dinghy and yacht racing from the Shore Road sailing club. Further south, Fawley RFC plays at Gang Warily on Newlands Road, and rugby is the sport my pitch-side and event first aid training was built around. Out on Calshot Spit, a former flying-boat hangar has indoor track cycling, a dry slope and climbing.
Swimmers tend to bring shoulder problems, footballers hamstrings and ankles, rugby players knocks, climbers sore forearms and fingers, track cyclists tight hips, and sailors sore lower backs from launching boats. Whichever it is, an injury assessment comes first, then rehabilitation built around the sport you want back. Sports massage eases tightness in between, and sports taping can keep an ankle playing while it strengthens.
How I can help
- Rehabilitation From £45
A rehab plan usually means several visits over a few weeks. Because Hythe falls about halfway between Totton and Calshot, those return trips are about as easy from one end of the Waterside as from the other.
- Sports Massage From £30
A swimmer’s shoulders after lengths at Water Lane, a track cyclist’s hips after the velodrome at Calshot and a commuter’s back after the A326 each tighten in their own way, and regular sports massage can help with all three.
- Pitch-side & Event First Aid On request
For matches and events anywhere from the Snows Stadium in Totton down to Gang Warily, I can provide first aid cover. I hold PHICIS Level 2 (Pre-Hospital Immediate Care in Sport), an England Rugby course, and organisers can email mendandmovest@outlook.com for a quote.
Also available: Injury Assessment, Myofascial Cupping, Strength & Conditioning, Sports Taping.
Getting here
Getting to the clinic from the Waterside
The clinic is at 3A Ferryboat House, Pylewell Road (SO45 6AR). From the door, Hythe Pier is only a minute or two on foot, and the marina and village centre aren’t far. Hythe sits roughly midway along the Waterside, so the two ends are a similar drive: Totton is about 6.9 miles by road, roughly 13 minutes in light traffic, and Calshot about 6 miles, roughly 12. In between, allow about 3 minutes from Dibden, 5 from Dibden Purlieu, 7 from Holbury, 8 from Marchwood, 9 from Blackfield and 10 from Fawley. Many of those journeys use the A326, which runs from Totton down to Fawley and is slower at peak times.
Bluestar buses reach Hythe from both ends of the Waterside. Route 8 runs from Southampton via Millbrook, Totton, Hounsdown, Pooksgreen and Applemore to Hythe. Route 9, and the night N9, run from Southampton via Millbrook, Applemore, Dibden Purlieu and Hythe, then on through Netley View, Holbury and Blackfield to Langley, Fawley or Calshot. The H1 and H2 link Applemore with Hythe via Dibden Purlieu, Buttsash and Langdown. Check the current timetable with the operator before you travel. The Waterside line carries freight only, so there’s no train down this side of the water.
I see people by appointment only. Book online (opens in a new tab), send an enquiry or email mendandmovest@outlook.com.
Also close by: Southampton, Redbridge, Eling, Hounsdown, Pooksgreen, Applemore, Buttsash, Langdown, Netley View, Hardley, Langley, Ashlett, Lepe, Exbury, Beaulieu, Ashurst, Netley Marsh.
Postcodes covered
- SO40 3
- Central Totton
- SO40 8
- West Totton
- SO40 9
- South Totton and Eling
- SO40 4
- Marchwood
- SO45 1
- Fawley, Blackfield, Calshot and Langley
- SO45 2
- Hardley, Holbury and north Blackfield
- SO45 3
- Hythe South and part of Holbury
- SO45 4
- Dibden Purlieu and part of Hythe
- SO45 5
- Hythe towards Dibden, Applemore and Dibden village
- SO45 6
- Hythe, where the clinic is
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 the Waterside
- I live at the Totton end, or out at Calshot. Which is nearer the clinic?
- There’s very little in it. By road it’s about 6 miles to Calshot and 6.9 to Totton, so in light traffic the drive is roughly 12 minutes from one and 13 from the other. Hands-on treatment happens in Hythe, but if the round trip is the sticking point, strength and conditioning needn’t involve it. We’d open with a free online consultation, and after that I write an individual programme around the equipment you already have.
- Which bus serves my part of the Waterside?
- It depends where you start. Totton, Hounsdown and Pooksgreen are on Bluestar route 8. Holbury and Blackfield are on route 9 and the night N9, which go on to Langley, Fawley or Calshot depending on the journey. Buttsash and Langdown have the H1 and H2, and Applemore is on every one of these routes. Check the current timetable with the operator before you set off.
- My shoulder aches after lengths at Water Lane or Applemore. Is that something you treat?
- Yes. Swimming puts a lot of repeated load through the shoulder, so the first appointment would be an injury assessment to find out what’s irritated and why. From there I’ll build rehab towards your usual sessions in the pool. Sports massage can help with tightness through the neck and upper back, and myofascial cupping alongside it suits that area well.
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.