Location

The Mike Reeder School of Seamanship is based in Lymington, Hampshire. Situated at the estuary of the Lymingon River, Lymington is a beautiful Georgian Town on the south coast of England. Within easy reach of the New Forest, its pretty picnic spots and New Forest ponies, Lymington also offers a delightful quay and yacht haven, many shops and restaurants, a busy Saturday market and a regular ferry to the Isle of Wight.

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History of Lymington

Lymington is thought to date back to an Anglo-Saxon settlement formed during the 6th century called "limen tun" ("limen" meaning marshy river and "tun" meaning farm or hamlet). It is recorded in the Domesday book (1086) as "Lentune". The town won the right to hold a market in the early 13th Century, and became a Parliamentary Borough in the 16th Century.

The nearby salt marshes provided resources and, from the Middle Ages through to the 19th Century, Lymington was famous for making salt. It's port supported a thriving shipbuilding industry from the late 17th Century - and also a thriving smuggling operation! Indeed it is rumoured (but unproven) that there are smugglers' tunnels running under the High Street, from the old inns to the town quay.

Much of Lymington town centre is Georgian and Victorian, with pretty cobbled streets.

Source: Wikipedia

More about Lymington

Lymington.org

Lymington.com

Family Activities In And Around Lymington

Lymington has plenty of open space, parks and playgrounds. There are numerous restaurants, catering for all tastes, and a wide variety of shops in the High Street as well as a Saturday market. Here are just a few suggestions for activities in the surrounding area that the younger members of Mike's family have enjoyed:

Take a dip at the Lymington Sea Water Baths (dating back to the early 1800s).

Enjoy the New Forest for riding, cycling, walking, exploring and picnicking, and New Forest ponies.

Visit Milford on Sea for its pebble beach.

Take a ferry to the Isle of Wight for its beaches, walking and events

Marwell Zoo is a wonderful zoo for small children

Enjoy 50 different attractions and rides at Paulton's Family Theme Park

Wildlife enthusiasts might enjoy the New Forest Otter, Owl and Wildlife Park

Visit Beauliea Abbey, Palace House and the National Motor Museum, with 250 vehicles from every motoring era

Try your hand at wakeboarding, waterskiing, banana boating and inflatable tyre rides at the New Forest Water Park.

If you still haven't tired out the kids, how about Canoeing and Kayaking?

Visit Hurst Castle - built by Henry VIII as part of his coastal defences, and home to Charles I before his trial and execution. Includes a lighthouse museum.

Garden enthusiasts might prefer a gentle visit to Exbury Gardens And Steam Railway, with its rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and rare trees and shrubs. There's plenty for young children to explore here, too.