Lymington is a very attractive and fairly large town on the edge of the New Forest. It is very much geared up for the needs of the boater, whether sail or power, and perhaps the only drawback are the constant movements of the Yarmouth/Lymington ferries. These shallow draught ferries have absolute right of way, and not much room to play with in the twisting approach channel which is lined with moored yachts.

Lymington has two large marinas, and more budget orientated berthing on the Town Quay, furthermore there are yards and specialists to cope with just about any problem. 

It is accessible at any state of the tide, very sheltered within and is only a couple of miles away from the Needles Channel. Needless to say it is very popular with yachtsman, but a bit on the pricey side.

Quick links to nearby harbours and area coverage:  Yarmouth Harbour , Keyhaven , Solent

Entry to the Lymington River is straightforward, but approach needs to be made from some distance off as salt marshes and shoal water extend a good distance from the shore.   A well marked but twisting channel  leads through the shallows to the harbour, but at most states of the tide there appears to be a vast expanse of water. 

Pilotage information to help the newcomer get in now follows:

In the approach probably the most conspicuous mark will be the Royal Lymington Yacht Club's starting box used for yacht racing. This looks suspiciously like a small Portakabin perched atop a crude timber framework. It lies just to the east of the main channel, so do not aim for this. Instead identify the Jack in The Basket beacon, which is red and lit (Fl.R.2s). This red pile is topped by a basket (strangely enough), and is labelled clearly with white lettering. This beacon lies slightly to the SSW of the starting platform, and is the outlying mark... it needs to be left on your port hand side. The mass of masts in Lymington, and the easily identifiable WightLink ferries coming and going help identify the entrance from a distance.

Now it is simply a matter of following the red and green beacons, the next one on your port hand side the red Cross Boom (Fl.R.2s), and on your starboard side the green No 1 (Fl.G.2s), which must not be confused with the starting platform which it is adjacent to.

Some useful pilotage info and photos from the harbour authority:

Regarding the ferries..... if you keep a careful watch on their comings and goings you'll see that as one goes out, another is normally lurking near the entrance to the channel ready to go in. There is absolutely no room for them to pass within the channel. If you time your entry waiting for one to emerge and another to go in, following the latter through the channel will ensure a clear path. When leaving Lymington do not follow the ferry out, as you will meet its incoming partner in the channel. Instead wait until the incoming ferry is berthing then make your departure you will probably have a minimum of 30 minutes with a clear Channel. At quiet times the activity may not be so frenetic, and a perusal of the ferry timetable will be useful.

If you do meet one of these in the channel you must give way, and there is enough room to get out of the channel completely without going aground (just). Should this encounter happen at LW the wash of the passing ferry may cause deeper keeled yachts to touch the bottom, which being soft mud should not cause a problem.

The first run up the channel is on a course of 319°T, and is marked by lit leading marks. The rear Mark stands 17 m tall and is in the region of the Fortuna pontoon, the forward Mark stands 12 m tall and is adjacent to Lymington Town Sailing Club. Both are metal columns, and both are lit F.R.8M. These give a leading line for the ferries at night, but you may not spot them during the day. No problem as red and green beacons show the way.

The channel runs straight in on 319°T until you reach Tar Barrel Beacon (Fl.G.2s) where you need to swing slightly to starboard and come onto a course of 007°T. Ahead you may be able to see a pair of black and white posts which form the leading marks for the ferries. Pass the Enticott (Fl.G.2s) green beacon and be prepared to make a swing to port when you reach the Cage Boom (Fl.G.2s) green beacon. A course of around 285° will now take you past the entrance to Lymington yacht haven on your port side, guarded by the easterly cardinal beacon, Harper's Post (Q(3)10s). If planning to enter this Marina there are leading marks (both lit F.Y) that line up on 244°, which will take you South of the above-mentioned Cardinal Mark and into the Marina.

Carrying on up Horn Reach will take you past the conspicuous Royal Lymington Yacht Club with its own landing pontoon berths all on your port side. Carry on towards the car ferry terminal (see photo gallery) and as you pass this on your starboard side you will see the berths and then the fuel berth belonging to Lymington Marina and the Berthon Yard, all on your port side. After the Marina berths the River swings sharply to port and care will be needed not to get confused by the trot moorings. The Town Quay pontoon will have heaved into view by now, and if heading there follow the channel through the moorings.

If all this sounds a bit complicated, take heart, for in practice it is very straightforward as the channel is lined with small craft moorings, and the beacons are substantial, well marked and numbered. It is simply a matter of locating the first beacons near the yacht starting platform and then following them in.

The end of an era is now at hand with the old ferries being replaced with new slightly larger ones. The old ships Caedmon, Cenwulf and Cenred had been in service for 35 years, and originally started their work on the Fishbourne to Portsmouth run. I have very fond memories of these vessels, and remember one December night in particular over 30 years ago when the wind was howling, the rain was lashing down and I had to drive back to London on my Norton Commando Interstate. The bike had to be chocked up and lashed down, Caedmon was rolling all over the place, green worried faces were everywhere and it was a real struggle not to get my pint of beer all over me. I loved it....

Times change, and the link below tells a bit about the new vessels:

http://www.wightlink.co.uk/new-ships.aspx

Anchoring is not allowed anywhere within the approach channel or the harbour.  The harbour authorities have yacht berths on the Town Quay Pontoon, and also have various mooring buoys.  Otherwise there is Lymington Yacht Haven,  and Lymington Marina, both with the possibilities of visitors berths.  All the options are now covered together with prices:

Most visitors make straight for the Town Quay pontoon, and if planning to head there be aware you could encounter depths of 1.2 m at CD in the close approaches and 1.5 m on the Quay. Most yachts of up to 2 m draft can manage as even at MLWS you can add another 0.7 m to these figures... best check the tide tables. The maximum size accommodated here is 12 m.

At peak periods this pontoon can fill up even though rafting up to 6 deep is allowed. Berthing here is around half the price of the marinas with the added advantage that you step off the boat straight into the main part of the town. The harbourmaster can be reached on 01590 672014, or he may be out and about in his launch. The harbourmaster may be able to allocate you a mooring buoy in this area. A 10 m boat costs £14.50 per night, with four hour short stays at £6.50 (9 am to 4 pm). Visitors can get 7 days moorings for the price of 5 if paid in advance.

Boats of over 40' are advised to enquire in advance to confirm mooring spage available, while the Dan Bran pontoon, located just north of the Lymington Yacht Haven, can be pre booked for rallies and for indvidual boats over 40' long. Prices are fractionally higher here.

A link is provided below to the harbour office:

http://www.lymingtonharbour.co.uk/

The truly gigantic marina just within the river has no visitors berths allocated, however in the summer they can often find you a berth vacated by it's long term holder. The best plan is to call them on VHF channel 80 or telephone 01590 677071 to find out the score. This is the first Marina you come to on your port hand side as you enter, and the method of entry has already been described. Berthing fees here are £3.07 per metre per day, with short stays at half the daily rate. Winter rates are around half these figures.

Lymington Marina opposite the ferry's railway station is accessible at all states of the tide and allocates over 60 berths for visitors and can handle vessels up to 45 m long. The Dock Office can be contacted on 01590 647404, on VHF channel 80 or 37. The charges here are £2.95 per metre per day with short stays at half the daily rate. They run the floating fuel dock selling diesel and petrol, and also have impressive shoreside and boatyard facilities. Link to site below:

http://www.berthongroup.co.uk/htmlm/marina.html

And that about covers your options in Lymington.

Updated August 2010

Starting first with the Town Quay once again, visitors will find water taps on the pontoon but may need long hoses and plenty of cooperation if rafting out. Showers and toilets are available, and they've been refurbished over the last winter (good news). They are now cleaned regularly, with access by keypad. The big advantage of berthing here is of course being in the middle of town, with shops and chandleries all nearby.

The Harbour Commissioners run a wide concrete slipway with access at three quarters of the tidal range for trailer Sailer's, check their website above.

Going back to the Marinas and starting with Lymington Yacht Haven, the facilities available include water and electricity on the pontoons, toilets and showers open 24 hours a day, a fuel berth and rubbish disposal facilities including waste oil. Calor and camping gas can be obtained at the fuel berth, or at the on-site Chandlers. A launderette is available here too. Security is tight with night patrols and CCTV. There are various on-site specialists including electronics and riggers, check the business directory. WiFi access is available. The disadvantage with this place is the 15 minute hike to the town, although there is a bar/bistro on-site and the Chandler also sells basic foodstuffs. If you don't fancy the walk to town a water taxi runs between the Yacht Haven and the Town Quay during the summer months.

Lymington Marina also offers all the usual facilities with water and electricity on the pontoons, laundry facilities, toilets and showers and the fuel berth in the River. Gas bottles can be exchanged at the Marina office. The long-established yard ashore can handle virtually any kind of work, and has a 75 tonne travel lift, together with shoreside laying up facilities. It is a five minute walk to the town from here.

In general virtually every need for the boat can be met in Lymington, and a glance at the business directory will show the scope of services available.

The Lymington Town Sailing Club welcomes all bona fide yachtsmen and has a restaurant, with good views of the Solent. Telephone 01590 674514, or link to website for further details:

http://www.ltsc.co.uk/

The Royal Lymington Yacht Club only accommodates members belonging to other RYA affiliated clubs, who have reciprocal arrangements. They have magnificent premises with their own pontoons and the bar and restaurant. Contact them on 01590 672677, or view their website below:

http://www.rlymyc.org.uk/default.html

Ashore in the town will be found the shops, banks (many with cashpoints), pubs and restaurants that you would expect to find in a well-to-do town of medium size. For provisioning there is a choice between Tesco Metro (being the closest) together with the larger Waitrose Supermarket, or Marks & Spencer's. All kinds of smaller bakers, delicatessens, and specialist food shops can be found.

Transport links are good, with direct bus services going to Brockenhurst, and other destinations. Lymington has two railway stations one at the harbour, meeting the ferry and another in the town. A little chug chug branch line connects to Brockenhurst, from where mainline connections can be had to London and the North. The ancient rolling stock on this line must be the last examples of slam door trains still in use, nevertheless they run reliably. The already mentioned Wight Link ferries connect regularly to Yarmouth.

Lymington on the west bank of the Lymington River is a port on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the South East Dorset conurbation, and faces Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight which is connected to it by a car ferry, operated by Wightlink. The town has a large tourist industry, based on proximity to the New Forest and the harbour. It is a major yachting centre with three marinas. According to the 2001 census the Lymington urban area had a population of about 14,000.

The town has many shops, catering for tourists and sailing enthusiasts alike. There is a local market every Saturday, which takes place in the main High Street. The market is fairly typical for southern England, selling a selection of cheap general household items, craft items and a selection of food produce from the local area.

Lymington Today
Due to the recent change in planning legislation, many traditional areas of the town have been redeveloped; older houses have been demolished and replaced with new blocks of flats and retirement homes. The high street has also seen rapid change over the last couple of years with an increasing presence of chain stores and coffee shop franchises. In recent months approval has been granted to a large development of retirement flats adjacent to the historic quay area. In a recent channel 5 program, Lymington received the accolade of 'best town on the coast' in the UK for living, due to its beautiful scenery, strong transport links, low crime levels, and high quality of life.

History
The earliest settlement in the Lymington area was at the Iron Age fort at Buckland known as Buckland Rings. The hill and ditches of this fort still remain.

Lymington itself began as an Anglo-Saxon village. The Anglo-Saxons, probably Jutes, arrived in what is now South West Hampshire in the 6th century. They founded a settlement called limen tun. The Saxon word tun means a farm or hamlet. Limen is believed to be a Celtic name meaning either elm river or possibly, marshy river.

The town is recorded in the Domesday book of 1086 as "Lentune". About 1200 the lord of the manor, William de Redvers gave the town its first charter and the right to hold a market. The town became a Parliamentary Borough in 1585 returning 2 MPs until 1832. Lymington continued to return 2 MPs until the Second Reform Act of 1867 when its representation was reduced to one. On the passage of the Third Reform Act of 1885 Lymington's parliamentary representation was merged with the New Forest Division.

From the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century Lymington was famous for making salt. Saltworks comprised almost a continuous belt along the coast toward Hurst Spit.

In the eighteenth and early nineteenth century Lymington possessed a military depot that included a number of foreign troops-mostly artillery but including several militia regiments. At the time of the Napoleonic Wars the King's German Legion was based here. As well as Germans and Dutch, there were French émigrés, and French regiments were raised to take part in the ill fated Quiberon bay expedition (1795), from which few returned.

From the late seventeenth century it had a thriving shipbuilding industry. Much of the town centre is Victorian and Georgian, with narrow cobbled streets, giving an air of quaintness. The wealth of the town at the time is represented in its architecture.

Lymington is particularly famous for its smuggling history, there are unproven stories that under the High Street are smugglers' tunnels which run from the old inns to the town quay.

Lymington was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. In addition to the original town, 1932 saw a major expansion of the borough, to add Milton (previously an urban district) and the parishes of Milford on Sea and Pennington, and parts of other parishes, from Lymington Rural District - this made the borough extend west along the coast to the border with Christchurch.

Under the Local Government Act 1972 the borough of Lymington was abolished on April 1, 1974, becoming an unparished area in the district of New Forest, with Charter Trustees. The area was parished as the four parishes of New Milton, Lymington and Pennington, Milford-on-Sea and Hordle.

Lymington New Forest Hospital opened in 2007, replacing the earlier Lymington Hospital.

Lymington in Fiction
 
The High Street and ChurchLymington is mentioned in 'The Children of the New Forest' by Captain Marryat. It also features in the historical novels of local writer Warwick Collins (namely 'The Rationalist' and 'The Marriage of Souls') and 'The Forest' by Edward Rutherfurd.

In Tom Clancy's 'Patriot games', a wight link ferry heading from the Lymington ferry terminal is intercepted and a prisoner is extracted in heavy seas. Several men on board the ferry are murdered.

Lymington also occasionally featured in the 1980s series Howard's Way.

Sailing
Lymington is also famous for its sailing history, and in recent years, has been home to world famous regattas such as the Royal Lymington Cup, Etchells Worlds, Macnamara's Bowl, and Source Regatta. The strong tides make it a challenging race track, and together with the shallow depth of the river, has resulted in Lymington losing a lot of regattas to the Central Solent, principally run from Cowes. Nevertheless, Thursday Evening Racing takes place with up to 100 boats registered to race every Thursday night during the summer, hosted by the Royal Lymington Yacht Club. Started in the 1990s, it has continued to become more and more popular.

There are two Sailing Clubs in the town, both active. The Royal Lymington Yacht Club, founded in the 1920s as the Lymington River Sailing Club, now has over 3000 members, and now plays host to major keelboat and dinghy events. The Lymington Town Sailing Club, founded in 1946, plays host to the popular Lymington Winter Series known as the Solent Circuit.

Sailors from Lymington continue to dominate Olympic events, most notably Ben Ainslie and Pippa Wilson.

Leisure amenities
The town's leisure amenities include; several parks, two sailing clubs, a community centre, a library, the St Barbes Museum and Gallery, two swimming baths (one is an open air sea water baths dating back to the 1830s), a sports centre and a very small cinema/theatre. Lymington, being near the New Forest, is also a good location for walking, cycling and riding.

Shopping
Lymington has a wide range of shops and a large street market on the High Street as well as three supermarkets: Waitrose (The Largest), Marks & Spencer Simply Food, and Tesco.

Transport Links
 

Rail
Lymington has two railway stations: Lymington Pier (the terminus), on the east side of the river near the ferry terminal, and Lymington Town. These stations are connected to the national rail network by a branch line to Brockenhurst. Services are currently operated by South West Trains, and are unofficially known as the "Lymington Flyer". This branch line is one of the last places in the country that old "slam-door" trains can be seen in operation, as a "heritage" service.

Roads
The A337 road links Lymington to Lyndhurst and the M27 motorway to the north, and to New Milton and the South East Dorset conurbation to the west.

Ferries
Three Wightlink ferries have run from Lymington to Yarmouth since the 1970s, named after Anglo Saxon Kings: Cenred, Cenwulf and Caedmon. The ferries on average run every 30 minutes, from a port south east of the old town on the far side of the Lymington River.

Lymington offers a wide range of pubs and restaurants to suit all tastes. Italian, Mediterranean, Seafoods and Indian are all catered for, while cafes and coffee shops abound. A large selection of pubs, including the Ship Inn right on the Town Quay which welcomes visiting yachtsman. As usual it is beyond the scope of this article to delve too deeply, so we provide a few links below for further information:

Pubs:

http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/results.shtml/el/Lymington%3BHampshire/

Eating Out:

http://www.sugarvine.com/hampshire/search/location_search.asp?town=Lymington

Entertainment:

http://www.qype.co.uk/ukj33-lymington/categories/4-arts-and-entertainment