RAF Calshot

RNAS Calshot was a First World War Royal Navy air station for seaplanes and flying boats, mainly operating as an experimental and training station, but also providing anti-submarine and convoy protection patrols. It was located at the end of Calshot Spit in Southampton Water, at grid reference SU487024, with the landing area sheltered by the mainland, to the west, north and east, and the Isle of Wight a few miles away to the south on the other side of the Solent.

Calshot Activities Centre is located on Calshot Spit near Southampton. Indoor facilities include the oldest indoor velodrome in Britain, a dry ski slope and a climbing wall.

Calshot Lifeboat Station is located on Calshot Spit near the village of Calshot, Hampshire, and is on the southern bank of the open end of Southampton Water, on the south coast of England. The station is owned and operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and operates two inshore lifeboats: an Atlantic 85 called Max Walls (B-860) and a D-class (IB1) called RNLB David Radcliffe (D-880).

Calshot Castle is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII on the Calshot Spit, Hampshire, England, between 1539 and 1540. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire and defend Southampton Water as it met the Solent. The castle had a keep at its centre, surrounded by a curtain wall and a moat. Initially heavily armed, it had a garrison of 16 men and as many as 36 artillery guns. The castle continued in use for many years, surviving the English Civil War intact and being extensively modernised in the 1770s. During the 19th century, Calshot Castle was used by the coastguard as a base for combating smuggling. In 1894, however, fresh fears of a French invasion led to it being brought back into use as an artillery fort: a large coastal battery was constructed alongside the older castle and a boom built across Southampton Water, controlled from the castle. During the First World War, Calshot Castle was primarily used as a base for seaplanes, deployed on anti-submarine patrols in the English Channel; its guns were removed before the end of the war, probably for use in France. The air base, by then called RAF Calshot, grew in size during the inter-war years, hosting the Schneider Trophy air races. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Calshot was re-armed in the face of a possible German invasion. The station continued in use after the war, but as military seaplanes became obsolete, it was finally closed in 1961. After a short period of use by the coastguard, the castle was opened to the public by English Heritage in the 1980s. Restored to its pre-1914 appearance, the castle received 5,751 visitors in 2010. Historic England considers Calshot a "well-preserved example" of King Henry's Device Forts.

Calshot Spit is a one-mile long sand and shingle bank, near the village of Calshot, located on the southern bank of the open end of Southampton Water, on the south coast of England.At the end of the spit are Calshot Castle (built by King Henry VIII), an RNLI lifeboat, an NCI station, several slipways, a former Royal Navy and Royal Air Force flying boat station and Calshot Activities Centre. The neck of the spit is owned by New Forest District Council while the end of the spit is owned by the Crown Estate which leases it to Hampshire County Council.

Calshot Marshes is a 51.1-hectare (126-acre) Local Nature Reserve near Calshot, at the junction of The Solent and Southampton Water in Hampshire. It is owned by Hampshire County Council and managed by Hampshire Countryside Service. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, of Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation and of Hythe to Calshot Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest.This saltmarsh site is internationally important for dark-bellied brent geese and nationally important for wigeon, teal, ringed plover, grey plover, black-tailed godwit, redshank and dunlin.

Fawley Tunnel, or Fawley transmission tunnel, is a 3-metre (9.8 ft) diameter, 2-mile (3.2 km) long tunnel under Southampton Water between Fawley Power Station and Chilling near Warsash. It carries the cables of two 400kV circuits of the National Grid.

Calshot is a coastal village in Hampshire, England, at the west corner of Southampton Water where it joins the Solent.

Fawley Power Station was an oil-fired power station located on the western side of Southampton Water, between the villages of Fawley and Calshot in Hampshire, England. Its 198-metre (650 ft) chimney was a prominent (and navigationally useful) landmark, but it was not, as is sometimes claimed, the highest point in Hampshire (which is Pilot Hill).

Luttrell's Tower is a three-storey stuccoed yellow brick folly south of Southampton, Hampshire, England, near the village of Calshot. It has a six-storey circular stair turret extending above the rest. It stands on the shore of the Solent, close to the grounds of Eaglehurst House. It is owned by the Landmark Trust.

The River Hamble is located in south Hampshire, England. It rises near Bishop's Waltham and flows for 10.1 km (6.3 mi) through Botley, Bursledon, and Lower Swanwick before entering Southampton Water between Hamble Common and Warsash. The Hamble is tidal for about half its length and is navigable below Botley. From the medieval period to the present it has been a major ship and boat-building area. Leisure craft are still built by the Hamble today. One of the main builders was Luke & Co, later Luke Bros, a well-reputed yard from around 1890 to its closure in 1945. The lower reaches are a major yachting area with easy access to the sheltered waters of Southampton Water and The Solent.

Hook with Warsash is a 251.6-hectare (622-acre) Local Nature Reserve west of Fareham in Hampshire. It is owned by Hampshire County Council and managed by Hampshire Countryside Service. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, of Solent Maritime Special Area of Conservation, and of Lee-on-The Solent to Itchen Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest.This nature reserve on the banks of the River Hamble and Southampton Water has diverse habitats, intertidal mud, saltmarsh, grazing marsh, reedbed, scrapes, shingle and woodland. Flora include sea kale, yellow horned poppy, slender hare's ear, marsh marigold, English stonecrop and wild carrot.