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This would be a lovely walk where it not for the A27. Whilst the traffic noise is tolerable in the southern part of the reserve, along the northern edge it gets very intrusive.
Once you have braved the tricky exit off the A27/A2030 interchange and found the car park, the first part of the walk round the sea wall is easy to follow.
More of a challenge is getting back to the car park without using the cycle path next to the A27 where, for me, the traffic noise was unbearable.
Farlington Marsh was originally created in the 1770s by the Lord of the Manor of Partington by building a timber and clay wall out into the harbour around some small islands. The used it to graze cattle on the nutrient rich grassland to fatten them for market.
Over the years it has been used to supply drinking water for Portsmouth, as a racecourse, and as Starfish decoy site during World War II.
It is now managed by the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and is one of their oldest reserves. They still use cattle to create the right conditions for wildlife, and the path near the Information Centre is subject to temporary closures to allow the movement of livestock. If this is the case, notices are displayed giving a mobile phone contact number.