2009 17 OCT
Royal Military Canal, Walk 9
Saturday, 17 October 2009

Royal Military Canal Walk 9

 

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Lock Gates
In contrast to the previous walk, the ninth walk is very short, only about 3 miles, but in common with the eighth walk there was no view of the Royal Military Canal.  In the same way that the defences to the north-east of Rye were provided by the River Rother, to the south-west of Rye they were provided by the River Brede. 

The walk started from Brede Lock in Rye, and headed out alongside the river and the road to Winchelsea.  Unlike the River Rother, the Brede was considered too narrow to be used as a defensive structure on its own, and a parapet was built in common with the rest of the canal. 

 

The first objective of the walk was clearly in view across the flat landscape: Camber Castle, sitting on the low-lying ground between Rye and Winchelsea.  This land used to be a shallow harbour called The Camber, and was protected by shingle ridges formed during ancient storms.  The ridges are important indicators of sea levels and major storms before recorded history, and may still be of value to researchers studying sea level changes.

More recently The Camber was used as a decoy site to lure German aircraft away from more important targets during World War 2.  The site was disguised with buildings and lighting to look from the air like a busy port, and there are rare surviving examples of Stanton Sectional Shelters on The Camber today.

 

Camber Castle 1
Camber Castle 2





We were soon at Camber Castle and walking around the outer walls – unfortunately the castle wasn’t open today.  The castle was built by Henry VIII in 1539 as part of coastal defences against French invasion, coincidentally the same reason that the Royal Military Canal was built more than 250 years later.  Camber Castle represented a revolution in castle design prompted by advances in artillery.  Medieval keeps presented large, vulnerable targets for cannon fire, but Camber and other castles built by Henry VIII were low and squat, with semi-circular bastions holding tiers of guns for effective defence.  Probably no coincidence either that castles like Camber and Deal are shaped like the Tudor Rose when viewed from above.  Although Camber Castle was never attacked, it lasted less than 100 years, Charles I giving orders for demolition in 1626 because the building was in a bad state of decay and, with the further build-up of silt and shingle, was now stranded from the sea.  The castle was never demolished, but time and coastal storms have not been kind to the stone work. 

After lunch, a very obliging Red Darter dragonfly spent a lot of time sunning itself on the castle wall, giving me time to fit my macro lens and take some close-ups.  For the rest of the day the focus moved from military history to natural history as we walked across the Rye Bay Nature Reserve to the hide overlooking Castle Water, which (like many inland lakes in Kent and Sussex) is an old gravel extraction site.  After a short time watching the ducks and geese we headed back to the footpath to Rye, going past reed beds with dozens of dragonflies flying around us.  The path then followed an old railway line back to the start point – on this section we were lucky enough to see more Clouded Yellow butterflies. 

Male Common Darter Dragonfly
Turnstone












 

 

As it was only a short walk we decided to extend the day by driving down to the nature reserve at Rye Harbour.  We spent a long time in the hide enjoying close views of feeding Curlew, Redshank and Corn Bunting.  Afterwards we walked over to the River Rother where some very confiding Turnstones were feeding on the shingle bank.  Unfortunately at this point my camera decided to play up, so I’m disappointed with the pictures. 

 

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