The day started so dull and I knew the flat light would not be good for taking pictures but the forecast was for the weather to improve by mid afternoon so it might not be too bad. We chose to do the second of the walks taking in the length of the Royal Military Canal.

Our walk today started from Hythe and we soon left the town behind as we walked up a hill leading us into some woodland. In this woodland I longed for some sunlight as it really could look quiet picturesque I’m sure. The banks of a small stream had been planted with snowdrops and ferns which I’m sure weren’t natural but it looked like it would be very pretty there when there were more leaves on the trees.

Our walk continued following the Saxon Shore Way path across the fields until we eventually reached a small chapel at the village of Pedlinge, built as a private chapel in the early 1900s by the then MP for the area Laurence Hardy. The next part of the walk took us across large open fields which thankfully weren’t too muddy at all.

We passed the Shepway Cross, which marks the spot of the meeting place of the Court of Shepway of the Cinque Ports Confederation which first met in 1150. Here representatives of Hythe, Hastings, Romney, Dover and Sandwich, called Portmen, met with the Lord Warden to exchange messages with the King and discuss business matters. By the 16th century the ceremonies were not much more than a hearty feast with plenty to drink.

Our path then went past Lympne Castle, which was built around 1360.  Although the castle isn’t open to the public it is licensed for weddings and it must be a very nice place to get married. Outside was an old London bus used to bring guests to the weddings so it was obvious there was a wedding today too. 
                                                                                                    
We knew eventually that day we would be getting a spectacular view of the Romney Marsh and we weren’t disappointed because the footpath follows the escarpment that would have once been sea cliffs. All the land to the south was once either sea or tidal saltmarsh. Now this area is the Romney Marsh, which was reclaimed for agriculture during the Middle Ages. It covers an area of 100 square miles stretching from Hythe in the east to Winchelsea in the west.

Just when we were thinking it was really time for lunch and wouldn’t it be nice to have somewhere to sit, we found a very convenient bench just in the right place to take in the view.  The best thing was at last the sun had came out too. I have to admit though that lunch was a rather surreal experience. From the wedding that was going on at Lympne Castle we could hear the sound of bagpipes but in front of us we could see Wildebeest, Ostriches and Zebras! The walk guides we are following were published a few years ago and before the latest attraction at the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park called the African Experience opened.  This involves a ride in an open vehicle which we’ve been on in recent years as paying customers. Today we were getting totally unexpected views of the animals. It had to be said you needed binoculars to see a lot of them and I would imagine that when there are leaves on the trees you would see very little at all.

Our walk today took us down the escarpment with good views of an old Roman fort, Portus Lemanis, which was one of a series of forts protecting the English coast from invasion at the end of the Roman occupation. The remains are now known as Stutfall Castle. I must admit I was frustrated as I couldn’t get as close to the ruins as I would have liked without climbing over the barbed wire fence, which I didn’t risk.

The path down from the escarpment was at times very wet and slippery despite the boards placed over the wettest parts, but soon we were down and walking along the canal path towards West Hythe where back at the beginning of January I had a great day watching the Kingfisher and seeing the Night Heron which had spent the winter months there. No sign of them today sadly, or of the mink I had seen on that occasion too.

The path which we followed along the canal from West Hythe to where we started the walk at Hythe was probably the best path we’d followed all day and I was checking the hillside all the time too. On an area known as The Roughs is a disused disc shaped object known as a sound mirror. I would have loved to have got closer to it but it’s apparently on private land so probably best not to trespass. The 30 foot sound mirror you can see was part of the experiments aimed at developing an early warning system for aircraft. Incoming sounds were focused at various points near the mirror’s surface and sounds were conveyed via a trumpet-shaped collecting device to a stethoscope worn by the listener. The Hythe sound mirror was tested in the 1930s but increasing aircraft speeds and growing noise created great problems. The advent of radar in the 1930s led the abandonment of acoustic early warning systems before the start of the 2nd World War.

On the path there is a model of a sound mirror for you to try out for yourselves. I went to stand next to the mirror while Nigel stayed on the other side of the canal. He talked and as I listened carefully I could hear what he said, not that I could repeat what he said! A bit further along the path and we could hear the unmistakeable sound of a steam train. The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, known as the “world’s smallest public railway” runs on a 15 inch gauge track starting at Hythe and going a distance of 13.5 miles to Dungeness. It’s been quite a few years since we have travelled on this so we must put that right soon.

Just time for a very welcome cup of coffee and delicious scone in the light railway café at the station before we made our way to the seafront in the hopes the setting sun might be worth watching. We met some fishermen who had set up their tents and fishing lines and were going to spend the night fishing. They were welcome to it too because as soon as the sun set it turned distinctly chilly.

As far as photographs go today the weather really wasn’t on my side but it was still a very pleasant walk of almost 6 miles. The surreal experience at lunchtime won’t be forgotten for a while and certainly made us laugh. One other thing I hadn’t mentioned too was the constant sound of birdsong that accompanied us during the walk. Lots of birds are all looking very smart now and singing their hearts out getting ready for spring.

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