So, today, we will just be walking/running the five or so miles from Hythe to Folkestone - and then turning round and running back. That means we get a bit of our journey under our belt - but also get a 10 or so mile training session in as well. As it turned out it was a great call, with the rain arriving minutes after we completed our walk - and not stopping for a week!!
Hythe is one of the five original Cinque Ports and its wide promenade overlooks a long stretch of beach with views over the English Channel to France. We started today by the Royal Military Canal in Hythe. The canal was dug during the Napoleonic era (1804-15) as a defensive measure against a possible French invasion. The canal runs across the northern edge of Romney Marsh, to Winchelsea. The canal is an integral part of Hythe as, shaded by trees, the 30 feet wide stretch of water passes through to the marsh from the middle of the town. The canal is 26 miles long - and one of these days we will walk the length of it - we keep threatening to do, but maybe we have a bigger project on our hands at the moment!
Hythe is quite a pleasant town with its High Street in particular indicating a town with plenty of history. Hythe also features a number of Martello Towers, built as a defence against a possible invasion by Napoleon. In total there are 74 of these towers dotted aong the coast between Folkestone and Seaford. The walls of these monsters are up to 13 feet thick, and each tower was built to hold up to 24 men with a huge cannon mounted on the top. The name Martello is from a similar tower at Mortella Point in Corsica which the Navy had captured from the French. Although the towers were never needed for their original purpose they were later used to combat smuggling and also as signalling stations and coastal defences during the two World Wars. Three of the towers survive at Hythe; one was converted to a house in the 1930s and can be seen along West Parade, and the other two are on the beach and are owned by the Ministry of Defence.
The walk/run took us from the Canal in the town centre through to the promenade and we then made our way along the coast along a fine wide pathway - on the way out we were kept company by a steady stream of dog walkers, pram pushers and others simply strolling or running. In fact it is the perfect place to live if you are one for a morning or afternoon constitutional - wide promenade with views over the channel. Our walk back however was a real torture - there are obvously plenty of places along the front to feast on good old British Fish 'n' Chips - and we had to endure the lovely smells of freshly cooked lunches as we made our way back to the car!
Another major feature of the journey along this stretch of the Kent coast is the amunt of work being carried out to the flood defences. Some £85 million has been committed to bolstering the protection in place along the coastline - with some 6,000 properties reckoned to be vulnerable to breaches of the sea wall. So - cue pictures of diggers from time to time!
There are some fine properties to be seen as you make your way along the promenade towards Sandgate. The novelist H. G. Wells built Spade House; that fine comedienne and comedy actress Hattie Jacques also lived locally - and so too did W 'Bill' Deedes and the notorous politician and philanderer Alan Clarke in nearby Saltwood Castle. In fact let's continue the name dropping ...!! The novelist Daphne du Maurier lived with her family at Hythe in the early years of World War II. Noel Redding the bass guitarist with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, gave his first public performance at Hythe Youth Club. And ... so the list goes on!
A couple of miles down the promenade and we reached Sandgate. This attractive litle place is fiercely independent and still seething over its loss of independence and forced shoe-horning into the clutches of nearby Folkestone. It features a High Street famous for antiques and collectables and a few restaurants, bars and shops. The community is obvioulsy still proud of its heritage and it does boast a fine history. Unfortunately for the good Burghers of Sandagate though - the majority of us still see the place as a bit of Folkestone.
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Sandgate Castle was one of Henry VIII's Device Forts. Built in 1539 it has since been converted to a Martello Tower in the early 1800s and is now in private ownership.
Around an hour after leaving Hythe we reach the outskirts of Folkestone and the end of our short journey today. Folkestone’s history, as with its near neighbour Dover is inextricably linked to the other side of the channel. In the early days it was smuggling and the fear of invasion. Then came the railways and the peaceful crossing of the channel bringing with it opportunities to develop its tourism infrastructure. Then no sooner had the place become a British holiday favourite than the decline set in with the advent of the cheap package holiday. Folkestone's problems have been compounded with the demise of the port as Dover grabbed the monopoly for cross channel ferries and, although the Channel Tunnel has brought limited employment and visitor opportunities the tourists and cross channel traffic are largely a thing of the past. There are regular stories of Folketone's port re-opening traffic links with the French ports but nothing seems to come of them.
Recent plans envisage rebuilding the harbour as a marina. The plans link in with the new Creative Quarter and the Folkestone Harbour Company, now owned by Saga mogul Roger De Haan, and their vision of a thriving art and creative section of the town based in the harbour. Disappointingly whilst the plans will revive an area now clearly past its sell-by date, it will mean the final disappearance of the area that once housed the Rotunda Amusement Park - and area still derelict some four years after the park closed its doors for the last time. This was the place our eldest daughter first developed a pathalogical hatred of Ghost Trains.
We reached our finish point after just seconds more than one hour - and we then promptly ran back in a time some 5 minutes less!
Miles covered 5.01 miles
Time taken 1 hours and 0 minutes
Miles covered to date 30.31 miles
Time taken to date 8 hours and 48 minutes
