Afternoon Walk - Lockdown 2 Day 6

With "My Poppy Run" challenge coming to an end this evening at midnight, I decided that despite being off work sick, I needed to get some fresh air.  

We are very lucky that across the road from where we live is the Royal Military Canal.  It was built back in the Napoleonic Era.

We live on what is the south side of the canal towards the sea.  As our houses have only been here since about 1999 they were built almost 200 years after the canal.  

For the millennium the old brick built bridge was removed and a newer one put a little nearer our road.  It makes it easier to cross for walkers and cyclists. It is the only bridge between West Hythe to the west and Hythe in the east.  

On the ridge, called The Roughs, overlooking the canal is the Hythe Sound Mirror. There used to be two and one fell down as the ground shifted under it.  My first photograph shows it located near the top of the ridge.

Just to the right and slightly lower are the foundations of the building that housed the observers and their equipment.

When the military road was built the canal bank on the northside was much higher than the southside, This was to allow troop movement along the road free from an enemy that had landed from the sea seeing them. it also gave the defenders on the north bank a chance to look down over an enemy.  The canal was never called into action as Napoleon never came.

More recently it was re-worked and road given more substantial sidings and a fine gravel base. Ideal for walking and cycling. It is maintained by the local council but in places it has deteriorated badly and after rain it can flood and in winter it is a sea of mud in places.  

Along the way are several picnic areas and cycle parks and also a set of wooden mile markers. 

In summer the area is very popular with families and dog walkers.

Claire and Reggie

By the bridge is a model of the sound mirror. On the southside there is an explanation panel. If you speak moderately and look across at the mirror, those standing in front of it can hear you clearly. This is to demonstrate how the mirror on the ridge would have picked up the sound of aircraft engines as German planes came across from France.

Sadly, a great idea that was superseded by radar before hostilities began.

The model mirror ironically was made in Germany..... it also gives the local mindless taggers somewhere to show their lack of any artistic talent.

And that was today's lockdown walk over and we were back across the bridge and home a few minutes later.