Hythe Bay at Seabrook

It was a beautiful, bright morning and I thought it was time J had some fresh air, so I proposed a seaside walk. It seems a long time since we were beside the sea, I'm not sure that we've been to the coast since before the July/August hospital stay, so it was lovely to watch and hear the waves on the shingle. This is our closest beach, a long, curving bay with a paved promenade all along its length and on, if we had the time and energy, to Sandgate and Folkestone, so it's a perfect wheelchair walk, and on a weekday morning it's quiet, populated by retired people, dog walkers and a few men fishing. I was sad to discover that since our last visit a tall, shiny fence has appeared between the seafront and the land to the north, completely blocking the view of what used to be a wide strip of rough ground covered with shrubs and grasses between the sea and the canal, then a ribbon of housing along the main road and more, very varied housing tumbling down a tree-covered hillside. This marred the walk for me - perhaps next time we will go further west, to the Hythe end of the bay, where a quite attractive mix of older housing, a few beach huts and a café line the seafront promenade. Behind the fence, work is starting on a major new development of what sounds like fairly upmarket housing, apartments with sea views for those who can afford them, many of which may well become holiday or weekend homes or holiday lets. Locally, there has been a lot of protest about this large development in an area only just above sea level, vulnerable to high tides and sea level rise, and which will not provide affordable housing for local people. However, the fence will come down in due course, the new buildings may be architecturally interesting, and it was good to enjoy the sun and the sea.