Unexpected

We drove to West Hythe for a walk beside the Royal Military Canal, which runs from Hythe across the edge of Romney Marsh to Cliff End, near Hastings, and was part of the south coast's defences during the Napoleonic wars. The military road, now a track and cycle way following the canal (though offering limited views of it) is a good, accessible walk for us, and this time we headed west, the signpost indicating 21 miles to Rye. We hadn't walked far in that direction before, so were not expecting to see either the ruined walls of a Roman fort or residents of an animal park. The canal runs below the line of the chalk cliffs: in Roman times, before the marsh was drained, much of it was a tidal lagoon. Peering between the trees which line the military road, we could see Lympne castle and church on the hilltop, and below it fragments of wall and many scattered stones spreading down the hillside. These, we learned, are the remains of a Roman fort, its layout and functions unclear because walls have been moved and broken by landslips. A little further along, we discovered that our path ran alongside the fence of Port Lympne animal park: through gaps in the trees, we could see a large expanse of grassy hillside where groups of various hooved and horned animals were being viewed by safari truck loads of visitors. I think (having looked at their map) that these are a type of antelope. Many more were grazing or lying in the grass in groups. The canal path does not provide a circular walk, but partway back we crossed the small dam and returned along the other side of the canal. This footpath runs right beside the water, with ducks and reflections to photograph. 

The extras show the remains of the Roman fort and some of the reflections.