Green Flag Cake

Today’s theme is cake and the first one is in Hythe by the Royal Military Canal. 

It is Wednesday 18 August and a day of activities, Gateway to Nature, to show the work that Shepway District Council does together with the Environment Agency in tending  the Royal Military Canal and its banks.   This makes it seem very dry and worthy but in fact it’s all great fun. 

Kate Hayes & Laura Pinkham

There are fishing lessons (complete with wriggling maggots as bait) and fly fishing lessons on the grass to practice casting.  There is face painting (Laura Pinkham of Shepway sports some very pretty flowers) and there is the Shepway MAP (Mobile Activity Programme) with games for the children. 

There are the vehicles that cut the grass and dredge the canal and the Fire & Rescue Service have brought along a Fire Engine.  The children love all these large machines especially as they are able to climb all  over them.  There’s a water tank full of fish caught in the canal by the trainee anglers and lots of photographs and models of creepie crawlies which live in or near the canal.

A bird hide by the canal

We are also taking the opportunity to celebrate the Green Flag awarded to the Royal Military Canal.  This is the first time Shepway has won a green flag for the Royal Military Canal and it is a great accolade for Chris McCreedy, Parks Manager, Kate Hayes, the Royal Military Canal Manager and their team.  Green Flags are awarded to public areas which are welcoming, healthy, safe and secure, clean and well maintained.  They must also promote the environment and heritage of the area and involve the local community.

Chris McCreedy in the hide

The Royal Military Canal is both useful and decorative as it is part of the drainage system of the Romney Marsh, it also provides recreation to anglers, boaters, horseriders, cyclists and walkers and a ribbon of green through Seabrook and Hythe.  The canal is 28 miles from Seabrook in Kent  to Cliff End in East Sussex and there are now plans to extend the footpath along the next stage from Hythe to Lympne.

Judith McCormick, Hythe town clerk & Michael Lyons, Hythe town councillor

As well as members of the public (of all ages) we are joined by Judith McCormick, the Hythe Town clerk and Michael Lyons who is both a town and district councillor.

My role is to thank everyone for their efforts in keeping the Royal Military Canal so well, to congratulate them and to cut the cake.  I also take the opportunity to try my hand at fishing but I’ll spare you the tale of the one that got away. 

Cllr Susan Carey, Kate Hayes & friends go fishing

The Royal Military Canal

On 28 July, Shepway District Council has two awards to celebrate and I have two flags to raise.  The first is for the Royal Miltary Canal in Hythe and it’s the first time it has been entered for the award. 

Green Flags are a national quality standard for parks and open spaces that are judged to be welcoming, safe, well maintained and involve the local community and the Royal Military Canal is all that and more.  It was built during the Napoleonic Wars as the third line of defence (the first was the Royal Navy and the second was the Martello Towers) against a potential invasion by the French but is now a much loved nature reserve and its banks used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders.  It is also an important part of the drainage system for Romney Marsh.  So it is both decorative and useful.

Cllrs Susan Carey, Keren Belcourt and David Monk

Although the Royal Military Canal is quite shallow it can take shallow bottomed boats and floats (see the story about the biennial Venetian Fete last summer) and this year sees a new boat join those available for hire.  It is the Guzeppina, a dghajsa which is a type of Maltese water taxi.  It is like a wide gondola and can take up to six passengers.  Today there are just three.  I am joined by the mayor of Hythe, Cllr Keren Belcourt and Cllr David Monk who is the cabinet member responsible for our district’s parks and open spaces. 

Cllr Susan Carey raising the flag at Hythe

Owner, Allen Upward intends to hire out the dghajsa, complete with oarsman, for ninety minutes for £39.  He has trained a team to do the work of rowing the boat but today turns out himself for the much shorter journey we make to the boat station where I raise the flag and pay tribute to the team lead by Grounds Manager, Chris McCreedy and Kate Hayes.

David Monk and I then head for Folkestone for the next flag.  Our driver takes a wrong turn and we end up on the beach at Sandgate.  As we are on a tight schedule, David and I bail out and start walking.  Several of the beach hut owners greet us and ask where the rest of the procession is as we march briskly along the seafront in the blistering heat.

At the Lower Leas Coastal Park in Folkestone I raise their green flag.  It is the fourth year in a row that they have been awarded a green flag I and congratulate Chris McCreedy once again together with Coastal Park manager, Laura Pinkham and her team.  Folkestone town mayor Tom McNeice joins us for the photographs to mark the event.  Afterwards we all go for a cup of tea at The Mermaid cafe and watch the visitors enjoying the beach and the gardens.

Raising the flag in Folkestone

Not only has the Lower Leas Coastal Park won another green flag but it has also recently been placed in the top 20 best places for a picnic in UK by My Red Tractor, an organisation that promotes high quality food production and standards.

David Monk says “I would like to thank the staff at both sites whose obvious pride in their work has helped us secure this national accolade.”  Green Flag Plus Partnership chairman, Phil Barton, adds: “Parks and green spaces provide a “green lung” for people in towns and cities across the country, but they also provide essential locations for play, family interaction and “getting away from it all”.

‘It is proven that having access to quality green spaces has benefits for people’s mental and physical wellbeing and the Green Flag or Pennant shows the public that a park or green space is of the highest standard.’

Royal Military Canal, Hythe

The Royal Military Canal is a wonderful but little known treasure of the Shepway District.  It is 28 miles long and runs from Seabrook to the east of Hythe to Cliff End near Hastings in East Sussex.  Shepway District Counci cares for the six miles of canal that runs through Hythe and the Environment Agency looks after the rest.

We have Napoleon Bonaparte to thank for the Royal Military Canal as it was built as the third line of defence against his planned invasion. (The British Navy was the first line of defence and the Martello Towers the second.)  The canal provided a further barrier allowing for raking lines of fire against an invading army.  Fortunately the first line of defence held and the Royal Military Canal has only ever been used for peaceful purposes.

The first sod was cut in 1804 and it took four and a half years to build and today, 18 August 2009, we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Royal Military Canal.

The Royal Military Canal is the third longest defensive monument in Britain after Hadrian’s Wall and Offa’s Dyke.  Unlike these historic monuments it still serves an essential function as it is part of the drainage and irrigation of Romney Marsh.  It is also a well used an well loved part of our district by anglers, walkers and riders and provides a home for all sorts of wildlife.

It must be royal icing for the Royal Military Canal cake!

To celebrate the 200th anniversary, Shepway is staging an event with the Environment Agency to show how the canal is maintained and there is a magnificent cake depicting the canal complete with icing sugar trees, boats and anglers (the bridge and railings were the only non edible pieces).  My role is to make a (short) speech and cut the cake and I’m accompanied by my friend and fellow Hythe resident, Richard Samuelson.

The cake is for the chop

Richard and I tour the stands showing the history of the canal, the work of the Environment Agency and some of the equipment that Shepway uses keep the canal free of weeds and the banks full of wildflowers and insects. 

Caught today in the Royal Miltary Canal

There are plenty of people taking advantage of free angling lessons from the  Environment Agency and a tank full of fish caught that morning on display before being returned to the canal.   A grant from the Environment Agency has also paid for a section of the bank, next to Scanlons Bridge, to be made accessible for wheelchair users to fish.

As well as Kate Hayes, Shepway’s Environment Officer, Chris McCreedy, Grounds Manager and their team the event is also supported by two of the Hythe District Councillors, David Owen and Neil Matthews.  There is a good turnout from the public and the cake attracts plenty of children eager for a slice of birthday cake at this 200th anniversary.

Kate Hayes, Environment Officer, gets close to Nature

The Royal Military Canal looks good for its age and this is largely down to the efforts of Shepway District Council.  In 2003 Shepway won a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £3.35million for works to the canal, the banks and surrounding area.  And the regular maintenance by the Shepway groundworks team keeps the Royal Military Canal looking its best.  Local people also contribute by buying benches in memory of loved ones and there can be no doubt that everyone’s efforts are much appreciated by both residents and visitors to Hythe.

Chairman of Shepway District Council, Susan Carey and Richard Samuelson