Shepway Chairman's Blog

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.’