Royal Military Canal - Hamstreet to Rye (★★★☆☆)

On the previous day I had followed the Royal Military Canal from Folkestone to Hamstreet - and today we pick back up the journey, with the aim to reach either Rye or Hastings (depending on timings).

The previous day had ended with a fairly easy walk through Hamstreet - and first we must retrace our steps back through Hamstreet, and back over the bridge to reach the canal.

Here the canal continues on much as it had done towards the end of the previous day's walk - as we cross a busy road, move back to the right-hand-side of the canal, and then pass under the route of the railway.

With this done, we are soon passing close to the village of Warehorne - and it is a nice, and fairly busy, stretch of countryside we are walking along.

Just beyond Warehorne

Having passed Warehorne, we continue on passing the small village of Kenardington (on our right), and then begin a lazy wander across sheep-filled fields towards Appledore.

Looking towards Kenardington

A sight of the river

On the final run towards Appledore (with a drainage channel heading to Appledore Heath)

Despite us now being around seven miles from the coast (as the crow flies) - Appledore used to be a port (with the sea level having dropped over the last thousand years or so).

And during it's time as a port it most significantly provided the landing and camping spot for the Danish army in 892 - with that army having stayed in Appledore through the winter of 892-893.

By the winter of 892-93, King Alfred of Wessex was back in the ascendancy - with his famous burning of the cakes in the Somerset Marshes having by this point happened over twenty years previously (after he had been forced to flee to the Somerset Marshes after a catastrophic defeat - as Vikings took over England).

Between these two dates, battles had been fought, treaties had been signed, treaties had been broken, Alfred had retaken London, and Alfred had restyled himself as 'King of the Anglo-Saxons'.

But in 892, the Vikings attacked again - with the bulk of their force landing here in Appledore, whilst a smaller force landed at Milton (near Gravesend). 

What followed was a long series of fighting across England - which only came to and end in 896, when the Vikings (having been beaten) either retired to Northumbria, East Anglia, or the continent.

But fortunately for us, there is no Viking camp to navigate through today - and instead what we find at Appledore is a fairly posh looking village, that has a fair amount of new build, modern housing.

But we are very soon past the village, and now heading along a section of the trail, where our path sits between the canal and a parallel road.

Looking across the canal

Looking across the road

But whilst the views out across both the canal and road are fairly pretty, here the quality of the path does decline somewhat - and there is a lot of heavy growth underfoot, that whilst being mostly harmless grasses, does also include a sufficient number of brambles and stinging nettles to be problematic.

If I had been wearing trousers today, that would be no great hardship - but being attired in shorts, this stretch of path was not particularly enjoyable - and it is not long until my legs are fairly well stung.

And it is a fairly long two mile stretch along this section - but here we do at least get to pass the fairly unique Isle of Oxney - which is an island that currently sits an awful long way from the sea.

The "Isle" of Oxney

Once again, this island links back to the days when the sea came further inland - with the River Rother effectively having a choice as to whether it headed round the north or south of the island.

And here we can make use of an old map to see that where we are stood today used to form part of a vast estuary.

The impact of this estuary on the land was fairly negative, with salty water spoiling much of the agricultural quality of the land - and in the 1330s a dam was built to route the river round to the north of this 'island'. And this sought to increase the amount of land that could be used for agriculture.

But this attempt only worked so well, with tidal seawater continuing to flood and spoil much of the land - and so in 1623 a new attempt was made to control the water flow across this area of land, with the construction of the Great Freshwater Sluice.

This new approach sought to control the tidal flow at Appledore - but it too only worked so well.

The position of the Knelle Dam and Appledore Water post 1623

And so shortly after, efforts were made to divert the flow of the River Rother through the Wittersham Level, in an attempt to make the area to the north of the Isle of Oxney usable again.

This new arrangement was in place by 1635, but in 1644 an exceptionally large tide came up from the sea, broke the walls of the channel, and drowned much of the lands with salt water anyway (undoing much of the hard work that had been done).

But in response, a more complex series of dams were constructed - and river management works continue along this river to this day.

Today the River Rother continues to flow across the Wittersham Level - and here we meet up with it, and get released from our slightly lousy section of path, crammed between the road and canal.

And from here, the Royal Military Canal shares the same route as the River Rother until Rye - where the River Rother will head down to meet up with the sea, whilst the Royal Military Canal will continue on to Cliff End.

A disused lock connecting the Royal Military Canal and the River Rother

These days, motorised boats are not allowed to use the Royal Military Canal - which is now designated as a Local Wildlife Site.

But from here on we are following a navigable section of waterway - although initially, the main impact of this is that we are walking through a caravan site - where numerous boats are parked up.

Once through this, we continue on through a field of wheat - before we make our way across a field of sheep, and on towards Rye.

But before we can reach Rye, we face a diversion, due to the more modern efforts to control the impact of the River Rother - and so here we get diverted off across the fields on a looping path that heads over the railway, through East Guldeford, and less directly on into Rye.

Diverting off across the fields

Crossing one of the many drainage channels

And passing St Mary's Church at East Guldeford

This is an interesting diversion, and it does show off the area around the canal quite nicely - but by the time we reach Rye, we are arriving behind schedule - and so here9 there is a decision to make.

And in the end, as I head into this pretty, but fairly unusual town that was once almost entirely surrounded by the sea) - I decide that we will finish our walk here today (and pick back up from Rye when we come back to explore the next section of coastline).

The ancient towns of Rye and Winchelsea

But what makes Rye so unique, is that it sits at the confluence of three rivers - and the geography of the area also made Rye the idea spot for a port.

This made it a fairly significant medieval town - and this contributes to the age of the buildings on show - but over the years significant effort has had to be made, to protect the town from the gradual silting up of both the river and harbour (that tidal silt strikes again).

In the end though - as ships got bigger, and needed deeper ports - the town ceased to be as important - with fishing and smuggling taking over from the more lucrative (and more respectable) trading activity.

And the most notable smuggling gang operating from Rye were the Hawkhurst Gang - who operated from 1735 to 1749 . And whilst they were principally based at Hawhurst (half way between Rye and Royal Tunbridge Wells), their secondary headquarters were at the Mermaid Inn in Rye.

This was a violent gang - with the killing of revenue officers along this stretch of south coast, being fairly common during this fairly violent era - and in the end the gang were too violent for the locals.

As a result they lost the support of those locals (who otherwise benefited financially from the smuggling activity) - and the main gang members were caught and either executed or transported in the late 1740s.

By the end of the 1700s, efforts were made to build a new harbour - and restore Rye to a more respectable footing - but whilst this new harbour opened in 1787, it was abandoned within four months as that tidal silt struck again, and choked the new harbour entrance.

These days Rye continues to operate as a small port - mostly for yachts and fishing boats - but it is now mostly a tourist town, or a pretty place for people to live. 

And today there are a number of tourists out and about in the town, as we head to the station - and as I settle down to wait for my train - as we bring this walk to an early close.

Total Distance: 11.9 miles (11.0 miles along the Royal Military Canal)

Total Ascent: 147 feet (144 feet along the Royal Military Canal)

Enjoyment Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ ★ ★ / 5

The section between Appledore and the meeting with the River Rother was fairly miserable (due to the stinging nettles) - and as on the previous day, the appeal of the canal is probably more the history and quirkiness of the area, than the quality of the actual walking. I did find it interesting, but it is going to be less interesting if you aren't interested in the history.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 189 OS Landranger map. The route is in well way-marked, and you don't leave the canal so it is very easy to follow