Project 365 day 267: Evening Canal Walk

It's been another beautiful day, with an autumn chill in the air when I got up but warm sun by the time I hung the laundry out. J was running the weekly film watch party for her care centre this afternoon, and needed me to help her to show the trailers and clips she had selected, at the same time as giving her lunch. They use the "watch together" feature in Facebook rooms, which works well for the watch parties as videos can be chosen and saved in advance; she had chosen the theme of films about art and artists and found lots of interesting ones to share, some of which we have seen and others we would like to see. 

It was quite late in the afternoon by the time we could go out, but we were keen to take advantage of the weather. The Royal Military Canal runs from east of Folkestone to just west of Hastings, and formed part of the defensive structures built to protect this stretch of the south coast against the feared invasion by Napoleon's armies. There are paths along its whole length, and for a long time we have intended to explore the section running from West Hythe along the edge of Romney Marsh. The path was reasonably accessible for J's wheelchair, with just a few reasonably manageable tree roots and bumpy patches, and a surfaced bridleway/cycle track ran alongside it at the other side of a hedge, though this would not have given us views of the canal. We walked as far as the next bridge and returned on a surfaced path at the other side of the canal which was closer to the water with a series of little stepped platforms for anglers, though none were in use. The low sun created intensely coloured reflections; by the time we returned to the car just before seven it was almost dark, and as we drove back up onto the downs there were glorious, soft, misty views of a pink hued sky above the coast and the marsh.