The English Channel from Sandgate

I'm having to start again as I inadvertently did a google search when I wanted to add this shot to the map. So I'll see if I can come close to the deathless prose I had originally written.

It was so nice to have a good Easter Sunday especially after the portends of yesterday when the morning was so dank and dreary. We took the opportunity to drive down to Folkestone witb Doreen to walk on the Leas and to Hythe to walk along Princes Parade.

The Leas are a wide, grassy area in front of some very elegant large villas and hotels on the clifftop above the Channel. Being high up you have extensive views out over the sea as well as over the town itself. The atmosphere was particularly clear today with ships in the Channel and the French coast clearly visible.

Princes Parade between Hythe and Sandgate is a wide, straight, flat promenade, ideal for walking, pushchairs, small kids on bikes and scooters and people in wheelchairs. We've walked this particular stretch of coast many a time over the decades, in all seasons and in all weathers.

On a day like today, where the air is so clear, the horizon is well defined and sharp. Only the people give some dimension and the ferry to the left  and the smudge of France just visible to the right. It's not very often that France can be seen from down at this level as both coasts pull away as the Channel widens.

Behind the promenade is an area of low-lying ground, part golf course and part natural, beyond which is the Royal Millitart Canal. The old coastal cliffs form a backdrop to the whole view where steep wooded cliffs are dotted with houses, all with great views out over the Channel.

Overall we pushed the chair more than 5 miles so it was time to get back for dinner - slow roast shoulder of lamb, courtesy of Jamie Oliver. After 4 hours in the oven, the meat just falls off the bone and will make a great Shepherd's Pie (HarryJ) during the week.

A very pleasant day indeed.