I turned right out of the little car park and followed the coast road to Littlestone on Sea, where I picked up the link road up to the A259 coast road to Folkestone. About a mile along that road, just before a bridge over the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, is Romney Warren Country Park. I pulled in. I immediately realised that the parking area is small. Fortunately, there is plenty of room to turn around. I parked to one side, leaving enough room for other vehicles to get by. I then walked over to the visitor centre. I bought some cooking apples and had a cup of tea and cake. A couple of lovely, friendly ladies were keeping shop. I asked them what they knew about the marshes and whether they knew of anywhere that I could park quietly. They said that I should just go wandering off and would find something that would suit. I thanked them and did just that.
I wandered the lanes, through St. Mary in the Marsh and eventually to a village called Newchurch. As I came out of the village, there is a little bridge over one of the many drainage systems, known as sewers. This one is Wallsfoot Sewer. There is a little orchard on the corner of a field that was once a RAF airfield. After a few hundred yards, the verge becomes very wide. Ideal! I pulled over.
Hawthorn
It was a surprisingly hot day. Wandering around, I noticed that all the fields have little drainage ditches along all sides. Most have a little causeway from the road.
I strolled down to the orchard. Again, the trees were laden. I picked some lovely apples.
Beyond the orchard is a little memorial. The airfield was used primarily for Spitfire and Hurricane squadrons which gave covering fire leading up to D-Day and a Tempest squadron that chased down the V-1 flying bombs heading for London.
That evening, I was presented with a powerful emotionally charged sunset right there in my doorway. As the Sun set and the Summerlands appeared, I said my last farewells to Arian.
