Hythe Firing Ranges

The Walk: Walk along the beach in front of the MOD's Hythe Firing Range, from Hythe town to the Dymchurch Redoubt, and back again. (NB This walk is only possible when there is no live firing training on Hythe Ranges, when there will be no red flags flying.)

Firing butts, Hythe Ranges

Route

The route is shown in BLUE. After completing the range walk, you could add on the walk from Hythe Eastwards along the coast esplanade to Folkestone, also shown on the map in RED, and described in a separate blog.

Check on line before you go and chose a day when there is no live firing (search for 'Hythe Ranges Live Firing' or similar). Start from the Western end of Hythe esplanade (West Parade), and double check that the red flags are not flying (and also read the safety notices).

Cross the beach in front of some fishing boats and the Lazy Shack cafe and join the range track at the first Martello Tower. Follow the track all the way along to the Dymchurch Redoubt, then return the same way. (Walking along the shingle beach it itself will be a hard slog, with wooden groins to climb over at regular intervals.)

Eastern access to the Ranges. Either walk across shingle to the Martello tower, or teeter along the concrete wall behind the range control building

Why do it?

A chance to visit a part of the coast only occasionally open to the public, and see the various shooting butts, training buildings, several Martello Towers and the Dymchurch Redoubt, which, despite it's gerry-built brick appearance, dates from Napoleonic times.

Dymchurch Redoubt, with its defensive boulder wall

Views across to France on a clear day.

Views of French coast from Hythe beach

Distance

5 miles for the round trip.

Logistics

There is free parking near the start on St Leonard's Road and along West Parade (so long as you're not driving a mobile home).

The range track by the first Martello Tower is easily accessed via a short stretch of shingle beach. You can either head straight across the shingle to the tower, or teeter along a concrete wall from the entrance buildings.

Walk in front of the Lazy Shack Cafe (and pay a visit if you're hungry)

The track mainly has a good compacted stone surface, but there are some large puddles after rain (and, as I discovered, ice on a freezing cold day).

Range track, looking Eastwards to the Mill Point headland between Hythe and Folkestone

Sadly, there is no reliable exit at Dymchurch Redoubt. As noted on the preceding walk to the Western entrance beside the Redoubt, the official public access/exit is via a beach exposed at low tide at the base of the huge boulders protecting the Redoubt from erosion by the sea, but I have never seen said beach exposed. You might contemplate clambering over the boulders to circumvent the locked official gateways, but this would be quite perilous (and probably against the range bylaws). Hence, the only realistic alternative is to return the way you came (and the sign at the Eastern entrance says 'No Through Route to Dymchurch' and describes the walk as a 6km round trip).

Challenges

The need to check range access times and the lack of a Western exit have already been noted above.

Access times are typically one weekend a month, with extended times at Christmas/New Year, Easter and summer holidays. The firing schedule can be confusing: when the schedule says 'CLOSED' (for firing) the range is OPEN (for the public)!

Obey 'keep out' signs and don't stray into the range area.