"Mr Pitt’s expensive ditch was dug to deter old Boney" Topic

"He even called his force the "Armee d'Angleterre". The low-lying coast between Folkestone and Hastings was considered particularly vulnerable to a landing. So when Lieutenant-Colonel John Brown proposed the construction of a 28 miles long canal arcing around the landward edge of Romney Marsh as a defence against the French his idea found enthusiastic support, not least from Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger.

Unfortunately by the time the Royal Military Canal was completed in 1808, the threat of invasion had long receded, largely thanks to Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805. The waterway had become an enormously expensive white elephant denounced by many as a complete waste of money. The criticism persisted for years; writing in 1822, whilst undertaking one of his "Rural Rides" through Sussex, the radical journalist William Cobbett scornfully observed: "Here is a canal made for the length of 30 miles to keep out the French. Those armies who had so often crossed the Rhine and the Danube were to be kept back by a canal 30 feet wide at most!"…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Imagine the idea of a construction like this that could act as a deterrent to those who wish to enter your country uninvited.

How daft that would have been back then. Thank God we are more sensible nowadays.

Prediction. This is deleted by tomorrow…….

Seriously, I can understand why and do have sympathy for the "keep it wargaming" idea…but for a few hours anyway….here is an Irish idea

When a country's very existence seems uncertain, governments are often driven to extreme measures. Had Mr. Fulton's contraption found favor with the Emperor, the Royal Military Canal may, indeed, have been a lifesaver.

The canal also served a serious economic purpose. Canals were the railroads of the period.

But not that one. It went from pretty much nowhere to nowhere. Barges could have used it, but only for very local traffic, so of no real economic value.

It did (and does ) help regulate the water in the Romney Marshes.
In addition it is a very nice scenic attraction though I am biased as one of our summer homes is on it .

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Now if he had been really clever, he would have got Boney to pay for its construction………..but that could have never happened…….