Sound mirrors

A modern acoustic mirror has been built (in 2003?) on the bank of the Royal Military canal close to the Hythe mirrors.

There is a listening mirror on the north (far) bank of the canal, and a speaking point on the south (near) side. The idea is that you can use the mirror to talk to someone on the opposite bank, but as I was on my own I couldn’t test it!

Update from Paul Devall: “It does work. We have taken many visitors across to have a go!”

The mirror seems to have been made by Richter Spielgeräte GmbH of Frasdorf, as their name is visible on it. There is a notice giving some details of the history of the acoustic mirrors. It suggests that you can’t visit the surviving examples, which is a bit misleading, as the Abbot’s Cliff and Redcar ones are publicly accessible, and whatever the strict legal position is on public access to the MoD land the Hythe ones don’t seem to be a problem to reach.

Pictures 2002-09-14.

Location

The mirror is adjacent to a bridge over the canal at Pennypot, just west of Hythe in Kent. This Millennium Bridges website has some photos of the bridge, but they pre-date construction of the mirror.

Follow the canal from Hythe, and you can’t miss the mirror. Alternatively there is a bus stop on the road to Dymchurch. An approximate grid reference is TR140340, or N51.065802 E1.053077