I am a bit of a traditionalist, and hark back to the days of my childhood where i could sit surrounded by rushes and lillies and pull out small Rudd all day long....

since i moved down to Folkestone about 20 years ago i have pretty much given up on coarse fishing because i havent been able to find any waters that appeal to me.
I have had some very good advice from these forums about eel-fishing on the hythe canal, but would really like to find a nice pond somewhere where i can just relax and wait for an old porcupine quill float to dip under.....

anyone got any ideas?

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Look at a large scale OS map of the area around and to the south of Headcorn where I used to live. Within cycling distance even there are literally 100s of such small ponds. In fact, in the Low Weald of Kent as a whole there are 1000s of such ponds. Many of them are no further from Folkestone than Woodchurch, Biddenden or Pluckley.

A few are available on a club ticket. With most though it's just a question of permission from the farmer.

It's not quite as easy to get permission as it once was, but it's not likely to be too difficult if you go about it the right way. This means not turning up with your tackle. Instead, spend a little time prospecting. Speak to everyone you see in a field, enquire at local pubs. In short, ask, ask, ask.

Most leads will be a dead end. But there are so many ponds in mid-Kent that it's only a matter of time before you find one. And once you've found one and fished if for a while and got the confidence of the owner, you can use him as a reference to get others.

The only problem you'll have then is knowing which one to fish!

whats wrong with beechborough great little pond when i fished it (30 years ago) but i think cinqe ports lost it ,as mentioned theres scores of farm ponds about ,we fished loads and were surprised even tiny ones had fish,you can use your quills on the canal my fave spot was at hythe right next to the bridge by the pub on the pub side just as it curves.
as you say theres not much left in folkestone ,the pond in radnor park used to be free and a regular haunt in the close season.
the best pond lies under the new road to dover (actually under that roundabout ) and the warren pond went in a landslip

i like the canal, but the wind seems to rip straight down it and makes fishing a little uncomfortable - for instance, after all this hot, still weather i got up early today with the intention of haveing an early morning tenching session on it only to find it raining and blowing a gale!

The Beechborough Ponds, situated just outside the village of Etchinghill, are run by the Cinque Ports AS. They also control much of the Canal. Membership forms are usually found in some of the Tackle shops in the Hythe area. Den's and Mick's.

Chubsta
On the canal around Hythe every 1/2 mile or so there are kinks that were put in to allow people crossing the canal to be shot. I have found that even when there is a gale blowing you can find shelter from the wind on these bends. Sometimes these areas are flat calm whilst there are waves on the water 100 yard away. Also some of the areas to the East of West Hythe Bridge are very sheltered due to the bankside vegitation/Tree.