Month: June 2014

Memories of Old Rye

By Arthur Woodgate

Situated at the Winchelsea Road entrance to Gateborough Farm Road and surrounded by houses and other buildings stood ‘Gasson’s Hut’, a large timber building, open fronted on the road side, was used for tarring sails. It was very close to Suttons Marine Store and home (later known locally as Sutton’s Yard). On the other side of the hut was a roadway leading round a row of houses, This was wide enough to take several vehicles at the side and just before dark, one night back in the 1930s, two vans were parked there, laden with fuel for oil stoves, ready for delivery around Rye the following morning. Continue reading Memories of Old Rye

Hastings a Front Line Town

 

By Nathan Dylan Goodwin

The people of Hastings could not have anticipated the scale of death and destruction, which would span almost six, long years in the borough’s history when the country went to war in 1939, a war which left in its wake 154 civilians dead and more than 14,000 properties damaged or destroyed. Continue reading Hastings a Front Line Town

House Explodes in Church Square

House Explodes in Church Square

Murder in Tenterden, an assassin operating from Dungeness, mayhem in Seddlescombe and the Old Police House in Church Square Rye is raised
to the ground in a fearful Semtex explosion that leaves the adjoining houses in danger of collapse. Continue reading House Explodes in Church Square

They Throw Away Hot Money at Rye

 

Many prominent representatives from the Cinque Ports were in Rye on May Day Bank Holiday Monday for the inauguration of the new Mayor of Rye. Continue reading They Throw Away Hot Money at Rye

Lover’s Seat

BY TONY MAY

I have been in a somewhat romantic mood of late and as I approach my 49th birthday as a Batchelor I have been spending rather more time than is healthy perhaps reflecting on the course of my life so far. Continue reading Lover’s Seat

Aldington Point-to-Point

Fun Day Out at the Races

 

It was a Fun Day out at the races for many families at the Aldington Point-to-point on Easter Monday. There were thrills and spills at the six race meeting with smallish fields giving a good chance to the punters. The event was organised by the East Kent Hunt in conjunction with West Street Point – to – Point Races.

The Ladies Open Race, sponsored by Hythe Bay Seafood Restaurants, proved eventful. Favourite, Battlecry, ridden by Miss M Spencer, fell at the first. Continue reading Aldington Point-to-Point

The New Mayor of Rye

The New Mayor of Rye & Speaker of the Cinque Ports

Inauguration Speech

The first time I stood in this Chamber I was just seventeen and I had recently been crowned Miss Rye.

The Carnival Queen – really. I remember being shown around by Percy Sherwood who was the Town Crier at that time, and I remember being almost overwhelmed with awe at the magnificence of the building, the sense of history and of greatness. I remember feeling very proud and very privileged. Continue reading The New Mayor of Rye