Category: Disaster

London Murderer was brought up in Rye

Masood Shot Dead at Westminster.

It was revealed yesterday that the London Murderer has been identified by police as Khalid Masood.

The Westminster attacker, Masood, 52, was born as Adrian Elms and it’s claimed by the “Mail”, that he lived in a £300,000 house in Rye when he was a boy. 

The so-called Islamic State group has claimed it was behind the attack.

According to the Metropolitan police, three women and five men were arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts following Wednesday’s attack. Continue reading London Murderer was brought up in Rye

Jimper Classics – Number One

Doomed from the Start

Someone had an idea for a documentary to be shown on the television.  The plan was for a typical English family of five to take a holiday at the seaside and do whatever they wished.  To start with that was not to the scriptwriter’s fancy.  He or she had other plans; they had to do something and keep to a schedule.

Jimper Sutton
Jimper Sutton

So the plot was hatched.  The location was to be Blackpool in midsummer and the family was to come from Manchester.  The producer sent someone out to view the location and rent a chalet on the seashore with the promise that it opened straight onto the sands.  Alas the person came back with the news that such a place was nowhere to be found and more to the point would be very expensive at the peak of the holiday season and any rent-able property had been booked months before.  Continue reading Jimper Classics – Number One

Lucky Rye – But for How Long?

Rother District Council  and East Sussex County Council Should Stop this Happening to Rye

The terrible flooding in Cumbria has brought misery to the people of many beautiful towns in the area. Storm ‘Desmond’ dropped a months worth of rain in 24 hours and has devastated the area. Continue reading Lucky Rye – But for How Long?

Mary Stanford’s Sister Boat

Priscilla MacBean has a new home

Priscilla MacBean – the final chapter. Ion Castro completes the story as the former lifeboat arrives at its final resting place.

After nearly a year of restoration, a magnificent feat of dedication in itself, the 34 ft. former Eastbourne, Kirkcudbright and Maryport lifeboat was moved to its new location, a specially prepared ‘dry dock’ at the bottom of Old London Road at the top of Hastings Old Town on the 86th anniversary of the loss of sister ship Mary Stanford, the Rye Harbour Lifeboat. The event was witnessed by hundreds of enthusiastic onlookers and a list of VIP’s that included Hastings & Rye’s MP, Continue reading Mary Stanford’s Sister Boat

Above and Beyond

 

15 November 1928

By Sue Igglesden

The sound of the maroons woke Alfie with a jolt. He knew instantly what it meant, but he also knew that at thirteen he was still too young to man the lifeboat. A fierce storm had blown up overnight and he lay for a while listening as bursts of rain lashed against his window. Continue reading Above and Beyond

Pier Disaster

By Ron Fellows

Eugenius Birch designed the 138-year-old Hastings Pier, badly burnt on Monday night, 4th October 2010. The Earl of Granville opened it on the Bank Holiday, 5th.August 1872 and hailed it as the “peerless pier a pier without a pier.” The Pier suffered another fire in 1917, which burnt down a spectacular Pavilion. Continue reading Pier Disaster

Like the Death of an Old Friend

There have been moments in my long life when I have despaired of the human race. The morning of Tuesday 6 October, at the time of hearing the news that Hastings Pier was destroyed and burning, was one of them. Arson was suspected. I thought back to the hundreds of Saturday nights I spent at dances on the Pier with my friends, back in the 1950’s and 60’s, and remembered the great fun we had in that amazing domed ballroom. It was like the death of an old friend. Why should anyone want to kill the Pier? She was old and frail and thanks to years of neglect, in dire need of restoration. Continue reading Like the Death of an Old Friend

The Mary Stanford Lifeboat House

The Mary Stanford Lifeboat House

By Jacqueline Stanford

I have known the area around Rye for many years, but when house-hunting a few years ago, I was surprised to see a book about the Mary Stanford Disaster, as my name is Jacqueline Mary Stanford. I read with interest the terrible story of what happened in 1928 that decimated the small village of Rye Harbour and caused such ripples of grief in the pool of the world. In 2006, I moved to Winchelsea Beach and last year it was my privilege to become a Parish Councillor for Rye Harbour. I have enjoyed getting to know the families, and it was therefore inevitable that the history of the area would become part of what I could help them maintain. Continue reading The Mary Stanford Lifeboat House

History in a Church Yard Near You

 By Eric Streeton

287 Lost in Shipping Disaster at Dungeness Approximately 15 years ago I was given an old Guide Book for Rye and Winchelsea which was printed at the start of the last century. Although a bit tatty it was more than readable, and read it I did, from cover to cover. Continue reading History in a Church Yard Near You