Long Live “Rye Royal”
At last its Spring again and with luck I will feel warmer. All this Winter I have felt cold, no matter what I wore or how hot I made my office. Others would gasp at the temperature on entering yet I was still cold. I remember the days not so long ago when Winter meant nothing but inconvenience having to wear rubber boots and something to keep the rain off. But that was before I suffered a stroke and developed diabetes, now my hands are numb all the time and I feel the cold. How old people cope is a miracle and now they are to close the place they could obtain daytime relief. I hope the beurocrats that made this decision get old and suffer alone. Serve them right. I am not one to wish harm on anyone but I truly hope they realise, in their twilight years, what problems they caused for many disabled Rye citizens and their carers in 2006.
There! that is said, but look ahead to the next thing they can upset.. No cycle path as promised? more than likely. Why not attack the fire service, they do a splendid job. The editor has suggested they might cancel street cleaning and rubbish collection services, surely not, if they did Rye would soon be under a pile of rubbish. Soon the streets would be so full there would be nowhere to park, no room for visitors to park, even if they wanted to! No revenue for parking tickets.
I am still waiting for the blue light to be lit at night outside of the police station. What a waste of £800 that was, is there never anyone at home?
All my adult life I have watched parts of Rye die. First to go was the Railway Yard then the Bus Depot. The Cinema was turned into dwellings. The Strand was taken over for a road and the wood yard shrunk; ships stopped coming to the heart of the town. The Super Market came, shops closed. The Cattle Market became a ghost of itself to eventually close forever with the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The Grammar School changed character supposedly that all kids deserve the same education. Sports Day in the Summer no longer exists, one way traffic around the town, no Bobbies on the beat. Toilets close weekends, buy up property and leave them empty, clubs vanich without a trace and no one notices. Like the seasons I hope Rye soon changes and it starts to look after its own affairs.
April means the beginning of long days and warmth that lovely sun brings to cheer all in its light. It is something we can all rely on and forget Winter. that will be with us again soon enough. Roll on Summer, let the toilets open and the police walk our streets, keep the place tidy, grow flowers, let Rye Bloom forget all thats gone, that is now history for old men to dream of, we have had the best. Let the youth take note and do some of the shouting that is the only way Rye will ever get anywhere. The whole town up in arms about the way it is being treated by Rother and County would make the rest of the country sit up and take note, for mark my words, Rye is not the only place that is not happy with the way things are going with far flung councils in control. Every day you read in the papers of some lunatic scheme that has been paid for by our money and it makes no sense. Men of Rye, stand up and be counted. Now is the time to demonstrate that democracy is not dead. Vote on April 6 for a candidate you think can help Rye!
April was always the month to start campaining now the snow has gone and the earth has dried out. The longer warmer days always heralded the forming of armies to fight the foe. Lets chose our ground and do something. Long live “Rye Royal!” There, we already have our war cry.
Jimper
“Rye’s Own” April 2006
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