50 Years Ago HM The Queen and Prince Philip Visited Rye

28 October 1966

50 Years ago, on October 28th 1966 an event of almost unprecedented importance happened in the Ancient Cinque Port Town of Rye—Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, paid an official visit to the ancient borough.On Bannisters Corner

At noon on that historic day the people of Rye, stood at the memorial in the churchyard and watched the Queen talking and smiling happily with John Button and Alderman Hacking,  it was as though there was a contact between that radiant person and everyone around her. This was our Queen. not a picture on a stamp or a profile on a coin, but a real and wonderful person—here in Rye. Continue reading 50 Years Ago HM The Queen and Prince Philip Visited Rye

David Smeed

By Jim Hollands

It seemed that the whole of Tilling Green from the 1950’s and 60’s had turned up at Playden Church for the funeral of one of Rye’s unsung heroes. There were faces there I had not seen for 50 years or more. They came to pay respects to a very talented man. Continue reading David Smeed

The Television Man Part 2

An opportunity arrived in the form of televisions at a lower price than had previously been possible. There was a catch, no less than 72 identical sets had to be ordered, they could be paid for over four months but the whole lot would be delivered on the same day. Continue reading The Television Man Part 2

The Television Man

Jim Snr. had always been fascinated with television. He saw the 1949 F.A. Cup Final, along with a crowd of about 20, including son, Jim Jnr., squeezed into a small room at Jack Ashenden’s house in Cyprus Place. Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Leicester City by three goals to one. He told Young Jim on the walk home that for the next year’s final they would have a television of their own. Continue reading The Television Man

Rye’s Bond Girls of the Sixties

They called it the swinging sixties and Rye was not left out of the action.

James Bond with his entourage of beautiful women was all the rage with cinema audiences but Rye Movie Society was not without its own bevy of beauties in amateur film productions that went on to win East Sussex Film Awards three years in succession. Continue reading Rye’s Bond Girls of the Sixties

All Our Yesterdays

Who were the driving forces in the town forty years ago? Who were in power at Rye Town Hall in 1965? What was it like to live in a democratic Rye that ran its own affairs and was responsible for its own planning? 1965 and ’66 were great years for Rye. Continue reading All Our Yesterdays

Faces From The Past

Photographed at the 1962 Radio Fair are the late Clive Wall and R.G.D Representative Aubrey Phillips. The motor is a Bentley that was later won by a customer of J. E. Hollands and Sons Television shop in Cinque Ports Street. Continue reading Faces From The Past

Rye Movie Society

 

The Technicians

Before the days of video cameras and digital equipment which includes sound as an incidental, hours of recording time on a minute electronic chip and computer editing, there was cine film. Continue reading Rye Movie Society

Movie Club Dines

The Movie Club Dines at the Ship

Highlight of the Rye & District Movie Society’s Annual Dinner, held at the Ship Inn on Friday, March 8th, was the screening and judging of the two films made by separate units within the club for the 1968 East Sussex Inter-Club Film Continue reading Movie Club Dines