First impressions are most important. For tourists parking in the Gibbet Marsh Car Park this is their first view of Rye. The Church can be made out in the distance but what about that gate?
Nothing less than a dangerous disgrace. A disgrace because it has been neglected by the railway company (whoever they are) and dangerous because it allows children and animals easy access to the line which has proved deadly in the past.
Most of the gates that protect the line at this point are in a dilapidated state.
There was a time when these gates were locked from the signal box before each train passed. In these days of ultra sensitive safety measures it seems surprising that such a slap dash situation could arise. Ask the local hotels and restaurants how much they have had to spend on new equipment in the name of health and safety. How do the Railway people get away with it?
They can’t blame it on vandals this time, the gate is falling to pieces after years of minimum expenditure.
March 2005 Issue of “Rye’s Own”
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