Connie’s Great Cover Picture
What a great cover picture Rye artist Connie Lindqvist has provided for the October cover.
The picture ‘Strand Gate’ was first published in 1996 as a pen & ink sketch in “Rye from the Water’s Edge” by John Seymore and Connie Lindqvist (page 87). Copies of the book are still available from ‘Martello Books’ in the High Street, price £9.95.
The upgraded colour version of the original drawing will be published in 2002 in a full colour ‘coffee table production’ of the historical drawings in ‘Rye from the Water’s Edge’ under the title of ‘The Maritime Heritage of Rye’
Community Bus Service on High Street Route
The Rye & District Community Transport has recently started operating a High Street Bus Service to replace the one dropped by Stagecoach. Their reason for dropping the route was ‘traffic congestion’.
The new service has proved a boon to older people who enjoy the High Street shops but who find difficulty walking up the hill.
Christmas in Rye
Plans are well in hand for this year’s Rye Christmas Celebrations. After such a terrible year the traders of Rye are fighting back.
This picturesque medieval town is filled with an assortment of independent specialists shops and a variety of cafes, restaurants and pubs – it has something for everyone. Visit Rye in December and be treated to a magical Christmas.
On Saturday 1 December it all kicks off at 4pm. when the lights will be switched on and shops will stay open until 7.30. There will be entertainment throughout the town and Father Christmas will be in a magical grotto in the Ypres Tower throughout the weekend.
On Saturday 8 December the shops will be open until 7.30pm, and a theme of Smugglers will bring even more colour to the occasion.
On Saturday 15 December there will be a magnificent firework display on the Salts at 8pm. and the shops will again be open for business until 7.30pm.
The shops will open late again on Saturday 22 December for that final desperate dash!
Do your Christmas shopping and join Rye’s colourful celebrations this year.
Rye Festival a Great Success
What a terrific Festival Rye put on this year. From the Stiltwaking Jazz Band at the opening ceremony right through to the brilliant Firework Display at the closing it was a breathtaking enterprise for such a small town to produce.
Event after event was sold out and to underline the overall popularity I overheard a conversation between a young couple as they passed me on Hilder’s Cliff. “We have spent £164 on tickets this week and enjoyed every show”
Congratulations to all the hard working people that made the whole thing possible.
Bonfire
Next month Rye celebrates Guy Fawkes Night. Spare a thought for the little band of workers who have spent all their spare time over the last weeks making torches for the big event. Francis Rowe invited me to go along to the secret location where the torches were being produced but he forgot to tell me where it was so I did not get a picture for the Magazine. Never mind, we shall get plenty of pictures on the night.
Two Into One Does Go
Two into one does go – that is if the two are Rye & Iden United. What a great start they have made in Division Two of the Sussex County League. With five wins and a draw out of their first seven matches they are riding high in the table and will surely figure on a race for promotion at the end of the season.
Captain Scott Price was the two goal hero in their latest triumph a 2-0 win over Broadbridge Heath.
Coach Alan Hodd must feel very pleased with his team’s efforts during the first weeks of this new season.
What has Happened to the Beat Bobbies?
Where have all the policemen gone? Up until a month ago they were visible on most days but I don’t recall seeing a copper on the beat for several weeks now. Was it all an exercise in public relations during the election and the immediate post election period? Have we been duped again?
This magazine will not stop reminding the authorities of the shortcomings where the police are concerned – We have said it before and we say it again now. RYE PAYS THE HIGHEST RATE IN THE COUNTRY – EXACTLY THE SAME AS IN 1966 – THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT IN 1966 RYE HAD A POLICE STATION MANNED BY OVER FIFTY OFFICERS, AND A 24 HOUR BEAT PATROL.
There was little crime in 1966 because the police presence prevented trouble. Then the public were closely involved with their police force and respected them. There was constant contact so information was passed to the police – Now, where can you talk to a policeman without calling 999? The desk at Rye Police Station (now renamed office) is usually manned by a civilian. If you phone the non emergency police number you eventually get put through to a call centre manned by people who don’t even know the names of Rye streets.
This town is now subject to vandals, burglars and villains who in the past would not have had a chance of operating and the police response time is often more than 45 minutes. You could be dead and buried before they arrive on the scene.
What can Rye do about this? It is purely a matter of keeping on at your Councillors, County Councillors and District Councillors. Sending letters to the press and complaining to your M.P. Make enough fuss and one day something will be done. A chap in the TV repair business told me once that the customer who shouts the loudest gets the best service. The nice polite ones are always pushed onto the back burner,