Nancy picked me up Friday, after her own trials and tribulations, including flat tire, tow truck, useless train journeys, and navigating ack-narrow roads at night with no sleep. We made it to our row-house in Rye Friday and immediately hit the pub—which is literally across the street.
On Saturday 4 November, we walked around Rye. It’s a Medieval village with lots of history, being that it’s on the southern coast of England. We are going to take a walking history tour on Wednesday, so I’ll know more then, But Saturday we just walked around, listening to the myriad accents all around us. Obviously it’s a place that tourists from lots of countries visit.
We were on a quest for the Information office, designated by a lower-case “i” in a square. We found it eventually, using Google maps on a phone, because it certainly wasn’t well-marked in Rye. Just before we found it, we saw a sign with the i, pointing left. Just to the left of that sign was another one—an i, with an arrow pointing to the right! I had to take a picture.
We picked up a map and some brochures and headed out. We hiked up the hill on a rough cobblestone street to the Mermaid, one of the oldest pubs i Britain. It was full—probably typical on a weekend—so we weren’t able to have a pint. We are meeting our tour guide there on Wednesday, so I’m hopeful we’ll be able to sit down.
From there we went to St Mary’s Church and climbed the 83 steps to the top for “the best view in Rye”. Those 83 steps went through several different iterations: modern wooden stairs, stone stairs in a passage about 18” wide, and ladders. Which are best descended backwards! It was an adventure, but the view really was good, You can see clear to the coast, which has gotten farther away from the city since Medieval times, Lots of storms on this coast, I gather. Once we finally made it to the top of the tower, the view was wonderful, even though it was a pretty grey day. I loved this patterned rooftop.
On our way back down, we took time to check out the bells. The bells are played by ringers pulling on the ropes, which are attached to the wheels that are attached to the bells. Each ringer has one rope, which moves one bell by rotating the wheel. I did this at Dublin Cathedral, and the timing is really tricky since the person pulls a rope which pulls a bell which moves a wheel. These bells are BIG, so I would think that maybe the ringer can get pulled up by the rope. And I can’t imagine how loud it would be in there, when the bells are going—though I’d love to hear it. I hope the ringers wear earplugs!
These beautiful Tudor half-timber buildings are just outside of St Mary’s.
We ended the day in the Queen’s Head Free House, drinking cider and beer. It was a good first day.
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