Back to Rye Town

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We were a little surprised that quite a few shops and tearooms on the High Street were opened in the afternoon on Sunday.

We went to the Cobblestone Tearoom and had “cream tea” for lunch. We were served proper leaf tea and homemade scones, jams, clotted cream.

After the lunch, we walked down to the Heritage Centre. We looked round the upstairs’ room, which housed dozens of the 1960s game machines. Mark got the old coins from the machine and inserted the coins to play games.

We decide to see the 3D miniature show room. The lady at the Heritage Centre told us that it took four years to complete the miniature of Rye Town including the background wallpapers which showed the features of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve with Camber Castle. The slide show contained comprehensive commentary of history, industry and people of Rye, with spotlights on the Mermaid Street, Landgate, Town Wall, St Mary Church, and Lamb House. After the 3D show, we were offered an opportunity to take photographs of the miniature from different angles. Rye has been essentially unchanged since the late 19th century, the model of which was based on that period. As a keen reader of Henry James, Mark spotted the garden room of Lamb House, of which the real one was destroyed by the air raid during the Second World War. The garden room was a historic building, as this was there he produced his masterpieces, e.g. The Ambassadors, The Golden Bowl. I bought a couple of souvenirs at the Heritage Centre.

Next, we went back to the High Street. We popped in the Delicatessen. Mark bought a jar of Quince & Apple Chutney and a mackerel relish for eating on bread. We also popped in the second hand record shop. He bought a rare record of Ralph Towner.

We spent time browsing in the shops on the High Street in the afternoon. There were a wide variety of interesting items, models of ships, signboards, accessories embellished with pearls and minerals (taken from local beaches), porcelain, goods made of wood, organic products, to name just a few

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