Day 50 – Sunday 9 December 2001 - Lydd to Rye

10 miles walked today

609 miles walked in total (average 12.18)

This morning has been quite surreal.  The scenery has been exactly the same as that stretch between Hythe and Greatstone:  same houses; same firing ranges; same gun fire; and same sea wall.  In fact, at one stage, I was wondering whether I’d lost my marbles altogether and had driven to Hythe by accident instead of Lydd!

The lady at the Tourist Information Centre in New Romney had warned me that I wouldn’t be able to walk the cycle route as it wasn’t quite completed, so I had to walk along the road instead.  I could quite clearly see the cycle/ walkers’ path, but most of it was still under construction.  It will be great when it’s finished – it’s the Marshes’ millennium project and funded by the national lottery.

There were very few people in Camber – a few on the beach – although I did see Father Christmas standing on a chair putting a poster up outside the Memorial Hall advertising the Christmas fayre.

The cycle route was completed between Camber and Rye, which I was very relieved about as it cut out a huge diversion by road.  As I sauntered into Rye, I ‘phoned Mum as usual to tell her I’d reached my final destination for the day and it wasn’t even twelve o’clock!  Mum wasn’t at home so Rat set me a mission:  a. to go to Grammar School Records to find (on vinyl!) With the Beatles and Revolver;  and b. to bump into Paul McCartney, a resident of Icklesham, although often spotted in Rye High Street.  (Success rate:  nil and nil by the way!)  At least Grammar School Records was still there.  The National Trust shop and the nice shop that sold the lovely Christmas decorations is now the Edinburgh Woollen Mill and, although Simon the Pieman is still there, it was shut.  Marvellous.

I planned on wandering around Rye for the afternoon – something I used to do a lot when I lived in Hastings all those years ago!  Rye was the favourite Sunday afternoon jaunt when I had people to stay, which was pretty much every weekend!

I had lunch at the Swan Cottage Tea Rooms, which is still there – thank goodness.  Mushroom soup and treacle pudding – yum!  Musically accompanied by Classic FM – how very civilised.

Rye is such a pretty town and very well visited – I heard a number of languages, including French, Spanish, German and what I took to be Japanese.  It looked lovely with all the Christmas decorations strung up across the High Street.  I was a bit disappointed that my favourite shops weren’t still here, but that’s not surprising considering that the last time I was here was five years ago!