Rye smiles
A ticket to Rye this morning, where Lorraine and I were to meet Maureen and Pat to celebrate Pat's 79th birthday. They had also been married 55 years later this week too. I'd not been to Rye before, one of the two 'antient towns' along with Winchelsea whose councils traditionally maintained defence contingents for the realm of England, supporting the Cinque Ports , and steeped in history. Once it had been surrounded by sea, as a fortified hilltop town. Now the views are of green stretching to the sea. Spent a happy few hours wandering about this lovely little town. A really good photographer David Purdie had a little gallery there, which I enjoyed immensely. Lunched in the Mermaid Tavern, which had been sung about by many, including Keats with a poem that starts 'Souls of Poets dead and gone,/What Elysium have ye known,/Happy field or mossy cavern,/Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern?' Now the Mermaid Inn, we had a pleasant enough meal in there and a pint of Ha...