GROYNING THE DOTS IN ST LEONARDS

June 2023. St. Leonards.

Reader “Alan” seemed surprised you can get from London to Rye in a little over an hour, providing you don’t eat for a week to fund the Southeastern leg of the journey, and it’s certainly been fascinating to see how many Londoners have been visiting the east Sussex coast these last few sun-blessed weeks*.

One thing that’s surprised me about Rye is the number of young folks on the streets.

OK, not them. But there are lots of under 30s in the cafes like Whitehouse, where I attempted a post-London detox with Turkish eggs and something healthy and orange.

Mrs RM wanted to use our Rye caravan as a base to explore the towns of her youth (Herstmonceux, Brighton, Hastings), and was intrigued by my description of St Leonards as “Shorditch-on-Sea”.

Well, a quick stroll along King’s Road’s sourdough bakeries and dandelion delis on the way to the beach was a revelation to her, and that was without a visit to the actual “Bohemia” up the hill.

But it was the half mile along the groynes to Hastings proper that really impressed, from the art nouveau of Marine Court,

to the row of topical art above every bench seat,

to the row of private drinking huts next to Goat Ledge Cafe.

FLOC and Three Legs Pales from up and down the road to accompany your loaded crab fries.

It looked the most vibrant place on earth, and certainly the best beach bar outside that one in Hamburg, particularly if like Mrs RM you prefer your beach pebbly.