REJOINING THE NATIONAL TRUST

December 2024. Rye.

One last blast of Rye before a return to parental duties in Waterbeach, and a reminder that it’s not just artisanal beer and croissants in east Sussex’s top town.

Not that the tourists were out in force on Tuesday as drizzle hit the cobbles leading to Lamb House, once home to Henry James. Quite famous in the States, apparently.

Yes, Mrs RM has rejoined the National Trust after a 10 year gap, the appeal of Instagrammable castles and free parking overriding the fact that nearly all their stately homes are deadly dull *.

But at least as a member you don’t feel bad about whizzing round properties in 10 minutes, rather than obliged to stand, hands behind back, bored rigid by dates and family trees.

Lamb House has a 20th century display that is nicely done,

but you’ll feel you’ve seen it many, many times before.

What IS startling is the size of the garden, bang in the centre of medieval Rye.

If you squint you can possibly see the Ypres Castle from the bedroom.

We were done in 20 minutes, the volunteers perplexed by our disinterest in the Christmas displays, and off in search of a pub.

I’d have gone back to the Mermaid,

but both it and the equally ancient Old Bell were closed till noon, which is a scandal.

If you can guess where we went, I’ll send you a stick of Rye rock.

*Perhaps I should visit all the National Trust pubs?

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

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      1. Tactical voting, although the predictive text misspelled the last answer, which should have been the Standard.

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