Rye in Sussex is a very old town

It has been able to keep many of its oldest buildings and has not been over modernized.  We traveled there today by train since we had been told that it was a "Miss Marple" kind of town.  You'll see by the photographs that it isn't so much Miss Marple as perhaps what the various villages that made up London might have looked like long ago.  It also appears that this is not a display town, but a thriving, working town where people live, work, drive on the narrow cobbled streets, and eat in the restaurants and pubs.

I still picture the Miss Marple village to be somewhere in the Cotswolds with individual thatched cottages, beautiful front gardens, and no more than 50 to a hundred actual buildings.  But, Rye was so wonderful to see.  It have several very beautiful churches and even a fortress complete with cannon.  Many of the buildings seem to date back to as early as the 13th century.  It boggles my mind how these cities casually show their age.  London was established by the Romans almost 2000 years ago.  Our London guide said that the city will celebrate its 2000th year in 53 years.  I'm still wrapping my brain around that nugget.

London, by the way, lost around 13,000 buildings, many of them thatch-roofed, in the Great Fire in September 1666 which burned for 5 days.  Whole streets of houses were blown up to create fire breaks before it was finally over.  It came after the Plague in 1665, which killed 1000 people a day at its peak.  For that reason, there were only 6 known deaths from the Great Fire; people were either dead already or they had moved away from the center of London to avoid getting the plague.  But, by the time the fire was put out, only one fifth of London remained!  Not much left to show of pre-1666.

Here's Rye in Sussex.  [Still under the jurisdiction of the Duke of Devonshire, along with Eastbourne many miles away.]

I love this store name.  There were also many plays on the word Rye: Catcher of Rye, The Rye Deli, Pocket Full of Rye,  Slice of Rye, Rye Cleaners.

Lamb House, the home of the author Henry James from 1898-1916.

This stone was in the churchyard among the graves.  Apparently, the local mayoral elections were held on this spot for  for almost 400 years.  My, how we have changed!

The side of St. Mary's Episcopal Church.  There has more graveyard to the right, but none of the headstones were readable.

What is left of Rye Castle.  This is the Ypres Tower.

Steve has been naughty.

Plenty of people appear to live and work here.  There were lots of cars driving way too fast through Rye, with some turning into their home driveways.

These are the kinds of figurines that my Mom just loves.

Oh, the battles we could replicate!  These are fine examples of toy soldiers.

The National Health Service really advertises well.  So, does the higher education system, to think of it.  Take a close look at the sign on the left, if you dare.  It's hilarious.

Waiting for the train back to Eastbourne.  It was a lovely afternoon.  [No rain today!]

Tomorrow, the morning is for laundry duty, but the afternoon may be in Brighton by way of the railroad again.  Heading for the big city lights, perhaps!