Culture

The "Mapp and Lucia" TV series has led to a huge increase in hits on the website of the Friends of Tilling, the society that celebrates EF Benson and his characters in an annual gathering in Rye

Sally Pattinson, local resident, former business owner and fighter against bureaucracy has published "Brace Yourselves Boys", an account of her five-year battle with East Sussex County Council (ESCC). A simple dispute about putting up a sign resulted in a modern day David and Goliath confrontation. Tony McLaughlin discussed it with her

It's here: Kino cinema opens on Friday January 16. Rye News sneaked a look and found two stylish film theatres with all the trimmings and a relaxing bar/restaurant. In the first week there'll be five movie choices, including the 2014 Cannes Palme d’Or winner "Winter Sleep"

The Winchelsea Bonfire Boys in disguise as Ye Winchelsea Mummers scale the theatrical heights - and plumb satirical depths to the delight of their audience. Good enough and popular enough to become a new Winchelsea tradition? Peter Mackenzie Smith casts a critical eye on the unfolding drama

A Requiem Mass for King Louis XVI of France and Queen Mary Antoinette will be celebrated at St Mary's Rye on January 21- probably the first such Mass to be held there since the Reformation

Discover the houses and haunts of Mapp and Lucia and of EF Benson, their creator. A guided tour with the secretary of the Benson Society takes in many places of interest, including the houses used in the recent BBC series

Could there be another series of "Mapp and Lucia" in the offing? Several national TV critics acclaimed the recent BBC production set in Rye, so here's hoping . . .

The scenery was wonderful, the photography lush and the town definitely one of the stars of the production. But, in the recent BBC series, were Mapp and Lucia true to the rivals in EF Benson's books? What did the secretary of the Benson Society make of it all . . .

Three Rye readers have won signed copies of David...

Opera with a Christmas theme was on the menu in Northiam. Organised by the Conservation Society, the evening also commemorated the memory of local men killed in World War One

Andrew Bamji, a Rye resident, discussed the arts - music, poetry, lyrics - during World War I in his latest talk at Rye Museum. He pointed to local connections for Paul Nash and much-loved words by the brother of Rye's famous literary mayor

What better than a hot romantic comedy - Cuban...