Rye’s Town Crier (above) publicised non-essential shops re-opening in the High Street this week by his “crying” – and there were even some visitors around. Not all the shops have re-opened though and Plaristo’s premises are being taken over a bridal boutique opening up in July.
Charity shops do not appear to be re-opening yet, possibly because of concerns of volunteer staff, and the antique shops – which often open around the weekend – showed little activity.
And more (in the form of pubs, cafes and restaurants) may re-open soon and may keep busy (if they can) with takeaway trade, like the Whitehouse and Marino’s.
Safety precautions took various forms – with hand sanitisers at the entrances and limits on the number of shoppers/customers inside at any one moment in time – and that included Nationwide, the last surviving “bank”.
But there seemed more life in town, and there were taxis at the station in addition to buses and the regular train service. However the four coach trains may not last once demand picks up elsewhere.
And up at St Mary’s at the top of the hill there was a notice on the door saying the church would re-open from July 1, which was no comfort to some visitors who wanted to go up the Norman Tower there and then.
And the town hall remains silent – though you can ring up and text to get information. As a “community building” it appears to be very low on the government’s priorities, but the Tourist Information Centre (transferred from the Heritage Centre) may be stocked up, with staff trained, by the end of July – and open.
Weddings (small ones) may restart in July (possibly) but social distancing will stop town council meetings unless a big community centre can be found for a spread-out meeting, maybe late August.
In the meantime Speakers Day when all the council bigwigs (literally) from the Cinque Ports Confederation were due to gather in Rye has been cancelled. However the introduction of civil parking enforcement has not and expect to see signs of preparations for that over the summer for a likely October start.
Image Credits: Allan Thomson .