Work continues on The George in Rye’s High Street following last year’s fire, and it would appear that the scaffolding on both Lion Street and the High Street will be there for some time for two reasons.
The first, if you gaze upwards from a safe spot on the pavement free from delivery vans, is that the framework for the temporary roof extends beyond, and overlaps, the lines of the existing walls in order to provide adequate weather protection while work takes place.
And that overlapping roof framework (which, no doubt, will be covered over shortly) requires support on the street side of the walls from the scaffolding. Indeed the temporary roof framework can now be seen from some distance away down by the station towering over the rooftops.
Secondly, the photo above shows large tanks being lifted up into the scaffolding and, if you now look at the scaffolding in front of the hotel, you can see both a line of tanks within the scaffolding, and also a staircase for the workmen to get up the scaffolding.
In recent years there have been a number of instances of fires taking place while building work is going on, and (indeed) at the point it seemed to be complete, so the tanks one can see from the High Street may well be a precautionary measure.
The scaffolding which supports the temporary roof, as well as the tanks and the workmen’s access, will therefore have to remain there until a new, permanent roof is in place, and the work sufficiently complete for the temporary roof to be removed.
The owners of The George last gave an update nearly four months ago so perhaps they will give another update in the near future.
The scaffolding is causing problems with deliveries in the High Street and to Lion Street, particularly early in the morning, and queues of cars have built up on several occasions.
Image Credits: Nick Forman , Kenneth Bird .