After nearly five months, the scorched site of the bonfire still disfigures The Salts. I watched the mower carefully negotiating its way round the unsightly patch, clearly not a place where families could gather for recreation this Easter.
Nearly everyone agrees that the bonfire event is a good thing. It provides a magnificent spectacle, a credit to Rye. The enthusiastic efforts of all those connected with it show a voluntary organisation at its best, drawing on the commitment and resources of the whole community. Throughout the year the Rye Bonfire Society diligently raises funds and organises a host of events. For management, crowd marshalling and pyrotechnics on the day, it is superb.
But why are we left with this patch of desolation, where even the weeds can scarcely grow? I spoke to Ian Foster, one of the Rye Bonfire Boys, about the problem. “It’s unfortunate this year that it’s been so wet, and the ground was waterlogged until recently,” he said. “But now it’s cultivated, reseeded and rolled, so it should be greening up very shortly.”
“What about returfing?” I asked. “We tried that for a couple of years some while back,” Foster answered, “but firstly it was expensive, because Rother insisted on their contractors doing the work and, secondly, it got ripped up by the fairground people, so not a success.”
“Any other ideas?” I asked him. “Well, we couldn’t lay a membrane because the heat is so great. The only solution might be a covering of a thick layer of sand, but then again we’re into expense.”
It is a difficult one, this. Does it boil down to money? The bonfire event is traditionally free to attend and, anyway, with so many access points on to The Salts it would be hard to enforce charging gate money. The present practice of collecting donations with a team of volunteer bucket-rattlers seems to work fairly well.
Nevertheless, the question remains: why do we have to put up with a scene of desolation on The Salts for months on end, when Easter is here and the tourist season already underway? Surely we owe it to our visitors, our residents and their children to keep The Salts green and attractive all the year round. There must be a better solution, one that does not deprive us of this recreation area for so long or cause such visual offence. If the determination is there, the ingenuity will follow, and so will the money.
Photo: Kenneth Bird