111 Places in Hastings and Rye that you shouldn’t miss is quite the claim for a new guidebook published this week and in stock at Rye Bookshop on the High Street, but it’s a really good read full of classy photos.
Controversially, it doesn’t include some of the more obvious places in Rye, like The Mermaid Inn or St Mary’s. Instead, there are features on venues like the Herald and Heart hat shop, Grammar School Records, The Globe, Rye Kino and Grounded cafe.
For author Norman Miller, featuring unexpected places was part of the plan.
“It was a conscious decision to include bits of Rye that perhaps fewer tourists visit,” he said. “There was a big debate about what should go in, but I wanted to do something that worked for locals and visitors, and to include some of the best offbeat stories about Rye.”
A journalist based in Brighton, he’s already written guides to the city and West Sussex.
“I’ve visited Rye for over thirty years”, he said. “I loved getting to know the town and to see it from so many different views.”
He describes Rye as one of “England’s loveliest towns, fusing resonant history with chic.”
So what are his featured favourite Rye places?
Wurlitzer at Rye College – “Just brilliant. The only place in the world that teaches young people to play an incredible musical instrument.”
Waterworks – “What a fantastic pub, with a fascinating history.”
Rye Monastery -Alex Macarthur Interiors – “Unbelievably stylish. Tourists pass it by, but the interior is breathtaking.”
Grounded – “It’s a lovely, quirky cafe, with a back story that’s so interesting.”
The book isn’t all about Rye. Winchelsea gets plenty of mentions, as do Fairlight and Pett. The 111 places feature locations all along the coast from Dungeness to Pevensey, as well as inland to Romney Marsh, Northiam, Brede and Battle. It’s not the normal suspects for Hastings and Bexhill too.
“It’s all about the stories,” said Norman Miller. “Guidebooks can be a bit similar sometimes, so I’ve tried to do something different about the places I visit by being very curious. I hope people in Rye will enjoy what I found out.”
111 Places in Hastings and Rye that you shouldn’t miss is written by Norman Miller and published by Emons.
Image Credits: Norman Miller/Emons .