Noel Varley’s experience as a young boy in wartime Rye comes to life in a new book produced by local author Geoffrey Austen. The story is illustrated with beautiful and humorous images, a clever way of telling the story of a boy and his cockatoo Atoo.
The two men became friends and neighbours when Geoffrey and his wife Carolyn moved to Rye about ten years ago. They have similar interests: boatbuilding, history and good whisky. Noel and his wife Kathy helped them integrate into the Rye social scene and they became very involved in some of the local community projects.
One evening, sharing a whisky and exchanging stories of their life, Noel told Geoffrey about his childhood in Rye during the second world war. One tale took him back to when he was 7 years old and came across the bombed museum and its collection of stuffed birds in the wreckage, including Atoo.
The story immediately took hold in Geoffrey’s imagination and he just had to do something about it. So on 15 August, he and Noel filled in the details of exactly what happened in 1942 and the book Atoo, the (stuffed) Cockatoo of Church Square was born.
Geoffrey immediately went to work, all the illustrations are also by him as are the words of the boy and the cockatoo. The book is wonderfully expressive, presented with great humour and lovely images. It is £4.50, well worth buying with proceeds going to the Rotary Club and their charities, the sellers and to cover production costs.
Inside the back page Geoffrey explains just how much fun they had putting the story together and thanks all the supportive locals, including Kathy Varley, for making it happen.
Who knows – maybe another story of the boy in wartime Rye will follow?
The book can be bought at: Church of St Mary Rye, Rye Castle Museum, Ypres Tower, Rye Heritage Centre, Rye Waterworks Micropub and Strand Quay Gallery, The Strand, Rye, affordable art from local artists (Delphine Pope, the owner can be reached at 07764752237).
Image Credits: Geoffrey Austen .