. . . the lights go on, and the town becomes magical, with the streets lit up, some amazing displays in shop windows, and individual households adding their own sparkle.
And over the next three weeks Rye News will be highlighting some of that sparkle with three separate slideshows, mainly the work of photographer Ray Prewer – though other volunteers may pitch in with a few, particularly of people’s homes scattered around the town.
This week we kick off in Lion Street (above), with the lights making a pathway uphill to the Town Hall and St Mary’s Church at the peak of the historic Citadel area.
Then, in the slideshow below, we feature the George Hotel in the High Street with its classic exterior; the railway station and the bus stops where many people arrive in Rye, and in Cinque Ports Street the Runcible Spoon restaurant, the police station and Rye Retreat adding to the Christmas feel.
Then last, but not least, outside the 18th century Town Hall, the lovely classic scene of “The Adoration of the Magi” produced by John Ryan, who we know better for his pirate stories with their quirky illustrations – and who was a Rye resident for many, many years. Look carefully for the interloper spying on events at the manger.
Next week, apart from many photos of events this Saturday in Rye as we celebrate a Dickensian Christmas, we hope to publish many photos of some of the festive shop windows in Rye, followed the week after just before Christmas by photos of individual homes.
And, because that is Christmas week, we plan to publish Rye News late Wednesday (a day earlier than usual) because Thursday is Christmas Eve. We then we plan to take a break between Christmas and the New Year, so we will NOT publish on New Year’s Eve – but we will appear again on Thursday January 7.
Photos and slideshow by Ray Prewer