The field next to the Rye Harbour caravan park was full of sights and sounds and smells to lure the dog walkers and villagers into the quintessential summer fete that so many villages are having this summer.
This enterprise was the joint work of the village hall committee and the caravan park at the harbour. Many thanks to Roger (Rye Harbour Holiday Park, general manager) and Conor (clubhouse manager) and his amazing team who arranged a barbecue and were on hand to help out with anything that was needed. There were lots of games to take part in: splat the rat, a treasure hunt, coconut shy and the very popular beat the goalie. At 12 noon the local shanty group, Round Rye Bay Singers, regaled the crowd with half an hour of old sea shanties. These are very popular locally and in the tradition of Johnny Doughty’s Saturday evenings at the harbour’s William the Conqueror pub. Some of today’s singers are descendants of those who sang with him in the 60s.
It was good to see local groups all taking a stall, too. The RNLI brought its shop wares to sell and had a surprise visit from their mascot, Stormy Stan, who popped up in the most unexpected places including amongst the shanties and the bouncy castle. The Rye and District memorial hospital was raising funds with its bric-a brac stall and Natasha from the education team at the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve had fun showing some of the entertaining things that children can do at the discovery centre.
Water safety is upmost in our minds at the village, being exposed to the water from many sides, and a local team was there offering the chance to take RYA approved power-boat training courses. Add into the mixture some crafty stalls and a barbecue and you had the perfect way to spend a few hours on a sunny day at the harbour.
The fete raised nearly £750 for the village hall. The committee would like to thank all those who helped organise this event, all those who donated prizes for the raffle and wheelbarrow full of booze, and all those who ran stalls on the day. The last thank you goes to those who came along and supported the event.
Image Credits: Kt bruce .