The Rye Bookshop “officially” opened on Saturday, July 4, with Peter Rabbit (from the Beatrix Potter books), visiting town crier Andy Stephens, and glasses of Prosecco on a rather hot day with many visitors crowding the town’s streets. Peter refused to comment on how he was coping with the soaring temperatures, though he did look rather hot and bothered in his thick furry coat and jacket. Rye News‘ Charles Harkness recalled nearly losing a dinosaur in similar circumstances. “The government had been promoting energy efficiency with TV adverts featuring a family of dinosaurs (created by Oscar winning animators Aardman of “Wallace & Gromit” fame)”, he said, “and we took the dinosaurs to a BBC children’s show at Birmingham’s NEC, when suddenly one of them keeled over. He had over-heated in his costume and we had to sew ice bags into the costumes to stop that happening again”. Peter Rabbit would not say how he was keeping his cool, but he hared off after posing for this photo – perhaps to get a glass or two. The Bookshop is also running a competition alongside the launch of the new Harper Lee book, Go Set a Watchman.
