Children’s author Linda Newbury, gave a very informative talk last year about Monica Edwards during the Rye Arts Festival. After the talk, an idea was born and it was decided that it would be wonderful if there could be a blue plaque on the Old Vicarage in Rye Harbour to commemorate that Monica Edwards had spent some of her childhood there. John, Jan and Linda formed a small committee and set about raising the funds. With the appreciation society’s help, Simon and Tracey, the owners of The Old Vicarage came on board and gave it their blessing.
The plaque was unveiled by Sally-Ann Hart, a keen reader of Monica’s books when younger. She said that as a child she had been totally obsessed with ponies and reading Monica’s books enabled her to escape into the world of horse-riding and life in the country. As she unveiled the plaque she said,: “In many ways it was such an innocent time in our history, that Monica wrote about, when children had all the freedom to play outdoors and were free to explore. I would like to thank everyone who made today possible. Rye Harbour is full of history and nature; it is an amazing place.”
John Case, joint festival director of Rye Arts Festival and organiser of the day, thanked the people who had been involved and all those who came to see the plaque unveiled, some travelling a great distance.
“A big thank-you to everybody who made the trip to Rye Harbour on Saturday, June 9 to celebrate the plaque unveiling. It was lovely to meet you all and put faces to names at long last! I’m so pleased you all enjoyed the day. The plaque looks great and is already generating much interest from passers-by. We are grateful to Tracey and Simon, owners of the Old Vicarage B&B for making us welcome and for being custodians of the plaque.
“Special thanks to Kt for her energy and enthusiasm and “can do attitude” and to Martin for his wonderful organ playing in the church. And of course, enormous thanks to Dr Barry Yates and Cliff Dean for the fascinating guided Camber Castle visit. It was a joy to be able to explore the inside of the castle with such experts. Cliff also clearly knows his Monica Edwards books. Final thanks to Sally-Ann Hart, MP for Hastings and Rye for taking time out of what must have been a very hectic week to unveil the plaque.”
Linda took part in the Monica Edwards day and said: “It was lovely to be in Rye Harbour today for the unveiling of Monica Edwards’ blue plaque, and to share the occasion with so many people who love her books. Only a very special writer can make such a life-long impression on her readers; many of us have grown up with the feeling that we know and love this village, marsh and coast, as well as the Romney Marsh stories’ memorable characters and their exploits.
“It’s lovely to see this tribute to Monica Edwards’ talent and achievements, and I hope others will discover her books for themselves after seeing the plaque. Personally, I owe her a great deal: it was reading her books from the age of eight that gave me my ambition of becoming an author, so I wouldn’t have missed today. The guided tour of Camber Castle (Cloudesly Castle in the stories) was a wonderful bonus.”
Image Credits: Kt bruce , Cliff Dean .
Thank you so much for this report. I have been a reader of Monica Edwards’ books for over sixty years and still re-read them. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the unveiling but it was good to read the report.
Thanks for this coverage of our special event! (Ahem … I’m Linda Newbery, not Newbury. Happens all the time …)