Dear Editor
I met someone recently on my visit to a local garage and his motorbike was, even to my unknowledgeable eyes, something ‘special’. When I commented on this I was informed, “it should be, it cost £50,000”. Having picked myself up off the floor I made what I hoped were suitable comments. Then asked him why so many more motorbikes seemed to be using the High Street / Mint these days.
“Oh, that’s because the plate glass window at Boots gives us a great picture of ourselves as we go past. The reflection acts as a mirror.
The number of bikes using this route is of course noisy – at times VERY, and certainly unnecessary. Has anyone any idea how to ‘muck-up’ Boots window!!!
Pamela Buxton
Image Credits: Kenneth Bird .
Sounds like a rather vain and vulgar person to say how much his mid-life crisis bike cost, and to be interested in how he looks in the Boots window. I hadn’t realised bikers were now on a fashion catwalk. Allowing souped-up motorbikes to drive down the high street sounds horrendous for walkers. The noise must be horrific.
Regards Boots windows, I think it criminal that the council allow shop owners to change the style of their windows when they are totally unsympathetic to their historical surroundings. I sometimes wonder if anyone actually cares about the appearance of Rye, and if they intentionally want it to look like every other characterless village or small market town. I’ve never understood why someone wants to move into an area and immediately try and change it’s appearance and character.
There’s Ashbees 100 almost across the road from Boots. Despite being a antique and interiors shop, I think it’s brilliant that they’ve kept the old butchers shop windows and even the original Ashbees butcher shop sign above their door, and even adopted the Ashbees name for themselves. That’s exactly how you move into an area and keep the locals happy .. bring something new to sell inside, but also keep the exterior how it always was to show respect for the surroundings.
As far as I remember, the previous owners had applied for permission to change the name and remove the original sign. Fortunately, Rother District Council refused permission so all credit and thanks must go to them – and the members of the public who wrote in with their objections.
Rather rude and supercilious to describe people enjoying themselves as being vulgar and having mid life crises, but nothing more than we expect….. As for the window, someone was joking I think. Being a rather good looking biker myself with a beautiful Italian classic, I don’t feel the need to look at my reflection on Boots’ window, I get enough admiring glances and encouragement from the less stuffy pedestrians in Rye to rev my bike and satisfy my ego 🙂
“THEY ARE the born-again bikers who like to recapture their youth by taking to two wheels, but new accident figures show riding a motorcycle can cost men dear, as they face a greater risk of crashing than ever before.
Hospital admissions for middle-aged motorcyclists have shot up by 65% from levels of 13 years ago.” (Sunday Times 9 August 2018). Riding past plate glass windows in high streets just to admire their reflection, or watching for admiring glances from ‘less stuffy’ pedestrians, may (sadly) account for some of this. Far from being enraptured by bikers on Italian classics, no matter how good looking they may be, stuffy pedestrians like me will be seeking refuge from the din.
Regarding Andrew McLarens comments about Boots shop window, it is the same window and style that was in place when Lipton’s occupied that building over 40 years ago. Boots have not changed the window. In fact Boots leases the building from a landlord and does not have any say on the structure or exterior.
Well said Mark. I don’t have a motorbike, they don’t interest me. I’m a pedestrian. But I’m glad that people are happy and enjoying their lives. We all love different things. Rye has become full of those ‘stuffy’ people unfortunately. And this article is quite rude.