Oh, the good old days?

Once again Rye’s streets resounded to the growl of elderly engines and the fumes of yesteryear as last Sunday’s classic car rally paraded round the town before lining up for inspection in the station car park and attracting the crowds.

And it was one of three processions over the weekend of November 12-13, with the flaming torches and rhythmic drums of Bonfire Night on Saturday, the Remembrance Parade on Sunday morning and the classic cars Sunday afternoon – and in only a few weeks’ time, on December 10, Rye hosts “Tales of Old”, its Christmas extravaganza.

So let’s hope we get the Bonfire Night crowds, but without the rain, and some good memories of the “Good Old Days” – or were they really good?

The classic cars reminded me of my stepfather’s open top, the car doors of which frequently fell off before some household door bolts were added on, and the later box-like Hillman which crawled up Welsh hills and needed a torchbearer in front during the London smog when traffic ground to a halt.

The air in The Mint on Sunday reminded me that we still have some way to go on dealing with pollution in all its forms – and often from fossil fuels – but the air here is comparatively clean compared to London’s when I get off the high-speed train at St Pancras. And other mega-cities face even worse problems.

So I’d be cautious about looking back on the past through rose-coloured spectacles – though I suspect at Christmas we usually do.

It was good though to see the town so busy. And I’d forgotten what a policeman looked like!

Photos: Tom Harkness and John Minter