A few weeks ago a flotilla of visiting French yachts appeared at Strand Quay and next month the whole waterfront from the Quay round Rock Channel to Monkbretton Bridge will come alive with the Festival of the Sea. And these events set me thinking:
Why don’t we make more – much more – of one of Rye’s great assets, its historic Quay.
I am told (it was before my time as a resident of the town) that there was a time when, during the summer, Strand Quay would be full of yachts and the visitors that came with them. But not any more. This was, of course, before the advent of marinas in almost every coastal port and, in particular the proximity of Sovereign Harbour in Eastbourne – accessible at all stages of the tide and with its shops, bars, restaurant and chandlers, to say nothing of the immaculate boat owners facility of showers, toilets, changing rooms and even a laundry, proved an inevitable draw
A marina, a little way down river from the town and accessed off Rye Harbour Road, was once proposed but, for various reasons, the project never materialised, and perhaps a good thing as this would have denuded Strand Quay of even the little life that it currently has.
So what is it that has driven visiting yachts away? Mainly, of course, it is lack of that one thing that any boat needs most – water. The Quay is safely accessible to most boats for about a couple of hours either side of high tide although small shallow draft boats may have a little more leeway than that. Also it dries out and many boat owners (through lack of knowledge and experience of this, more than anything else) are concerned about letting their craft sit on their keels in the mud.
Against this, however, what do we have to offer? And the answer is the same thing that brings around a million land-based visitors to the area every year: our wonderful old town with its scenic streets, ancient buildings and church, pubs (many with free evening entertainment) and a plethora of restaurants to suit every taste and pocket. There are even a few interesting shops left.
Even allowing for problems of access, places such as Sovereign Harbour don’t even begin to compare as a place to visit. Several hundred acres of concrete, a thousand other yachts – most of which probably see their owners only rarely – a Harvester chain restaurant, bars selling overpriced keg beer (probably) and the whole thing surrounded by a housing estate occupied largely by second home owners.
All we have to do is to provide some basic, but hygienic and well maintained facilities followed by a lot of P.R. in both this country and in the coastal towns across the Channel and people – with their boats – will come. If we can find a way of keeping a permanent minimum water level at the Quay (and it is possible), we could attract visitors in their droves. The town would benefit hugely from their spending power and, as an added bonus, their presence might help to encourage a suitable redevelopment of the Western side of the Quay and save us from the out-of-scale blocks of flats that have been proposed (and thankfully turned down) to date.
Strand Quay is our most ignored asset – the Town Council is probably the body that could lead the way on this – all it needs is the will to do it.
Photos: John MInter and library image
I must agree that as a “Cinque Port” we don’t facilitate the access for visitors to water perhaps as much we should. Other ports capitalise on this, making their quaysidesan important hub of any visitor attraction.
I’ve often thought that The Salts must come as a disappointment to many – a pleasant green area bordering on the shores of the tidal Rother – which is totally inaccessible because of the high fence (and buildings) which isolate the fishing quays. There must be a better answer, perhaps an upper decked level, that allows the fisherman access to their vessels, whilst at the same time allows others to enjoy the vista and atmosphere of what could be a most atttractive waterfront.
A number of years ago the possibility of lock gates were discussed. Like so many basically simple ideas it came to nothing. The Town Council needs, in my view to put serious thought to the future of Strand Quay and lock gates might provide the impetus to yachts to return to Rye in numbers.
One must agree with John, especially the strand quay, they have gone right over the top, with this 5′ bund wall, and spoilt the view of the strand, too much emphasis on flood plain issues, but developments keep being passed, like western barn, and the new primary school, if it rains hard enough, most of the South East will be flooded, and having lived in New winchelsea road for over 27 years, have yet to be flooded out, except for a little water in the garden, talking to a gentleman, who has lived in New road Rye for over 70 years,he is of the same opinion, it’s just scaremongering,and it doesn’t seem to stop the developers,or councils, who keep passing these developments,when it suits.
In the summer of 1958 the whole of the Strand Quay area was transformed into a French village, including a second bridge alongside the existing Winchelsea Road bridge. There were also various machine guns emplacements and other objects of great delight to a young schoolboy.
The first film of the Dunkirk evacuation was being filmed in the area, with Camber standing in as the Dunkirk beach. It was all very exciting and I wonder whether anyone has photos of these events to share here (if that is feasible).