It is with great sadness that the family have announced the passing of Alan Bolden, a long-time resident and even longer-time admirer of this town of Rye and its history.
Alan first came to Rye as a teenager in the late 1940s. He would visit again during his honeymoon with his new wife Joyce, and together they agreed while walking down Mermaid Street that “one day they would live here”.
Alan and Joyce, and later on with their two boys, Peter and me, would holiday at Camber Sands for many years, and would go on to buy a holiday cottage in Broad Oak, Brede.
After many years of living, and being a primary school teacher, in Walthamstow, East London, they moved down to that same cottage, and Alan taught at St Mary Magdalene Primary School in Bexhill until his retirement from teaching in 1992, when Alan and Joyce finally moved into the centre of Rye – the dream from their honeymoon of almost 40 years earlier.
Alan and Joyce were active members of the Rye History Society, and they were also keen participants in the local U3A debating group. Joyce passed away in 2008, and Alan continued with his role on the committee of Rye United Football Club for many years until the team’s sad demise in 2014.
Recently, Alan’s mental health had deteriorated, and he had been living in a care home near to my home in Gillingham, Kent. It was there on Monday, March 3 that he passed peacefully during his sleep.
Alan will be buried alongside Joyce in Rye Cemetery at 11.30am on Wednesday April 2, looking out across the town and the surrounding countryside that they both loved so much.
Image Credits: Geoffrey Keith Bolden .
Very sad to hear the passing of Alan Bolden, a true gentleman, and friend to so many of us in this town.
A lovely man. I enjoyed his visits to the Town Hall office to discuss local football and town matters.
A really lovely man who was a great colleague when we worked together at Thorpe Hall in Walthamstow. We went on many school journeys together that Alan had organised and throughout that time we became good friends. Joyce and Alan came to visit us in Nottingham and we had a great time reminiscing. He will be missed by many who knew his kindness.
I was very sad to have the news of Alan’s passing. He and I were close friends. He would visit me regularly to have coffee and long chats on world affairs and local politics when I was a Town and Rother councilor. I was to take him to have lunch out to celebrate his 90th birthday but he fell ill and I was sad not to have celebrated his birthday with him after which he had to be taken by his son back to Gillingham where he was to end his life in a care home there Never forgotten.