Native American Proverb

Meister Eckhart

We spotted Rye Windmill when we had a brief visit to Rye when we holidayed in Chichester last year. It was near to where we had parked our car and as we walked past the windmill we found out that it was a B&B. How quaint. The mill has an interesting history:

The distinctive and famous Rye Mill is a grade-two listed building and has been the inspiration for artists and photographers throughout the centuries. It occupies an historic site in Gibbet’s Marsh where a windmill has stood, in one form or another, since at least the sixteenth century. The Symondons map of Rye created in 1594 shows an illustration of a windmill in the exact spot where today’s mill now stands. Copies can be seen in Rye Town Hall and in the guesthouse.

The first recorded owner of a Rye Mill was Thomas Chatterton who built a ‘post mill’ in 1758. After his death his widow, Mary, passed it on to a Frederick Barry who demolished the ‘post mill’ in 1820 to erect a ‘Smock Mill’, similar to the one we see today. Milling continued until 1912 when the premises became a bakery. Eventually to be owned by the Webbs, a well regarded family of Rye bakers who were to become custodians of the Windmill for over 60 years.

Unfortunately, on a Friday 13th in 1930, the ovens of the bakery overheated and destroyed the wooden structure on the mill, leaving just the two story brick base. The mill was reconstructed in 1932 and it continued as a bakery until 1976. The ovens were put to good use when the mill became a pottery. The original oven doors can be seen in the base of the Windmill, behind what is now the bar.

The Mill first became a B&B guesthouse in 1984. Since then the Mill has gone through many improvements and, today, its present owners aim to carry on making The Rye Windmill a memorable venue and unforgettable experience for all patrons.

Everyone was up bright and early. After a breakfast of buttered toast it was time t0 make preparations for the housewarming party that was taking place that evening. Initially, we weren’t needed for any of the preparations so we took a short walk to the nearby Parish Church of St. Mary Willesborough.

The church looked delightful from the outside but on entering it looked a little cold and clinical because the pews had been removed and the area around the altar seemed a little bit cluttered. The people of the church were welcoming and when Mr C stopped for a cup of tea and tea cake in the teashop he got chatting to the lady who served him. He asked about the pews being removed and was told that this was to enable ‘Messy Church‘ to take place on a Saturday. They found that this increased community engagement that encouraged more people to attend church services on a Sunday leading to the reintroduction of Sunday School.

Upon our return to the house, party preparations were in full flow and we were put on bunting duty which was not as easy as it sounds. We were attaching bunting to a fence whilst standing on a fairly busy road. Thankfully we completed the task without any problems although one car tooted at us. We were then sent to the local Co-Op to pick up bottles of soft drinks. As there had been no talk of lunch, whilst we were there I bought a salmon salad snack which I ate in the car before we returned to the house. A short while after we returned we were advised that lunch was served; this turned out to be bread, cheese and ham.

Shortly afterwards this the first of the party guests arrived. We enjoyed meeting and chatting with many of the guests. One of them,  in many ways, reminded me of a friend of mine. The younger guests enjoyed splashing around in the swimming pool until the buffet was served during which time the pool was closed. After the younger guests had left the pool was reopened for the students and older children to enjoy whilst the adults chilled out with a glass of wine or two.

We set off a little later than planned for the first stage of our holiday where we were staying with family in Kent for a housewarming party before moving on to Chichester.

Despite the late start we were still in time to stop for lunch at Little Amsterdam, Banbury. Suitably refreshed we carried on with our journey which was slow and tedious due to congestion on the motorway around London.

We eventually arrived at our destination. We were given a tour of the house before a well earned aperitif before dinner.

We got up early and had tea, toast and orange juice for breakfast before setting out for Leeds Castle with my Brother in Law and family. The day was lovely and sunny, but a little windy making the air quite bracing in exposed places.

We walked through the parkland towards the castle in glorious sunshine, spring flowers lining the grassy lawns with ducks and geese preening themselves in the sunny glow. We enjoyed a tour of the castle before stopping off for lunch time refreshments in the cafe. I enjoyed a little bit of cake indulgence;  ginger and marmalade cake. It was delicious

After lunch Mr C and I failed miserably to find the centre of the maze before time ran out and we had to get back to the ranch for nephews and nieces to do their homework before they needed to depart for a birthday celebration. This left us to have a board gaming afternoon, followed by an early dinner to accommodate two young boys.

After the boys had gone to bed, we retired to the sitting room to watch a film and the cheese board came out…

We had a good run down to kent stopping off for lunch at Cherwell Valley service station. For a motorway service station it has a rather good selection of food options. We both had a Turkey and Stuffing roll off the carvery bar. We arrived in Lenholm around 3pm where we quickly popped into the medieval town to pick up some flowers for our hostess. When then retraced the short distance to  my brother in laws house which was our destination for the weekend.

We unloaded our bags from the car and had a tour of the house then took a short walk into Lenholm for coffee and cakes. In my case it was Elderflower water and Lemon Polenta cake which was delicious. We were then given a brief tour of the quaint village before returning to the house for the evening. Not long afterwards my niece and nephew arrived followed a little later by our hostess and her two boys.

With a glass of pre dinner gin in hand we sat and chatted whilst the evening meal was being prepared. After dinner the youngsters went to bed leaving the older generation to sit and chat a while before it was time to retire for the night.

PS:I am getting ahead of myself, the services we stopped in on our journey down south where Beaconsfield. It was Cherwell Valley on the way back

The few photos I took are organised and ready but I don’t want to start posting about the weekend until after another expedition that we are due to go on tomorrow. More on that later…

PS: there is also a blog post pending on this mornings unsatisfactory attempt to fix the shoddy workmanship on our backdoor

Pam Brown

William Shakespeare