I’ve been away for a long weekend in Rye, East Sussex. I haven’t done a lot of running because I’m only here for a short time, and also it is the middle of a heatwave, and far too hot at most times of day to do much of anything, let along running.
But this morning I was awake at 5-ish, so I made the most of the cool(er) temperatures and went out for a 10km (6 miles) run.
There was almost nobody about. I saw a couple of other runners, a couple of touring cyclists who stopped at a bird hide on the nature reserve, and a couple of dog walkers. Oh and a man delivering today’s newspapers to a shop.
Rye used to be next to the sea. I spent about half an hour looking on the internet for a picture of Rye in mediaeval times, and found one on another blog called LoveTravelEngland. Then I spent another half an hour reading the blog, which is great by the way!
Then longshore drift created a spit of pebbles, and storms in the 13thC hastened the silting of the harbours and rivers. Now the town is 2 miles from the sea, and ship building, which was a major industry for hundreds of years, is dead.
Nowadays tourism plays a big part in the town’s economy, and it is easy to see why. The very picturesque buildings and cobbled streets are full of art galleries and shops full of nice things. (I bought a nice red hat…and a handy water bottle…)
There are lots of literary connections too. Lamb House was once the home of Henry James and later EF Benson (of Mapp and Lucia fame).
Back to the run. We’re staying right in the centre of the town, so the first part involved a few steep cobbled streets – careful! Then a long stretch of road to the village of Rye Harbour, passing many industrial buildings and factories. And finally to the Nature Reserve, which was looking beautiful in the early morning light.
It was a lovely run, not at all too hot. And I was back at around 7am! All done!
Eat Cake And Run 