My home town

I spent my teenage years in a small town in the south of England called Rye. I doubt you'll know it. It's about seventy miles south of London and the nearest big town is Hastings, which is maybe fifty miles east of Brighton. As you can see from this map, Rye is on the coast and it's about halfway between Brighton and Dover.














Rye is quite a small town. The population is maybe around four thousand.
It's a very old, historic town and has lots of old buildings, some dating back over seven hundred years. One of its most famous buildings is an ancient pub called The Mermaid, which was built in the twelfth century. It's in a steep old cobbled street and is very popular with tourists.














For many centuries, England had very bad relations with France and the two countries were often at war. Rye was one of the towns most at risk from a French invasion and so it has an old castle, which was originally used to look out for French boats and to protect the town. It's called the Ypres Tower.
















Quite a few famous people live in - or near - Rye. Perhaps the most famous is Paul McCartney, from the Beatles. In fact, I went to school with his daughters Mary and Stella. Mary was in my year at school!

I grew up in a Bed and Breakfast - a small family-run hotel - so I met lots and lots of foreign people when I was a kid. Tourists love Rye because it's very picturesque and pretty, but to be honest, when I was a teenager, I didn't enjoy it very much. I found most of the people there very conservative and narrow-minded and there was nothing to do in the evenings. I have to say, I couldn't wait to leave!

Now, though, I do like visiting it on a day-trips or for the weekend. I'm older now and can see that it is very beautiful - and the countryside around there is also quite amazing.

I just wouldn't want to ever live there again!