The second Bank holiday weekend in May, saw the Besties celebrating their own special day, their Ruby Anniversary.
Like us the previous month, they left it quite late to decide how to mark the occasion and opted for several gatherings enabling both family and friends to be included.
Part 1a: On the eve of their big day, we joined them and a group of friends in the lovely Ancient Town of Rye.
Our first stop was a tiny micro pub, The Waterworks. The building has a long history, starting life as a pump house, becoming a soup kitchen then public toilets before being transformed into a friendly, cosy pub.
The landlord is quite a character. As a group of eight, he moved other punters around, pinched stools from various tables enabling us to sit together.
The beers and ciders are all locally brewed and many are named after local towns and villages. The ladies in our group mainly tried some local gin, the men tried the beer apart from the hubby, who joined me in a cider.
There was a lot of friendly banter between regulars, locals and us not quite so locals, and it was a fabulous atmosphere.
Part 1b – Leaving the pub, to climb one of the many cobbled streets to the Town Hall, we had a date with the Town Crier.
Dressed in his work attire, he was waiting at the door. We joined his group as he prepared to take us on a Ghost Walk around the town. 👻🪦.It was still light, so maybe not as spooky as it would be in the Winter months, but we heard stories of an old lady, from beyond the grave, sitting on a bench in the churchyard interacting with passers by, of a prison officer who walks the corridors of Ypres Tower and of monks walking through walls at the old monastery.
We stood across the street from the Mermaid Inn, built in 1420, which has been featured on the tv programme, Most Haunted. One of the bedrooms is said to have regular, night visits from a spectre. There are stories of lights turning on in the middle of the night 💡and an employee was tending to the fire, when all the bottles fell from a shelf at the other end of the bar 😳. The Inn also offers tours of the hotel. Book if you dare 🤪. At the bottom of Mermaid Street, sightings of a woman crossing the street, have, we were told, been captured in photos 📸.
Whilst in the graveyard we had learned of a murder which took place in 1742. A local butcher, John Breads, who actually didn’t kill the man he had intended to, was found guilty and hung. After his death he was placed in a gibbet for many years. As his body decomposed his flesh was eaten by animals and then his bones taken by people who believed crushed bones infused in water and drunk was a cure for rheumatism 😳. What remains of his skeleton (basically his skull) is now stored, still in the gibbet in the attic of the town hall. We were told he has visited staff in the attic, swinging open a door to the loft space. This door is now locked. Our guide advised us not to touch the skull as we would likely become ill if we did.I think as we left the town hall, John Breads, may have been with us. Our selfie photo, was shrouded in mist 😳.
Our journey took us to the monastery where the seven monks were said to have haunted, walking through walls to exit. One of the monks, fell in love with a local girl. They embarked on an affair and planned to elope together to France. Their plan was discovered and their punishment was to be entombed alive in the walls of the friary. Our guide advised us he had personally witnessed the Monk standing at the end of Turkey Cock Lane, during one of his Ghost Walks. By now darkness had fallen and he proceeded to walk us slowly up the lane 😬.
Fortunately we didn’t encounter any apparitions on this occasion 😮💨
We concluded our evening back at the Waterworks Micropub, discussing our thoughts on our spooky tour, whilst sampling more of their delicious brews 🍻.
A wonderful evening was had by all🥂👻
The Besties continued their weekend, the following day, having Sunday lunch with their lovely children and grandchildren, followed by a Bank Holiday Monday visit from siblings
Happy Ruby Anniversary 🥰