Ryecast

Would you know how to help someone having a heart attack? Thousands of people around Rye do, thanks to Rother Responders - a fantastic local charity that’s just put in place its 20th defibrillator. The machine has been installed at Suttons on Sea Road Winchelsea Beach and to mark the occasion Rother Responders held a  session to teach local people (and me) how to use it.

The charity, which also recruits volunteers to help the emergency services, has placed defibrillators all around Rye and the surrounding villages. It’s encouraging locals to get to know how the kit works in the hope of saving more lives.

This week’s Ryecast talks to volunteers and trainees. If you’d like to know more about the charity – and where to find a local defibrillator – visit www.rotherresponders.org.uk.  Look out for their fundraisers too, as each kit costs £1500 to buy and £150 to maintain each year.

Ryecast is presented and produced by Rye resident James Stewart.

It’s amazing what you hear when you really listen. That’s what the latest edition of Ryecast  is all about, with a special podcast featuring recordings made around Rye. Mostly just the wildlife. A twenty minute montage of birds, bees, sheep, wind, rain, and a few dogs too.

The soundcape is part of the SongMaps Rye project which has seen local people collaborate with artists to tell the story of climate change. There’s art, poetry, music, and in this podcast – sound. I made the recordings on a walk from home on Udimore Road to the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve a few days ago. You’ll hear the birds in my back garden, more birds at Cadborough Cliff and by the railway line, the sound of a heavy downpour on Mermaid Street, the sheep in the fields next to the harbour road, and then more wildlife in the reserve itself.

For the techies it was recorded on a Zoom HN4 Pro in stereo, so you’ll hear bees and insects buzzing from left to right and the trains darting in and out of range. Plus the train horns. Lots of train horns.

So headphones on. It’s twenty minutes to relax and surround yourself with what Rye sounds like with no people…apart from the man with the chainsaw chopping branches on the 1066 Walk...

You can hear Ryecast wherever you get your podcasts or visit www.ryecast.org.

Ryecast is presented and recorded by Rye resident James Stewart [email protected]

Beach yoga is on the agenda for this week’s Ryecast as I join Joanna Allen from “The Humble Warrior” for one of her classes on Camber Sands. She’s back in Rye after some huge life changes which have seen her leave behind a highly stressed job in fashion and replace it with teaching meditation and mindfulness. She says: “From what I was doing then to what I’m doing now, I’m totally unrecognisable. It’s so different but so much better.”

After the class we grab a coffee at Camber Landing as Jo tells me about how the nature around Rye inspires her, leaving the stresses of London life behind, and how she enjoys helping others through her sessions. As well as yoga on the beach, there’s a yurt in Appledore where she hosts retreats including full moon ceremonies. She tells me she doesn’t miss her old lifestyle. "I’d just come back from a gruelling trip and discovered a new yoga class setting up at the end of my road. I knew things needed to change, so I gave it a go. And here I am now!”

You can hear more about Jo’s journey, and how I got on with my first yoga class (spoiler alert: I'm not very supple...), on this week’s Ryecast podcast 

Find out more about Jo Allen, beach yoga and her retreats here https://www.the-humblewarrior.co.uk/

Namaste.

As promised, this edition of Ryecast features more stories from Diana Patten. Last time it was all about flying – even now in her late eighties she’s still flying and earlier this year she took to the skies above Rye in a spitfire. There are more stories about speed – this time on land and at sea – in this podcast, but first it’s all about her family, her childhood, and a very famous schoolfriend.

Read more about Diana in Rye News

Ryecast is presented and produced by Rye resident James Stewart. Search for Ryecast to find all the previous episodes or visit www.ryecast.org. What’s your story? Email [email protected]

Diana Patten is just the best company. Full of fascinating stories. So much so I’ve two episodes about her exciting life. She’s a pilot and even now in her late eighties she’s still flying – just last week she was up in the skies high above Rye…doing aerobatics too. A real pioneer - though she says she isn't - Diana has been responsible for generations of pilots learning to fly at Headcorn airfield in Kent

The second episode it’s all about her family, holidays in pre-war Germany and a famous school friend, but this edition is about her life as a pilot and her travels all over the world. I’ve been talking to Diana at her home near Rye.  

The second part of our interview comes out next week.

Read more about Diana in Rye News

Ryecast is presented and produced by Rye resident James Stewart. Search for Ryecast to find all the previous episodes or visit www.ryecast.org. What’s your story? Email [email protected]

When you wake up tomorrow, Miriam McGuirk will have already been up for hours working in her shed in Valley Park in Rye. She calls it her writing shack – a place to escape to when she’s writing and blogging.  Her latest book “Second Chances” was partly written here, as she’s been telling me on the latest edition of Ryecast. We also discuss her childhood in Ireland, her love of outdoor swimming, and why her own second chance helped her be more Miriam. It’s an emotional interview, with some wise advice for you if you're also struggling to make a change in your life.

You can find more about Miriam and "Second Chances" on her website https://miriammcguirk.com/ and there's more in this Rye News article

Ryecast is presented & produced by Rye resident James Stewart www.ryecast.org @ryecastsussex [email protected]

Ryecast this week is all about the police in Rye with an interview with Chief Inspector Jay Mendis-Gunasekera, the Sussex Police Area Commander for Hastings & Rother. He’s been telling James Stewart about his team, his priorities and how he thinks policing has changed for the better.

Plus there are questions from Rye News readers about the uncertain future of Rye police station, tackling crime & anti-social behaviour, drug taking, and confidence in the police following recent scandals in London.

A detective with 22 years service, he now leads a team of 65 officers and staff looking after policing across Rye and much of East Sussex. He says he’s invested in helping the most vulnerable in the community, and talks about his work on the child protection team and how an eight year old boy showed him how he was making a difference to people’s lives.

You can find the statistics about crime in Rye here and here’s the link to the Rye News article

What's your story? Get in touch @ryecastsussex on social media or [email protected] on email

The big showbiz past of Rye's small business rep.

Lee Harrington is a lot lighter these days, but back in the day, our local lead for the Federation of Small Businesses used to weigh forty stone, becoming well known for his acting, modelling and dancing. He’s been telling me about working with the likes of Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis and Michael Caine on this week's Ryecast.

As well as starring in TV commercials, Lee was part of a novelty dance group called The Blobbindales - an act based on The Chippendales only much larger.  The podcast is full of Lee’s showbiz stories and memories, as he looks back on his life in the spotlight which includes performing with Fat Les singing “Vindaloo” on Top of the Pops. Another TV show saw him singing with Lionel Richie - even though he says he can hardly sing a note.

Now running a party balloon company in East Sussex, Lee helps some of Rye’s small firms through his work with the FSB.

If you want to know more about the local work of the FFSB email
[email protected].

Ryecast is produced & presented by James Stewart @ryecastsussex & www.ryecast.org

Sometimes making the pod I have genuinely no idea about what I'll end up talking to local people about. That's why I love Ryecast. In theory this episode is all about the first Rye Arts & Crafts Fair, but as well as hearing from the creatives and makers manning the stalls in the Community Centre about their work, we end up discussing so much more. Not least our love of Rye. And scary dolls. And neutering cats. And the Knights of the Round Table. As you do.

Plus a chat with Jackie Brooks, the organizer of the Fair. Another Ryer who had a brilliant idea and went for it.

Pics at www.ryecast.org
If you want to get involved in the next Fair email Jackie [email protected]
For Terry Davies wood work visit www.terrencedavieswoodartist.co.uk
Larry Wilson and his pots is @wilsonpottery on istagram
It's www.facebook.com/ndriverart for Naomi Driver
And Jane Fenn can be reached @miniatureheadmuseum on Instagram

Ryecast is presented and produced by James Stewart [email protected]

Meet the artists behind SongMaps Rye

With most arts projects you kind of know what’s going to happen from the outset. SongMaps Rye is a bit different. Not only is it all about how Rye continues to be affected by climate change, there really isn’t a plan of what will be created - at least not yet. There will be though, as we'll find out in July. On this week’s Ryecast, I’ve been meeting the artists who’re working with local people to collaborate and create something special.

I joined one of their events at Tilling Green Community Centre as Andy Dinsdale from Strandliners explained how his work on the local seashore gives him first-hand experience of Rye’s changing environment. He’s one of the experts helping the team understand what’s happening in a series of workshops over the next couple of months. For writer and eco poet Morgan the changing climate is something she’s all too familiar with at home in Rye Harbour. She hopes SongMaps Rye will give local people a voice. “Hearing other people’s views and transforming them creatively and artistically really excites me.”

It’s not just about poetry, artists and musicians have also been brought together in Rye by two London based arts organisations.  as you’ll hear on this week’s Ryecast - along with an explanation about what a song map is. 


Ryecast is presented and produced by James Stewart www.ryecast.org @ryecastsussex