New Year's Day was not only the start of 2023 but after the deluges of rainfall we've all endured for far too long we were blessed with good weather - even the sun made a rare appearance!
Having spent some of the bank holiday, like many others, driving around the local area, it was hard to ignore all the surface water which was everywhere. Rivers had burst their banks and new temporary lakes started appearing all over the low-lying areas and farmland as the ground was so saturated the water had nowhere to go.
The Brede valley is often subject to flooding but I haven't seen anything like these last floods. The river was indistinguishable in parts as it merged onto the adjoining fields and at the side of the road were remnants of vehicles damaged during the snow and ice seen in previous weeks.
I felt for all the sheep as not only were they having to drag their soaked fleeces around with them, the sheer extra weight and the sodden ground must have made it very difficult to move at all so its no wonder they all looked so dejected.
Heading down to Rye harbour on New Year's day for a walk seemed a good idea at the time. Big mistake - the world and his wife had decided to do exactly the same! I have never seen so much activity in Rye Harbour. Getting there was a challenge as we joined the queue of cars heading to the free car park, only to find it was packed to capacity. The walkway to the discovery centre was also very busy in both directions. It seemed every breed of dog had converged together, there were kids with their shiny new Christmas bikes, locals and visitors, young and old, all taking advantage of the amazing weather and the chance to enjoy the prolonged bank holiday weekend.
After seeing all the crowds and as there wasn’t a parking space available, plans to visit the Discovery Centre were quickly abandoned and the next venue of choice, Pett Level, was less busy but still attracting many visitors. Great news for local businesses and let's hope the tills were rattling but I'm not so sure the locals living along the approach to Rye Harbour would echo my enthusiasm as the mass influx of visitors, extra cars and all the additional activity would have made this News Year's day one for locals to remember, for different reasons.
There are also wider implications affecting the ability of the emergency services to be able to do their job and keep us all safe, including the RNLI.
Kt Bruce, RNLI Press Officer at the Harbour said: “On Monday, January 2, it took 15 minutes to travel from Rastrum Wharf to the shop, a journey that would normally take one minute. This was due to the selfishness of the visitors to Rye Harbour as they forced their way through the village past parked vehicles.
"Because there was no consideration shown for other road users it created a gridlock. Cars were forced up onto the pavement and people were getting very frustrated. This is a great concern for the RNLI because if there was a shout and the crew members were attempting to get to the Lifeboat Station it would have been impossible to do so quickly.
"We are a small village and the locals are fed up with this selfishness. We ask everyone to treat Rye Harbour as if it were their home, with thoughtfulness.”
