On Thursday February 11 Melvin Smith was at the East Street Museum to give a talk entitled "Old Rural Days" illustrated with photos taken from old postcards and many, many personal snapshots from his family album.
He spoke about sheep-keeping, hop-picking, bicycling and other local traditions, some of which have gone forever. The images covered a landscape centred on his family home in Peasmarsh and showed scenes that were at once familiar and strange, so much has the area changed in the last century.
In the photo Melvin holds up one of several mystery tools he brought to show the audience. If you want to know what this one does, you'll need to attend another of his local talks. [Source : Rye Museum]
Photo: Rye Museum
