Lamb House, Rye.

An extremely pleasant day out in and around Rye. There was a cultural slant to the first part of the day calling in at Ellen Terry's house at Smallhythe for coffee and a scone. Driven past this National Trust place innumerable times but never stopped. As we're NT members we can just drop in for a while and enjoy the site without paying the entrance fee. We admired the outside of the house and the lovely gardens and outlook over countryside and then got outside of a scone and coffee.

From there is was on to the always interesting town of Rye, on a hill high above estuaries of three rivers overlooking the marshes. It's a place of cobbled streets and old houses, all very quaint and fascinating and very popular with tourists.

The object of visiting Rye was not just to admire the town and have some lunch, both of which we did but also to visit Lamb House, home of the writer Henry James from 1898 to his death in 1916.

Lamb House is another National Trust property, only open 3 days a week, and another place we've long wanted to visit. Apart from its association with Henry James and all his acquaintances, Lamb House was also the home of another writer, E F Benson after the death of Henry James.

Benson was a prolific author and well loved in his time. He lived in Rye for many years becoming Mayor three times in the 1930s. His best known works nowadays is the Mapp and Lucia novels set in and around Rye and inspired by the people, places and buildings of the town. The books have been produced for TV, with the latest broadcast over Christmas 2014, but the best known version was first seen in the 1980s starring Prunella Scales, Geraldine McEwan and Nigel Hawthorne.

I'm not sure why, but I found the first TV series and the novels fascinating despite being a non fiction addict. So it was good to be able to see the house around which much of the story revolves and to visit places mentioned in the books. When we were last in Rye in June 2014 the latest version of the novels was being filmed.

A hearty lunch was enjoyed after our cultural morning fortifying us for a 9 mile walk along the estuaries of the Rivers Brede and Rother and on to Camber Sands and then back to Rye. Although it was warmer than of late the promised sun did not break through so for a six consecutive day the skies were grey and overcast which didn't do the landscape and seascape justice.

Back in Rye we enjoyed a pint at the Globe Inn on Military Road, making a note to return there for a meal in the future as we already had plans for tonight.

Our final destination was for an appointment with a plate of fish and chips at Dungeness. the Pilot has been our destination of choice over many years but we've always said we must try the Britannia, in the shadow of the nuclear power station as their reputation for fish and chips is also very high.

Well, we've satisfied that particular itch now, while the fish and chips at the Britannia were good, those at the Pilot are better and it is a more pleasant environment inside at the Pilot. Coming out of the Britannia did bring a memorable end to the day as the sun eventually broke through the cloud to make a belated but much welcome appearance.