Reserving Rye Harbour, East Sussex

Had a fantastic day today by going on a trip to Rye Harbour via Tenterden and Rye itself. 
Rye Harbour is a beautiful, strange place -  it's principal attraction for many people being the stunning nature reserve which features in today's shot. In the distance the building that can be seen is the Mary Stanford Lifeboat House, which has a very tragic history. On the 15th November 1928 the lifeboat sank in terrible conditions drowning the entire crew of seventeen, nearly all of whom worked as fishermen in the village. It was, and I still think is, the biggest loss of crew in the history of the RNLI.
Also at Rye Harbour you can see the very distinctive machine gun pillboxes that were part of the fortifications built for the Second World War (see the two extra shots) - they are so striking to look at and although they really stand out, it would feel very odd to not see them in this unique landscape. In the third shot you can see the famous red roofed hut through one of the "windows" of the pillbox. This was used for many decades to store fishing and shrimping equipment.
I also managed to squeeze in a lovely lunch, a delicious ice cream, a beer (or two) and to buy a beautiful glass vase. All on a perfectly sunny, blue-skied day. Bliss!