The George in Rye

 The Rye Bridge Break was very much a Stocken family affair with Dinah and me helping Claudia and Zebedee look after our guests, whom I hope enjoyed the weekend as much as we did.

The George Hotel was very comfortable and the staff went out of their way to make us feel at home, particularly in the efficient conversion of the bridge room into the dining room for lunch and dinner.

 Zeb’s topics were ‘How to handle tricky card combinations’ – an invaluable tool in every bridge player’s armoury – and ‘Doubling’ – an altogether tougher proposition and to those who found it difficult, take heart, since from time to time even the experts get hoist on their misunderstanding of their partners’ doubles.

An added bonus was that Saturday night was the annual Rye Bonfire Pageant and what an occasion that proved to be. It took an hour for the procession of bands, troupes, and seemingly every person in Rye, all carrying a flaming torch, to pass down the High Street. The bridge room gave us a grand-stand view without having to endure the press of the crowds in the street below.

In between the bridge sessions, the rain held off, enabling us to explore the delightful town itself. On the wall of one house I saw a sign that read: ‘re-furbished in 1491’ which I thought rather summed up the town and its long history.

To finish the weekend off we had an afternoon cream tea and bridge taster session on Sunday. Some players extended their bridge weekend and were joined by local players for cards, and enjoyed the most delicious home-made scones. A great end to a wonderful couple of days.

Peter Stocken, November 2014

For a guest review on Silver Travel Advisor, please click here.