Rye Observer Comment

It is strange that for a nation that prides itself on a `keep calm and carry on’ ethos how quickly panic sets in.

Of course there are some for a who a vehicle is a lifeline, but how many, as they joined the growing queues forming on filling station forecourts stopped for a moment to think of alternative modes of transport or perhaps even of making shorter journeys on foot?

With the hosepipe ban now in force many of us will have to re-adjust. But even hoses have changed. What used to be a thin green snake on the lawn is now more likely to be a high pressure, high volume monster capable of discharging powerful jets of water.

But gardens need not wither and die. It is time to welcome back that timeless icon of design the watering can.

So rail users in the Rye area are set to suffer more delays and disruptions over the Easter break - as if they had not put up with enough already with the line closed for most of this year.

It will damage tourism at a key time but will also inconvenience Rye residents and families who want to leave the car behind and enjoy a day out.

We are told by Network Rail that one of the main reasons for work over Easter is that they have pledged to the government that there will be no engineering work in the summer when the Olympics take place.

The words of a Rye councillor who predicted the Olympics would cause chaos and problems, though unpopular at the time, now have a strangely prophetic ring to them.