Huge lighting storm seen from Rye, East Sussex

Amazing lightning storm just went past Rye in the English Channel, brilliant view from our garden! Here's a video slideshow of the stills, do put it in full-screen and 1080p HD!

Here's one of the stills:

You can view the rest on my Flickr page.

Mike

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Freak storm in Rye, and a first responder call!

On Friday a freak storm hit Rye, and while we were outside videoing it with my GoPro we got a first responder call to go and help people injured by the storm! Lots of wind and lightning, and the start of our drive to the incident, are in the video:

There's some photos of the damage on Rye News, and Knoops has a good photo of the storm before it hit.

First time we've done a first responder call in the middle of a large thunderstorm!

Mike

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High tide flooding in Rye

I went down to the quay this lunchtime to see how high the tide got... It was the highest I've ever seen it, though a I guy I was talking to said he'd been there at 1am last night and it had been at least a foot higher. Here's a short video, and then some pics:

Apparently last night this car was covered up to the top of the wheels:

How or why they'd managed to park this side of the flood barriers I don't know... I guess the windows are open to help it dry out! I was told that the water had been spraying through the flood barrier wall here, where it was still accumulating at high tide today:

The evidence of this could still be seen - silt on the pavement:

There was also some seepage going on today:

And the flood barriers were still closed:

Glad it wasn't any worse!

Mike

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Wild Boar Week in Rye

Wild Boar Week is coming soon in Rye! Come and try some of the delicious food on offer...

In preparation for the week, I took a few journalists and bloggers on a tour of the woods to see where the boar live, the morning after we'd all had a great wild boar dinner at The Gallivant.

Here's one of their write-ups with a few pics from the wood, and here's another. And here's the fleeting glimpse I got of boar last December...

Mike

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Snow chaos on Rye Hill

As is traditional when it snows in Rye, people go out in their cars and get stuck on Rye Hill. So I went out with my GoPro and videoed it this time! I did also end up helping push five cars up hills...

Mike

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Flooding in Rye - sewage water lifting the manhole covers!

This video is from a couple of hours ago in Rye, note the bits of toilet paper coming up from the manhole cover! Nasty!

Mike

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Rye Classic Car Cruise 2012

Once again, Rhythm Riot has brought the Classic Cars to cruise through Rye! Enjoy the video...

Mike

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Snow in Rye, Feb 2012

Ever since we moved to Rye in summer 2007, it's snowed every winter. The weather has not let us down this winter either...

This time the snow has stuck to everything it can - check out these telephone wires sagging...

and these trees and shrubs too:

The river Tillingham was frozen over:

and I just about got a picture of this Bullfinch there:

Then on to Deadmans Lane, which always looks good in the snow. This time though, the stickiness of the snow means that two branches from evergreens were down in the road:

The broadleaf trees are fine, as with no leaves they can't collect much snow:

And finally Rye Hill, which is passable if you know how to drive in snow. But of course, not everyone does!

Mike

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A couple of sunrise timelapse videos

Couple of videos from this morning, first one with my Nikon D60, and the second with my GoPro

I tried using manual settings on the Nikon this time, but still had to increase the shutter speed as the sun came up, so got some jumps in brightness. Must try a sunset some time so I can start at the bright end of the event!

Mike

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Rye Christmas Procession 2011

A friend arranged for me to get up on the balcony at The George to do a timelapse video the the Christmas Procession, so here you go:

Meanwhile Tracy was down at ground level and got some good video, including Captain Jack Sparrow!

Mike

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Rye 1950s Classic Car Cruise

Many strange things happen in Rye... Yesterday dozens of 1950s cars and trucks cruised through the town and then parked up for us all to look at! Here's a video, and some photos: The highlight is probably the batmobile!

Mike

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Red Arrows over Rye!

Today was a special day for Rye - we had a Red Arrows display overhead! They were preceded by a Spitfire, and there were also military vehicles on display and various other activities. Let's start with the highlight though:

Here's a video of some of the best bits of the display:

There was a Spitfire too, than came by a little while before the Red Arrows:

Again, I took some video too:

Back down on the ground, there were various other activities, including an impressive array of military vehicles from WW2:

And even a 1940s bike!

All in all, a fun afternoon!

Mike

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Even MORE snow in the woods!

On Thursday I posted pictures of Rye after the heavy snow, and yesterday we went up to the woods in the Land Rover to take some pictures and process more firewood. It's the most snow I've ever seen in East Sussex, in fact the most anywhere, apart from Cairngorm!

This is the track into the woods:

Of course, this holds no fear for the Land Rover - we'd just driven safely down a steep hill that was too icy to walk on without falling over!

To give you a better idea of how deep the snow was up in the wood, here it is lying on a stile, with a credit card for scale:

The snow had piled up on everything it could, including stools:

and our firewood shelter:

Well, we were there to process firewood, so we loaded our cutting rack a couple of times with split year-old wood:

and that was enough to finish refilling it:

We fed the birds as well, topping up the bird feeder and also leaving some on the ground for the Robins, who aren't so keen on using the feeder. If fact, it was the Coal Tits who went there first:

but they spend more time in the feeder usually:

There were actually two Robins around, so there was a bit of fighting and showing off - I guess an area where humans leave food is prime territory...

We were also pleased to see a Nuthatch, digging for bugs in the Oak trees:

but it also ventured down to the feeder as well:

Apart from working and feeding the birds, we also got loads of pics of the snow scenes. I'll include them all here, as I think my Mum may want to get some of them printed for making cards...

Back at home, the icicles had reached a huge size:

and the splashing from the leaky gutter has iced the bin:

Well, it's all melting now, and it's raining, but it's going to cold again tomorrow night. No more snow for now I think, but plenty of frost - which is better for work in the woods, really.

Mike

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