The Ship Inn, Rye

The Ship is said to have been built in 1592, originally as a warehouse to store goods seized from smugglers. It has quite a lot of character, and has different areas evidently intended to support more or less casual drinking and/or dining. The three hand pumps on our visit offered Harvey’s, Rother Valley Honey Fuzz and Old Dairy Blue Top, and I had a decent pint of the last of these. It was fairly quiet on our visit, with a couple of people drinking at the bar and a few others dotted about the place. It took an astonishingly long time for the staff who didn’t seem to be doing anything in particular to realise that the two of us whom they’d just seen walk in and approach the bar might actually want serving. And there wasn’t much sign of anyone eating there either. I suspect this place isn’t really making much effort as a pub or a restaurant, but is relying heavily on letting its rooms above. Which is a shame, because it could be a really good venue.