2-888-665 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Procession at the Old Gate, Rye, 1850. State visit of Thomas Farncomb, Lord Mayor of London, to the town of Rye in Sussex. 'The day will be memorable in the borough annals, being marked not only by the state visit of the Lord Mayor, but by the opening of the line of railway from Ashford to Rye, which was, for this especial occasion, rendered available to the Lord Mayor and his friends...On arriving in the town the procession passed up Landgate [a remnant of the old city walls], which was magnificently decorated with flowers and evergreens...On this ancient edifice was the motto, "Welcome to Rye".' From "Illustrated London News", 1850.