Church Square, Rye

John Ryan (1921-2009) was a British artist, illustrator, and children’s book author. Perhaps best known for creating the popular children’s television series, ‘Captain Pugwash’, he lived at Gun Garden in Rye across from the church. Urban myths claimed (and still do!) that there were all manner of double entendres used in these stories; however, these claims were completely untrue.

Whilst visiting Ypres Tower, one of two sites of the Rye Castle Museum, I discovered two books by John Ryan in the shop there. ‘Captain Pugwash and the Huge Reward’ and ‘Murder in the Churchyard’ which is when the man working there told me that John Ryan had lived close by. Having watched Captain Pugwash and Mary, Mungo and Midge as a child, I was really interested to learn more about these books and the man who created them.

Murder in the Churchyard: the story of Rye’s most infamous crime retold in pictures by John Ryan is based on the true story of John Breeds, ‘sanguinary butcher’, who murdered Alan Grebell in the Rye churchyard on a dark night, thinking he was the Mayor, James Lamb. Anyone who has seen the Captain Pugwash cartoon will recognise the illustrative style and enjoy this retelling of this infamous event from Rye’s history.

In ‘Captain Pugwash and the Huge Reward’, events take place in a town called Sinkport and anyone who know Rye will recognise the streets in the illustrations. The name is a play on the fact that Rye is one of the ‘Cinque Ports’, a confederation of towns dating back to the 11th century. The story is full of the quirky humour these stories are so well known for with Tom the Cabin boy coming to the rescue as usual.

This area of Rye is lovely to wander around, full of history and things to notice. A bench to the memory of John Ryan can be found near the station and apparently, a statue of Captain Pugwash is going to be installed in Gun Garden.

Gun Garden,

Rye TN31 7HH