Biography of Gail

Gail Dodson has lived in Rye for over 40 years.

Her first ever job was for Baldwins Travel agency where she dealt with a wide range of travel requests including, business travel, package holidays, flights, cruises, and rail travel. Although Gail worked for the company for two years prior, she continued to work for them when she moved to Rye, and in fact it was the reason she moved to Rye.

She has worked in the travel, tourism, and heritage industries throughout her career. This is especially interesting as Gail actually used to want to be an air hostess or work on cruise ships, but as she prefers to keep her feet on the ground, she believes that her working life has worked out for the best in the roles that she has undertaken.

After working for Baldwins Travel Agency, Gail was also employed at a school whilst her daughters were growing up as that job was more suited to the schedule of her family life. Gail has also worked at Rye Heritage Centre where she enjoyed showcasing the incredibly detailed Rye Town Model to visitors from all over the world, whether they were smaller groups of people that stopped by or larger groups of people that had booked in advance. Gail particularly enjoyed that she was able to meet so many people of different nationalities working within this role.

Gail now works as an Information Assistant at Rye Town Hall in the Information Point, where she helps both the local people of Rye and visitors to the town with a range of enquiries (for example, tourism and travel related questions, as well as enquiries for the Council). At Rye Information Point there is also a small shop that visitors are able to browse. Gail’s job involves answering phone call and email enquiries in addition to helping customers face-to-face. When asked what some of her favourite parts about working at Rye Town Hall are, Gail mentioned that she enjoys “the whole atmosphere really”. She noted that she is particularly fascinated by the building itself and thinks one of the best parts of her job is seeing how people are so interested in Rye and grateful for the information she provides them with, whilst equally learning a lot from visitors herself too.

Some of Gail’s hobbies that she likes to pursue in her free time include visiting castles, stately homes, gardens, and vineyards. Given that Rye Information Point has a leaflet stand for visitors to find information about the area, Gail enjoys that she is able to go and pick up leaflets from the places she decides to visit. She mentions that she finds it very interesting to discover these new sites and locations, and that her visits allow her to be able to make recommendations to people seeking enquiries from her whilst she is at work. Further, Gail’s personal hobbies and interests directly tie into her working life, making both a more enjoyable experience for her all round.

Audio of interview with Gail