Rye Harbour Discovery Centre Café Manager Leah Athol-Murray

Emma Chaplin
, 11 January 2021
Rye Harbour Discovery Centre Café Manager Leah Athol-Murray
Leah Athol-Murray

The Rye Harbour Discovery Centre is not expected to open until at least April 2021 - but when it does open, it will have a wonderful café, and this will be run by Leah Athol-Murray.  

We caught up with her to ask about a life in food!

Tell us a bit about yourself

I was born in New Zealand and delivered by a Māori All Black, hence my love of rugby. When my family moved back to the UK, we settled in Winchelsea.

I have always been a foodie and many early memories relate to food, I certainly never went back to play with a friend after we'd been given Marmite, apple and lard sandwiches by her mum. Fortunately, my mum was a fantastic cook and taught me to bake at a young age.

I studied commercial art but after a trip on the Magic Bus to Athens, the pull of travel changed my priorities and I travelled continuously until my mid-twenties, funded by working in kitchens and galleys in Israel, Australia and New Zealand. On returning to the UK, I worked in, and then bought, a lease on a wine bar in Rye. Subsequently, I had a seafood bistro and café, named in The Independent in the top 10 of the country’s top 100 places to eat. 

After being asked to provide an oyster stall at the last Rye Medieval Festival, my husband and I decided to move our business entirely into outside catering, providing food at outdoor festivals, private catering and photo shoots on Camber Sands.

What would be your desert island meal?

Vegetarian momo (steamed or fried filled dumplings with a heavenly chilli sauce).

What's your most essential kitchen item?

My Kitchen Aid mixer.

And your ideal birthday cake?

Real Kiwi Pavlova (I know it's not strictly a cake!).

Tell us about your connection to Rye Harbour Nature Reserve.

I’ve visited the reserve for many years and use it to train for my annual charity treks, getting in the miles in a beautiful location before heading off, usually to the Himalaya. After meeting Barry Yates four years ago, I put myself forward as a Sussex Wildlife Trust volunteer and trained as a leader for the Wednesday Walks through the reserve.

What are your hopes for the Rye Harbour Discovery Centre Café?

Essentially, I want to put it on the map as a destination café, delivering great customer service and serving fabulous food and drink. We will use small, local businesses when we can and aim to offer a Taste of Sussex. I want to be as inclusive, so we will aim to serve vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options where possible.

I can’t wait for the café to open and for us to welcome everyone to the stunning Rye Harbour Discovery Centre.

For the latest update on the Rye Harbour Discovery Centre, see here

Leave a comment

Comments

  • Michael Ganss:

    Wow, Leah, you sound like the perfect person for the job. I look forward to becoming one of your regulars.

    12 Jan 2021 09:32:00

  • Terry Howard:

    After a day birdwatching it would be great to come in and have a cheese scone and a hot chocolate. Thanks Leah.

    12 Jan 2021 09:47:00

  • Van der Veken George:

    Before corona we were regular visitors of the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, sometimes several times a year. We hope that we can come from Belgium to the UK very soon, so we can visit our favourite Nature Reserve, because we miss it very much.

    12 Jan 2021 10:21:00

  • Terence:

    Very much looking forward to visiting your cafe Leah, hope it goes very well for you ☺

    12 Jan 2021 11:03:00

  • David Phillips:

    Welcome Leah! As a regular visitor to the reserve can’t wait to meet you and your food . Looking forward to when the Reserve is open again and to the grand opening of the Visitor Centre.

    12 Jan 2021 12:08:00

  • David Phillips:

    Welcome Leah! As a regular visitor to the reserve can’t wait to meet you and your food . Looking forward to when the Reserve is open again and to the grand opening of the Visitor Centre.

    12 Jan 2021 12:09:00

  • Veronica Keywood:

    Hi Leah, I think we have met, did you and your husband have a fish restaurant called Oscar’s in Rye? My husband and I had some lovely meals there. Looking forward to visiting Rye Harbour again and the cafe.

    Yes that's right! We look forward to welcoming you to the cafe, once we are able to open. Best wishes, Leah

    12 Jan 2021 13:26:00

  • Susannah Farley-Green:

    Hi Leah
    As regular local visitors to Rye Harbour we have been closely watching progress on the new Visitors Centre with great anticipation. We very much look forward to being able to explore the Centre and sample refreshments from your cafe.

    12 Jan 2021 15:06:00

  • E Fuller:

    We look forward to the opening of the cafe, but hope that being a ‘destination cafe’ won’t mean the prices are above the average as that will discourage the regular, older visitors on a fixed income in favour of the visitors from further afield!

    Thank you. We do understand your concern, but our aim will be to be inclusive in how we approach our cafe menus.

    12 Jan 2021 19:24:00

  • Kelvin Cawte:

    An idea might be to offer Friends/SWT members a discount to acknowledge their support and encourage new membership.

    Thank you for taking the time to comment Kelvin. This is under discussion.

    13 Jan 2021 12:19:00

  • Mags Ivatts:

    Hey Leigh the Cafe sounds great and we’re really looking forward to the opening! Judging by the crowds that walk up there every time the sun comes out you will be madly busy! Very best wishes xxx

    14 Jan 2021 22:46:00

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783116098.52370 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783116098.55090.0272Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783116098.55110.0002Server address: 216.73.216.95
1783116098.55120Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783116098.55120Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/rye-harbour-discovery-centre-caf-manager-leah-athol-murray
    [s] => rye-harbour-discovery-centre-caf-manager-leah-athol-murray
    [1] => rye-harbour-discovery-centre-caf-manager-leah-athol-murray
)
1783116098.55140.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783116098.55230.0009 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783116098.55410.0017 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1783116098.55460.0005INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1783116098.55650.0019 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22586721
1783116098.55710.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22586721
1783116098.55770.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-03 22:01:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-03 22:01:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783116098.55940.0017 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='rye-harbour-discovery-centre-caf-manager-leah-athol-murray')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-03 22:01:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783116098.5640.0046 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783116098.5650.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=2421 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-03 22:01:00'
1783116098.56660.0017 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783116098.56750.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783116098.56820.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=195 LIMIT 1
1783116098.56860.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=70 LIMIT 1
1783116098.56910.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=189 LIMIT 1
1783116098.56980.0007Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783116098.57040.0006 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783116098.57130.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-03 22:01:00' AND postSlug='rye-harbour-discovery-centre-caf-manager-leah-athol-murray'
1783116098.59890.0276Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783116098.59950.0006 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783116098.60380.0044Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783116098.60410.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783116098.61280.0087 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783116098.61520.0024 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783116098.62040.0052 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783116098.62330.0029 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783116098.62590.0026Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783116098.62590 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783116098.62640.0005 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783116098.62670.0002 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783116098.62840.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783116098.6290.0005 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783116098.62940.0005 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783116098.63160.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783116098.63230.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783116098.63430.002 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783116098.63470.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783116098.63490.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1783116098.6360.0011Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783116098.63630.0003 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='rye-harbour-discovery-centre-caf-manager-leah-athol-murray')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-03 22:01:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783116098.63810.0018 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783116098.6390.0009 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783116098.64220.0032Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783116098.64330.0011 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=2421 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783116098.70170.0584 [11] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783116098.70420.0026Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783116098.70440.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1783116098.70520.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783116098.71030.0051 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783116098.71540.0051 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783116098.7210.0056 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783116098.72170.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783116098.72380.002 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783116098.72470.0009 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783116098.72520.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783116098.72560.0004 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783116098.72810.0025 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783116098.72860.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783116098.73040.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783116098.73420.0038 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783116098.73490.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783116098.73540.0005 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783116098.73760.0023 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783116098.73820.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783116098.74020.002 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783116098.74250.0023 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783116098.74330.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783116098.74380.0005 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783116098.74610.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783116098.74660.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783116098.74910.0026 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783116098.75080.0016Request time: 0.2283
1783116098.75080Process time: 0.2282
1783116098.75080Memory: 1.6321