Town Centre, Couple of News Items.

Many times I've written about the ongoing building of the hotel in Cornwallis Street (eg blog), see image at bottom, well, the road is vlosed off from the South Terrace end, which I imagine hasn't made Pissarro's too happy, but the entrance from St Andrews Square has been opened for visitors to the garage back there, but no parking room available for anyone else, oh well, and...

I meant to wrote about this last week too (apologies for delay), but Greggs in Queens Road has moved. I saw it was closed in the early morning, but walked by again in the early evening and took this photograph, it has enlarged slughtly to 2/4 doors back down Queens Road!

Premier Inn in Town Centre Update.

Well, since approval was given in February 2022 for a new hotel to be built between Cornwallis Street and Mann Street (blog), as you can see from the photograph above, it definitely is being built, by end of 2025 apparently! This will likely change the neighbouhood.

Queens Road Partially Closed to Traffic.

Queens Road remains closed for gas works, it appears, between Stone Street and Cornwallis Street/Efford Street (HBC website); sorry, can't find out until when.

Oktoberfest in September!

Oktoberfest at The Prince Albert, 28 Cornwallis Street TN34 1SS (website), comes early each year. I'd been meaning to check up on when its Oktoberfest was being held, as I remembered from last year I just got in on the last day, which I did again this year, ie yesterday, though some beers should still be available. And they do have quite a busy period coming up... 🍺🎉🍻

I started off with the cask ale, brewed by Anspach & Hobday (website), their 4.3% session IPA Wunderbar, brewed in collaboration with German Kraft Brewery (website). German hops are used in abundance, Callista (BarthHaas), Hersbrucker (hopslist), and Huell Melon (hopslist), producing a cornucopia of fruit taste and aroma, notably, melon, dark berries, forest and citrus fruits. The beer was slightly cloudy and, yes, packed full of fruity flavours indeed, with a dry bitter finish, and I thought a wee bit different, and not bad at all! 🍺

I then started on the lagers, first from Edinburgh brewery Newbarns (website), who the pub featured during Hastings Tap Takeover last year (blog). I drank their 5.6% Festival Bier (5.7% last year) brewed using a blend of 10 different malted barleys, producing a German style golden lager. It was slightly bitter, with plenty of flavour, and very easy to drink for its strength! 😁

I then moved on to the real thing 😉 from Bavarian brewery Hacker-Pschorr (website), their special seasonal 6.0% Oktoberfest Bier, brewed with Alpine Spring Water and 'noble' Hallertau hops (hopslist), and brewed in March specifically to mature for Oktoberfest. This was a slightly darker amber colour, a subtle maltiness with a clean finish; my notes say 'folks will realise I'm not a lager drinker, but this is pretty damn good!" Which says it all really, nice one. 👍

Then, from another Bavarian brewery Hofbrau Munchen (website) and their 6.3% Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier, another festival 'special' beer brewed with Herkules (hopslist), Perle (hopslist), and Spalter Select (Hop Alliance) hops. This is a pale golden colour with a subtle sweetness and hints of grapefruit and dried fruits to the taste, very refreshing, and 6.3% (!) so dangerous to drink. My notes say "so much better than the commercial lagers brewed over here." So obviously true, no comparison, I could (shouldn't) drink this all day, cheers. 🍻

I finished off with another Bavarian brew from Flotzinger Brau (website) and their 5.8% Wies'n-Marzen, brewed specifically for the Rosenheim Autumn Festival, not Munchen Oktoberfest like the previous 2 😉 but available all year round. Brewed with Hallertau (hopslist) and Tettnanger (hopslist) hops, and I'll just repeat my notes: "I could get addicted to proper European beers brewed in their own country, pale, drinkable, in fact tasty! Nice one 👍" Oktoberfest done for another year, cheers folks! 😁

Leaking Pipe and SIX Pits!

Well, since I last wrote about the leak in St Andrew's Square 2 weeks ago (blog), it's still leaking! The only difference is that 4 holes/pits have been dug off each corner of the square, one just down from the leak in Cornwallis Street close to queen's Road, the second just in Cornwallis Street at the diagonally opposite corner of the square opposite where the foundations for a hotel appear to be being dug (blog).

The other 2 pits are at either end of Waldegrave Street, one virtually opposite Marks & Spencer, and the other just below Earl Street which, as you can see in the photograph above, means that the road is blocked off! How many weeks is this going to continue with parking spaces depleted and a road cut off? How many gallons of water are going to be lost? I give up!

New Hotel Approved...

Further to my blog in November, Hastings Borough Council's Planning Committee yesterday approved the building of a new Premier Inn hotel on what is now the carpark at the corner of Cornwallis Street/South Terrace/Mann Street (Sussex World).

 

Let's hope this brings jobs to Hastings, which it should really!

Hair Today and Studio One

I was going to headline this something like 'Hair Today Gone Tomorrow' but that would have been very silly, but with my minimal hair (cut by myself every 2 or 3 weeks with my own clippers, number 1/2) I very rarely visit a barbers/hairdressers, but yesterday I did! Quite frankly, I couldn't be bothered with cutting my hair but was fed up of looking like a hippy, so I dropped in very early to Studio One, at the Cornwallis Street/St Andrews Square end of St Andrews Market TN34 1SJ (definitely the postcode!). As I've said before (blog) St Andrews Market appears to be the Hastings 'Centre for Alternative Therapies' but it also has much more! Cycles, Pet Care, Cafe etc... but also Studio One, and a fine coiffing I was given too, very early (I'd just got back from the launderette before 08.00) and Sharon, bless her, booked me in soon after 08.00, many thanks! Friendly service and at a decent price too, I'll be back, within the next 5 years or so 😉