Early Morning Wander Around Town and...

I've been getting out early the last few days when it's relatively cool, with a nice breeze too, until the sun pops up above buildings from about 07.00, and I'm not good when it's hot! Indeed, today should be the last 'too hot' day for me for a while, with the forecast seeing tomorrow peaking at just 20/22 degrees Celcius in Hastings (Met Office).

So I wandered around the Town Centre in the peace & quiet, although the small street cleaning wagon was a bit noisy, thankfully cleaning up the mess left behind by the very messy Saturday night revellers/litter louts! And good old Debenhams, well, the building, which I shared a short piece of it's history in a blog a little over a year ago following it's closure... Oh yes, good, not so old, O.W.E.N.S 😏 

Indeed, Owens Entertainment, 1-3 Robertson Street TN34 1HT, is opening soon, still no firm date yet, but in the 'Summer' they say (facebook) and 'twill be announced soon, an 'entertainment venue' on 3 floors, with 'over 20 things to do!' The 'fun' will include 'amusement' machines, pool table(s?), 10 Pin Bowling, and many other facilities including Crazy Golf Courses, I wonder if this influenced the plans to enclose the Pirate Course at Hastings Adventure Golf, as I mentioned in a blog a couple of months ago? And restaurants/bars too, indeed, they are advertising vacancies at indeed 😉 and I noticed on one of the notices about change of use, WC facilities will be provided too, necessary of course with food being served, but for general public use too?

I then sauntered along Queens Road, which I wrote about how the area had been moving upmarket in a blog before the pandemic hit us, indeed, the excellent Queens Deli & Shop was situated at the address above... Well, now it's housing Hair & Hound, 196 Queens Road TN34 1RG (tel: 07710 507380), and which brings together a hairdressers with a bar/cafe/Friday evening cocktails: food includes cakes, cookies, very interesting looking toasties, and 'small plates featuring meat and cheese.'

I continued my walk along Queens Road, which still contains many good businesses, not a few hairdressers/barbers, small grocery stores, fast food businesses, but with a significant number of empty premises, some closed since the pandemic hit us, sadly. But I was surprised to see what I last remember was called the Drift In, although it's had numerous names over the years, is not a bar anymore! 

No, the Bottle of Hastings has very recently opened at 91 Queens Road TN34 1RL (website), which is a quality family owned wine merchants and shop. They are aiming to be able to sell over 200 different wines, which can be collected from the premises, and deliveries can be made of orders requested from their website. They have a premises licence, so welcome customers to 'enjoy wines by the glass and bottle' in their seating area, and will soon be offering 'regular tastings hosted by world class sommeliers.'

When I got back indoors, as well as looking up information to do with the above businesses, I also read the Summer Edition of East Sussex County Council's Newsletter, received by email. Interestingly, the County Council has agreed to the request by Hastings Borough Council to extend by another 3 years the Anti-Social Behaviour Public Spaces Protection Order (ASB PSPO) first applied for in 2017 (see HBC Report for plenty of information!).

In addition, the County Council reminded us that Central Government is carrying out, until the 1st of September, a public consultation regarding Creating an offence of public sexual harassment. You have until the end of the day (23.59) on the 1st of September 2022 if you wish to respond on the Government website.

Well, I wish the best to all new businesses opening in Hastings, good luck! And, as I passed the old town centre Post Office building in Cambridge Road, sadly closed now, I wondered when that building will be found a new use within the town? The old Debenhams building appears to have found a new lease of life (above), as has the old Observer building (blog), which is just up the road...

A breath of fresh air makes me think, you know, dangerous! 😁

Queens Road - Moving Up?!?

This is a blog I've been thinking about writing since last year, but new businesses keep appearing, so, along Queens Road, from Waterworks Road to South Terrace, keeps on moving up, and not to forget this wonderful piece of art that arrived as part of the 2018 Coastal Currents Arts Festival (blog). There still are a significant number of hairdressers and grocers, but they only help to underpin the diversity of the road.

Across the road from Illuminations, which must have had the record for the number of years it held its 'closing down' sale, but now appears closed, and was a soup kitchen over a hundred years ago (blog), is the The Imperial, with it's own microbrewery, Brewing Brothers (website). No soup kitchen this, but a decent real ale and crafty keg pub that brews much of the beer it sells, plus it has its own enormous wood-fired pizza oven for customers to enjoy the product of! They also sell ales from other local breweries, eg last time I was there, two guest ales were from East Sussex brewers Three Legs (website) and Brighton brewers Loud Shirt (website), in addition to their own regular and seasonal beers.

Of course, there are other pubs and bars about, eg the reasonably new micropub Twelve Hundred Postcards (blog) which is having a 'tap takeover' this weekend by the excellent Kent brewers Angels & Demons (website) and, around the corner just off St Andrews Square the, a wee bit older, craft beer off-licence and bar Eel & Bear (blog), which today (Saturday 30th March) has a Pop-Up Record Store (facebook page). And notably the Fountain pub is currently undergoing a makeover, so someone else has noticed how other local businesses are going more upmarket!

Twelve Hundred Postcards also lets you bring in your own food, eg from Oregano Leaf (blog), two doors away to the south, from which I recently brought in a pizza, still costing just £5 (over two years later!) if you collect it yourself, very recently when I arrived too late to go home and cook for myself, nice touch! But, of course, there are a whole host of places, offering various ethnic cuisines you can either eat in or collect takeaways from, Far Eastern, Curries, Fish & Chips, not to forget the crackin' Xochipilli Mexican Street Food (facebook page) at number 68 Queens Road!

Then, across the road, is the excellent Queens Deli & Shop (facebook page), quite frankly a prize of a resource locally, and self-proclaimed Hastings Home of Salt Beef. But it's not just hot Salt Beef sandwiches you can buy and eat here, but all manner of freshly prepared sandwiches for you on many different types of bread, and, not so long ago, I bought a piece of the best ewes milk cheese here I've eaten for many years, a mature version of manchego... and it's not just the excellent food available, they also hold events too, eg a Pasta Workshop very recently. Well worth a visit!

There are many specialist shops too, not to mention shops for curios etc, eg Chef's Ware (website), which has a huge selection of kitchen utensils and appliances, knives, and it provides a knife sharpening service too. I can't even walk by it without devouring the window contents every time I pass when it's closed! There are all other types of shop too, eg the 'lifestyle store' White Rhino (website), two doors away to the north from Twelve Hundred Postcards, all very close together indeed!

The road is also blessed with two proper independent bookshops, ie Book-buster (facebook page), and including the more recently opened Printed Matter Bookshop (website), which specializes in social sciences and academic books, in addition to music and nature books, novels, and many more subjects.

But it doesn't stop there, also many different ethnically specialized markets can be visited, greengrocer, tailors, solicitors offices, cafes and restaurants, materials and sewing, formal clothing outfitters, oh yes, and there's an enormous great big Morrisons supermarket with its adjoining petrol station!

Queens Road is certainly well worth a visit!