Some Pirate Day Photographs 2017

Mods were here too, early doors

Bunting up at the Trader

Preparing the Stade Open Space

Looking across from Stacey Marie (facebook)

The Stacey Marie RX134

Drummers passing the Cinque Ports Arms

In the Cinque Ports

Still action at the Stade

Pirate Family escaping!

That's all folks!

A Gorgeous Public Holiday Monday!

I went out for a walk yesterday, but became inhibited by my chest infection, so cut it shorter to a wander along the seafront...

A lad preparing to fish from the Pier...

The new groynes look pretty pathetic, considering the size of the boulders used!

The drainage pipe is leaking considerably!

The wonderful RX134, Stacey Marie..

Very strange cloud formations, there's a dog there, plus a wee dolphin!

The Red Ensign at the Fishermen's Museum being raised, and..

It's raised!

A close up of the dog and dolphin, and, sadly, just afterwards, I found out that two porpoises had landed dead on the beach on the 1st...

Stacey Marie 'Makeover' almost complete...

OK, sadly, she'll never go to sea again, but she's looking pretty good on show!

Still a couple of things to do, but she's probably safe for at least another winter, though a wee bit more structural work wouldn't go amiss early next year!

The Stacey Marie, RX134, Rock-a-Nore Road, was built in the 1940s in Newhaven, originally fishing out of Eastbourne until the early 1960s (Registration then was NN39), when she was brought to Hastings and fished until near to the end of the 20th century. She is now owned by Hastings Fishermen's Museum; more information can be found at the Museum, or on her facebook page.

Stacey Marie update...

 Back to her colours when she was fishing in the 1990s!

Almost finished, for this year...

RX134 Stacey Marie Refurbishment

The Stacey Marie, the first exhibit of Hastings Fishermen's Museum as you walk down Rock-a-Nore Road, is having its annual refurbishment.

This grand old retired fishing boat has her own facebook page, if you didn't know!

Expect more paintwork, photographs, and a return to her fishing colours soon...

The Anchor Next Door...

No! Not the pub, but the anchor next door to the Stacey Marie (facebook) in Rock-a-Nore Road, which used to be situated on the pier until work started there in 2013. Previously, according to the plaque on the anchor, this anchor had been employed during the laying of a "sewage out-fall pipe off West St Leonards in 1985." So, no, if you're asked by students, this isn't the anchor they're looking for, that's up by the Fishermen's Museum...

Boat with a View and a New Winter Menu!

For a retired fishing boat it is excellent to see that the pub opposite, the Dolphin in Rock-a-Nore Road, has created a new 'Winter Menu' that focuses on supporting the local fishing industry situated just behind the Stacey Marie (RX134 - facebook page). Customers are encouraged to try locally caught huss and plaice for their fish & chips, not only the ubiquitous cod, though there is plenty of local cod around at the moment (not just frozen cod brought in from Iceland by a Rye trawler), and plenty of additional locally caught fish for their specials and 'Fish Platter', including gurnard, skate, dabs, mackerel and whiting.    

The kitchen is also locally sourcing as much other menu ingredients as possible, including using a local butcher, and local ales from the bar to include in their batter and stews, worth a visit, and I think I may just do that next time I'm working on the Stacey Marie!

Stacey Marie - RX134

This week, the Stacey Marie in Rock-a-Nore Road received her annual freshen up; whilst painting her, children were heard, more than once, asking parents "Why is that man painting the boat?" The answer should have been, to help preserve her from the elements and gulls, but that reply was not heard! The retired fishing boat has its own facebook page, should you wish to see more photographs, including from when she was a working boat, and to read a short description of her history, please go to that page.   

Looking at her with the East Hill in the background.

Looking back with the Dolphin Inn in the background...

Enjoying a coffee, and the view in Rock-a-Nore

A lovely day, and to get even warmer tomorrow, apparently...

Reasonably early doors, sitting outside the Dolphin... 

You may have worked out by now that I am one of the two regulars who were involved in her restoration, and, now annually, who repaint the Stacey Marie, RX134, though you may not be aware that she is now 'retired' and lives under the aegis of the Fishermens' Museum, AND has her own facebook page, to which people are welcome to add photographs of her, and whose 'likes' of the page would be very welcome, cheers!  

Oh yes, and I thought I'd take a photograph of the RNLI lifeboat station on my way home, just to wallow in the blue sky! 

Tomorrow: Monthly Hastings Handicraft Fair

At the White Rock Theatre tomorrow (Friday 26th June, 11.00-15.00, admission free) is the monthly Hastings Handicraft Fair, supporting local arts and crafts, and any proceeds going to the registered charity, the Hastleon Amateur Dramatic and Operatic Society. For more details of the fair go to the website.     

This photograph is of a quilt by Ness Mann (website), decorously posed from Stacey Marie RX134 (facebook page) and referred to in my blog of 15th March.   

Enjoy the fair, and who knows what you may come away with? 

Stacey Marie RX134 as a backdrop!

Recently, I saw one of my favourite retired boats at Rock-a-Nore, the Stacey Marie, RX134, (facebook page) being used as a backdrop for photographs, as were nearby net huts etc, so I had a chat with the 2 young women in question to see what was going on! 

They were photographing quilts designed and made by Ness Mann (website), as you can see from these photographs, since shared with me. The boat was originally built in the 1940s in Newhaven (her original registration was NN39) and is now part of the Fishermen's Museum's collection, and is tended to by a couple of local lads.

Daniela Exley (website) was the photographer, many thanks for the images! The Stacey Marie was originally called "Linda" and was built as a punt, becoming a decked boat in the 1950s, using a government grant from the White Fish Authority; the original owners were the Grant brothers, who fished out of Eastbourne. A tragic accident, when one of the brothers was swept overboard and drowned, saw the remaining brother sell the boat to Jack Edmunds, who brought the boat to Hastings in 1961.   

This photograph provides a wee hint that the boat needs a fresh coat of paint and re-varnishing, which the Stacey Marie page assures us will be happening soon. Back to the history... Jack Edmunds sold the boat to Rod Knight in 1976, who renamed her "Andrew Peter" after his 2 sons. Rod sold her on to Robert "Podgy" Ball in 1985, who then renamed her "Stacey Marie", and she was the oldest working fishing boat on Hastings beach when she was retired in 1997.

Here is the rather large anchor that is situated next to Stacey Marie, opposite the Dolphin pub, the landlord of which is one of the boat's guardians. Anyway, she was acquired by Hastings Fishermen's Museum in June 1999, and is now on display in front of the Fish Market at Rock-a-Nore.

  

This is a very recent photograph of Stacey Marie (and the anchor) with the market behind, and taken by a good friend, Marcus J Lamb-Bentley, cheers Marcus!

See also the Hastings Fishermen's Museum/Old Hastings Preservation Society website for more details of their exhibits and much much more.