Leaks, Pits and Hotels!

I've recently been reporting about the LEAK, pits and trenches in and around St Andrew's Square (eg blog), but now I can confirm that something is happening. The photographs on today's blog were taken over the weekend, you'll appreciate, it's a bit more damp this morning! Anyway, the leaky holes are still there in the car parking spaces, but the leak looks to have been fixed; I hope my raising the matter with Southern Water had some influence. Meanwhile the pits at the 4 corners of the square have been roughly filled in, but still need road surface replacement.

But I noticed another leak in Priory Street! I'm sure there are many other leaks around town, feel free to mention them in the comments below so that othere are aware, cheers!

And the hotel in Cornwallis Street (blog)? Well, as you can see above, notices have been added to the fencing around the building site which confirm the planned hotel is to be situated there.

Hastings Lifeboats On Exercise This Evening!

The RNLI Hastings Lifeboat Station is launching both of Hastings lifeboats on exercise this evening (25th September). You are invited to go down and see what they do. The ILB launch is scheduled for 1700, and followed shortly afterwards by the launch of the ALB. Recovery will be at approximately 2000, subject to operations (facebook), respect! Well worth the visit folks.

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!

Hotel in Cornwallis Street

I've been monitoring the development of this 'building site' I guess it should be called now, but the hotel rising from the Cornwallis Street carpark (blog) certainly appears to be going ahead!