Hastings Central Library Update.

Sorry, if the headline excited you, but not great news, yet... The library in Claremont, due to extra work being required, will not be reopening this year, but should be open again in the Spring of 2018 (website). Meanwhile, the Children's Library in Robertson Passage will continue to be the port of call in the town centre...

Hastings Pier Food & Drink, plus new opening times.

I wandered onto the Pier t'other day, quite beautiful weather, and decided to investigate the food and beverage facilities, now that the Hastings Pier Charity has taken over running the catering facilities in the Pavilion and on the Upper Deck Bar & Terrace, and it all looks pretty good indeed. This isn't about the food, as I haven't eaten there yet, but I did like the look of the breakfast menu (more of very soon, I imagine), and other menus, and the fish & chip bar at this end of the Pavilion (in my photograph) is providing typical seaside fare of course; oh yes, and locally sourced produce is used, including freshly caught fish from the Hastings Fishing Industry down at the Stade.  It is still very early days, of course, having only taken over catering since the beginning of July, but I was assured that things will only get better! See website.

Facilities include the bars, of course, ale from East Sussex brewer Harveys, including their own bottled ale (and I do know what it is!), a good wine list, and hot and cold soft drinks. It does look good too inside, and with the side of the Pavilion open in the lovely weather, as not too much wind on this day, though it is amazing the protection you get from the glass up on the Upper Deck when there is a strong wind! 

Oh yes, new opening times of the Pier from Monday 4th September: 

Sunday to Wednesday 10am to 7pm

Thursday to Saturday 10am to 10pm

The Deck Building and shop will be open 10am to 5pm every day.

Guided Old Town Walk this afternoon.

This afternoon, please do join the Old Hastings Preservation Society (OHPS) for their regular Tuesday guided walk of Hastings Old Town, the "premier ancient Cinque Port," which will meet up by the top of the West Hill lift at 2.30pm. The old town has a wealth of historic buildings, twittens and cat-creeps to explore, and you will find out why celebrities of their day, eg the Pre-Raphaelites, flocked to Hastings. Indeed, contemporary celebrities still do flock to Hastings! A volunteer guide will be leading the walk, which shall proceed gently downhill, but, do be careful, because there are not a few steps to manage too. The walk will last about 2 hours and is provided free of charge, though the OHPS would be very grateful for all donations given, many thanks; see their website.

It's worth wearing comfortable walking shoes, obviously, and the forecast suggests a gorgeous clear blue sky, so you may well need to add the Factor 50, if your skin is anything like mine! 

Do enjoy your afternoon! 

A Reply... One Year On!

I was told by our Member of Parliament's Office Manager, Dr Louise Sargent, on the 15th of August 2016 that, in response to my missive to Amber Rudd MP (see my blog of 15th of August last year), "Amber... will write to you as soon as possible." 

Well, a year later, she has now written to me, inviting me to the Hastings Rail Summit 2017 in October, where, I am advised, there will be presentations from Rail Minister, Paul Maynard MP, Govia Thameslink Railway (who operate Southern), Southeastern Railway, Network Rail, Transport for the South East, and South East Local Enterprise Partnership. Of course, I've taken up the invitation!

It will be interesting to see if the Southern fiasco is sorted out by then...

Hastings Underground

Hastings Underground, this afternoon, at the East Hastings Sea Angling Association, opposite the Lifeboat Station at the Stade; see website.

Bank Holiday Weekend & Hastings Pier

OK, the bank holiday weekend starts off this evening on Hastings Pier, with a Boyzone gig, and I really do know two people who are going (a friend's wife and daughter), and no doubt at least a couple more... but shouldn't they now be called Olderboyzone? Anyway, see website for further information, though I doubt there'll be more than a hundred or five hundred tickets left...

Getting ready earlier today

And so much more! The Summer Marquee continues with daily events until the end of the month, as does the Pirate Trail, Ocean Colour Scene are playing, and a 'mod spectacular' (my words), tomorrow the 26th, plus their own restaurant and refreshment facilities, and much more, well, go to the Pier's website for further event information!

The "Ice House" - Democracy wins!

Great to read one of the local councillors, Dawn Poole's post last night, : "Have just spoken at this evening's planning committee in support of the application for a GP's surgery in the Ice House. Despite planning officers recommending refusal the committee listened to myself and the chair of HOTRA and voted to allow the application and a state of the art surgery be built for old town residents. Still work to do to improve accessibility but a huge achievement for local residents."

Congratulations to HOTRA and to Dawn, nice one! 👍

Irresponsible Cyclists... The Law's coming for you, hopefully!

Let's see, the plagues of anti-social Hastings includes dog owners who don't pick up their dog's excrement, irresponsible cyclists, oh yes, and gulls! Gulls' behaviour is unlikely to ever change, though people should stop feeding them, simples, but... It takes the loss of innocent pedestrians' lives (BBC) to change cyclists' behaviour, it appears. For goodness sake, there's a road to the left of these cyclists, above, and a cycle path over to the right, yet they're riding on the pavement, which the Law says is unlawful: "Rule 64 - You MUST NOT cycle on a pavement." (Government website).

Tuesday 22nd of August...

Tomorrow afternoon, Tuesday 22nd August, if you're free, please do join the Old Hastings Preservation Society (OHPS) for their regular Tuesday walking tour of Hastings Old Town, the "premier ancient Cinque Port." They'll be meeting up by the top of the West Hill lift at 2.30pm. The old town has a wealth of historic buildings, twittens and cat-creeps to explore, and you will find out why celebrities of their day, eg the Pre-Raphaelites, flocked to Hastings. Indeed, contemporary celebrities still do flock here! A volunteer guide will be leading the walk, which shall proceed gently downhill, but, do be careful, because there are steps to manage during the walk. The walk will last about 2 hours and is provided free of charge, though, obviously, the OHPS would be very grateful for all donations given, many thanks, see their website.

It's worth wearing comfortable walking shoes, obviously, and the forecast suggests reasonable weather, so do enjoy the afternoon! 

Then, during the evening starting at 9pm, will be the regular Tuesday music played by the Tune Raiders at the Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock-a-Nore Road, TN34 3DW. They play non-vocal Irish folk music, mainly, what is know locally as 'fiddly dee' music, or is that 'diddly dee?' Of course, we all know that Hastings has a wealth of free music venues to visit on most days, so it's always well worth a wander round town, particularly the old town to seek out live music. Enjoy your evening too!

Southern Rail? Yes, more strikes planned!

Conductors on Southern Railway, as well as on Arriva Rail North and Merseyrail, are planning to strike on Friday the 1st and Monday the 4th of September (Merseyrail workers will also be walking out on Sunday the 3rd of September).

The action still relates to planned changes to give drivers more responsibility, opening and closing the doors of train carriages, with some services staffed only by a sole member of staff, the driver, as Southern and their Govia Thameslink owners, seek to gradually dispense of guards on trains. 

The RMT general secretary Mick Cash asserts that the conductors' union, the RMT, is "bitterly disappointed that Southern Rail have rejected our call for round-table discussions involving all parties with an interest in resolving this dispute. The failure to get those talks moving following our face-to-face meeting with Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has left us no option but to call further action." 

Southern Rail have, apparently, made no comment on the announcement, and no notice of these days of industrial action is mentioned on their website to date. Meanwhile, there is no obvious news of the train drivers' union, Aslef, returning to industrial action, yet... See BBC website.

Will we ever get a decent service from Hastings? 

John Hodges - An Apology from me.

Most people who know me will appreciate that I've missed John Hodges since he died last year (blog), and I wasn't even that close to him, but he influenced my life greatly. 

I miss watching and listening to him at Hastings Borough Council meetings, where he tore apart the rhetoric of others, I miss his welcoming me to those meetings, I miss his great knowledge of the history and politics of Hastings, I miss that I could go to him and he would tell me the reality behind what was going on, whether to do with Ecclesbourne Glen, the Winch Road, the Foreshore Trust, whatever. I miss we could talk about pubs and beer, that he used to provide me with his own articles for my blogs, and that I could use his knowledge to write blogs myself. I miss that I don't have him to pass on beer mats and pumpclips to, a hobby I could help him with, indeed, I hardly gave back much.

So I apologise to those who misinterpreted my use of his image regarding my last blog; his image was meant to represent "democracy" plain and simple, but some thought I shouldn't have used it when 'corruption' was in the reference. I can appreciate how that must have felt to some people, it wasn't my purpose.

I wanted to encourage people to ignore rumours and gossip, and to gain 'informed' knowledge, go to Council meetings, read the minutes, talk to your councillors, don't just accept gossip at face value, particularly as many gossipers have their own agendas. See democracy in action, find out why decisions are made, that, despite decisions apparently going against local residents, eg Ecclesbourne Glen and the Jerwood Gallery, there may well be good reasons, but these shouldn't be kept secret. We have a good council in Hastings, that does what it can despite annual reductions in it's income, thanks to 'austerity measures' from on high, and I'm including that councillors of all political persuasions should be used to discover the truths. I'll shut up for now...

John Hodges R.I.P.

The Ice House, Health Centre or Waste of Space?

OK, I'm sure those who are living there now may disagree it's a waste of space, but, no-one wants to buy, or rent, the ground floor space in Rock-a-Nore Road, except doctors from the Roebuck Surgery... Hastings Borough Council Planning Committee will be considering the Health Centre application at 6pm on Wednesday 23rd of August at Muriel Matters House. 1,675 signatures were collected on a petition in support of the proposal by local GP, Craig Namvar MD, but Borough Council planning officers are opposing (back-handers of some sort?) and have recommended refusal to the Planning Committee. It may be interesting to go along and observe 'local democracy' in action, and perhaps see whether councillors will ignore the strength of local opinion.

John Hodges is sorely missed by constituents, a local councillor who cared for Hastings, we'll see what happens... but is there some sort of corruption here?  😢

Hastings Museum 125th Anniversary Party, Wednesday 16th August!

Hastings Museum and Art Gallery celebrates its 125th anniversary this Wednesday, 10am to 4pm, with a 'free' event and activities for all the family to enjoy. This includes crafts, printing, Punch and Judy, Victorian games, tombola and miniature railway rides. There will also be a chance to see the Classic Cycle Group and 'Happy Harold' the trolleybus. "Victorian dress is encouraged" - see website.

Either bring a packed lunch and stay all day, or enjoy tea and cake, at a reasonable price, in an especially decorated tent. The formal opening ceremony will be recreated at 3.30pm. However, please note that parking will not be available at the Museum, though parking is available nearer the front, or it's just a short walk up the hill (Bohemia Road) from the town centre, or from the seafront opposite the Pier. 

There is also a 'special trail' available for children throughout the summer holidays. Follow the trail and answer the questions to receive a small birthday gift from the Museum. Of course, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery will have its usual exhibits on view, and I am planning to make a visit soon and write another blog; see website.

Pizza, yet again!

When I returned to Hastings on Sunday evening, I couldn't really be bothered to cook, so I returned to the Oregano Leaf in Queens Road for my tea/dinner/supper (delete as you believe appropriate), and I've said before, in a blog in December, how good and what good value the pizzas are from here! The oven itself isn't green anymore, as you can see from the photograph, so I thought I would share this too, delicious! 😋

Tuesday 15th - Walking and Listening to Music (later)

This afternoon, Tuesday 15th August, if you're free, please join with the Old Hastings Preservation Society (OHPS) for their regular Tuesday walking tour of Hastings Old Town, the "premier ancient Cinque Port" - meeting up at 2.30pm by the top of the West Hill lift. In the old town is a wealth of historic buildings, twittens and cat-creeps to explore; you will also find out why celebrities of their day, eg the Pre-Raphaelites, flocked to Hastings. Indeed, contemporary celebrities still do! A volunteer guide will lead the walk, which proceeds gently downhill, but, be careful, there are steps to manage here and there. The walk lasts about 2 hours and is provided free, but the OHPS would be very grateful for all donations given, many thanks, see their website.

It's worth wearing comfortable walking shoes, obviously, and, as the forecast suggests a light rain shower at 2pm, a shower-proof jacket or umbrella may well be handy (it doesn't look too strong a wind). Enjoy the afternoon!

Then, this evening from 9pm, there is the regular band, the Tune Raiders, playing mostly non-vocal Irish folk music, known as 'fiddly dee' locally, at the Dolphin Inn, Rock-a-Nore Road. Of course, Hastings has a wealth of free music venues most days, so most evenings it's worth a wander round town. The photograph above was taken on Pirate Day from the Stacey Marie RX134 (facebook), opposite the Dolphin. Enjoy your evening too!

Just returned, did you miss me?

I've been away for a few days, visiting friends int' frozen North, and staying at specific friends' public house and hotel (Brigitte and Tom). My alter ego will write more soon about the wonderful ales imbibed, mostly at less than £3 a pint, cheers!

Another Weekend in Hastings

Though having calmed down a bit, there is still much to do this weekend in Hastings, eg you could visit Hastings Fishermen's Museum (website) in Rock-a-Nore Road, or Hastings History House (website) in Courthouse Street, or the Blue Reef Aquarium (website) or the Norman Hastings Castle (website), or the beautiful Alexandra Park or St Leonards Gardens, or promenade along the seafront and/or drink a beer or two in many great pubs, or extend the promenade onto the Pier... 

Oh yes! The Pavilion Restaurant & Bar on Hastings Pier is now open and "champions fresh, seasonal ingredients from local Sussex producers and an eclectic collection of homemade traditional and contemporary dishes." The restaurant  is located in the original western Pavilion building and is now operated by Hastings Pier Charity. "Local suppliers include Sussex Ice Cream, Harveys Brewery (a new beer is to be available exclusively at Hastings Pier) and Nyetimber Vineyard as well as locally-sourced seafood." To book a table call 01424 445588. 

Apart from the usual facilities on the Pier, see website for other events. Have fun!

It's a wee bit quieter this week, I'm taking a breath now, but tomorrow afternoon, Tuesday 8th August, feel free to join the Old Hastings Preservation Society (OHPS) for their regular Tuesday walking tour of Hastings Old Town, the "premier ancient Cinque Port." Meet up at 2.30pm by the top of the West Hill lift. The old town has a wealth of historic buildings, twittens and cat-creeps to explore, and you will find out why celebrities of their day, eg the Pre-Raphaelites, flocked to Hastings, indeed, contemporary celebrities still do! A volunteer guide will be leading the walk, which proceeds gently downhill, but, be careful, as there are steps to manage here and there. The walk lasts about 2 hours and is provided free, but the OHPS would be very grateful for all donations given, many thanks, see their website.

It's worth wearing comfortable walking shoes and, as the forecast suggests light rain for most of the day, at least shower-proof clothing/brolly may well be sensible...

Enjoy the afternoon!

Carnival Day and Weekend

The weekend really culminates in the Carnival Day Parade, starting at Rock-a-Nore Road at 5pm, and finishing back at Rock-a-Nore Road too, but, of course, there's so much more going on all day on Saturday, and on Sunday too, and not just because of the Hastings Old Town Carnival. Indeed, you could promenade from Rock-a-Nore all the way along to the Bo-Peep, and/or deviate onto Hastings Pier, where there are specific events in addition to the usual facilities (website), and it appears the Pavilion Restaurant has now reopened! You could also visit the parks, beaches, castle, caves, aquarium and museums, let alone the amusements, restaurants, cafes and pubs, good food, drink and music galore!

Then there are many more carnival events... walks, exhibitions, food and drink. Whatever, enjoy the weekend; see Carnival website for more details.

Carnival: Friday 4th August

More walks (Stade Walk, Old Town Walk, Twilight Smugglers Walk), Country Market, another Cheese and Wine Lunch, Open Gardens, Old Town Carnival Week Last Supper, Grand Quiz, and Meet the Hastings Lifeboat Crew and presentation of cheque at Reeves Corner, High Street/Courthouse Street; for full details, see website.

The fun keeps on coming!

Hastingers brave the rain for Pram Race!

After all that preparation for Wednesday evening, and the roads being closed to traffic anyway, how could the Pram Race have not gone ahead?!? I didn't have a camera with me last night, so none of my own images here, but I borrowed these from the Hastings Old Town Traders facebook page, many thanks to that page!

Certainly, people were out in force!

But it's not all over yet, still a few days to go, culminating with Carnival Day itself on Saturday and the Carnival Procession, not to mention Sunday events too!

However, if you're still out and about today, Thursday, the Whelk Eating competition is soon to start at 5pm, and the Grand Charity Auction starts at 6.30pm on the stage at Reeves Corner, High Street/Courthouse Street; see website.

Carnival: Wednesday 2nd August 2017

Events planned for Wednesday can be seen at the website, but the big question is, will the Pram Race go ahead this Wednesday, or will it be postponed because of the forecast deluge all afternoon and evening?!?