Hastings Pier Closed Again...

Yes, Hastings Pier has closed its gates again for this year and for the winter presumably, I can't imagine the owner organising anything else, and after another great summer of entertainment provided by the team at Hastings Pier Entertainments, their contract is ending and they hand the keys back on Saturday. They have sent an email to me and said the situation is uncertain, but they have submitted another proposal to the owner and hope to reopen in the Spring, good luck and fingers crossed! 👍

Could be worth keeping an eye on their page on facebook over the coming months. 

Such a shame that the alternative ownership hadn't succeeded taking over the Pier 4 years ago (blog), we'd have had a new pavilion and an extension of the central Deck building allowing for all weather events, oh well, brown envelopes and all that. 😞

Hastings Pier, Borough Council & Covid-19 Updates

Taken this morning & it's locked up!

Well, I imagine most will have heard by now that the shiny seasonal suggested Winter Wonderland is not going to happen on Hastings Pier before this Christmas and over the New Year, so no ice skating (facebook page). I don't suppose many will be that surprised, I certainly ain't! What is it about the (mostly corrupt it appears) people running things in contemporary times, why are so many totally incompetent too?!? 😕

Oh yes, and I forgot to mention the other day that Pink Recycling Bags are now available at Muriel Matters House in Breeds Place; I spotted plenty of them inside this morning when I looked through the window. Also, among the many pieces of useful information on the Hastings Borough Council facebook page are appropriate links and information regarding temporary accommodation for rough sleepers over the winter, help and advice for people suffering from mental health problems and loneliness, and assistance for those with money problems and short of food. Plus, a reminder that applications to the Foreshore Trust Large Grant programme for charities must be submitted by 12.00 noon on the 6th of November. 

So why was I out and about early this morning taking photographs of a locked-up empty pier, ignoring my insomniac tendencies? 😉 Well, despite Hastings being well under the R rate/whatever that is these days (as I said in my recent blog), and, despite most of our local businesses, and most local people, being sensible regarding the COVID-19 crisis, our incompetent and corrupt leaders (see what I mean about people running things in contemporary times), are considering another lockdown! OK, we all want to fight this virus, but they've had 7/8 months to set up an efficient Test & Trace programme, which they've paid out £billions for to private companies that haven't done the business, rather than to local Public Health Authorities as required for notifiable diseases (Government website). That is, wasting £billions giving our taxpayer's money to rank amateurs with no experience of testing and tracing (corrupt?), rather than to health/local authorities with years of appropriate experience... 

Sorry, but that's why I was out earlier, I felt rather low, and angry... 😣

Hastings pier Update, sorry for going on, but...

I do apologize for going on about the Pier, but I have been away for a long weekend, visiting family before our increasingly obviously inefficient Government doesn't allow me to, let's hope we can meet up again this year and before Christmas, but their sheer incompetence leads me to doubt we will...

Anyway, talking about incompetence... Hastings Pier, Mr G, and now, apparently, whoever is managing it now! I spoke about a promising time on the Pier in my last blog, but I have been informed by people who have been in Hastings over the weekend that the Pier has been closed again recently! I'd be happy to hear alternative information, but it appears that the latest management of the Pier are just looking to their Winter Wonderland, and have no intention of keeping the Pier open at other times, but only to use it for that purpose alone, again, I so hope that I'm wrong, but...

The cynic in me doubts it... 😞