There was jubilation in Hastings Old Town today as it was announced that it had won the inaugural Ramblers award for the best Walking Neighbourhood in the country.

Over the last couple of weeks there has been a concerted effort to ensure that as many people as possible voted for the Old Town, and they did. The win was a decisive one. A total of ten towns were shortlisted for the award and a total of 12,000 votes were cast with Hastings wining 21 per cent of those votes – more than 2,500.

It was retired planning expert Anthony Slack won nominated the town. A member of the Ramblers he read about the award and immediately recognised Hastings Old Town met the criterion. But it wasn’t all plain sailing, two days before voting closed Mr Slack was told by Ramblers that while Hastings had been in the lead it had fallen back to second place and was continuing to lose ground. He went in to overdrive and redoubled his efforts to make sure local people cast their vote in time.

In this video Mr Slack talks about why and how he nominated the Old Town and Ann Scott from Old Hastings Preservation Society explains why the town is such a popular destination for walkers and how winning the award can only enhance Hastings’ reputation further.