The sad history of St Leonards Parish Church

Once again courtesy of Derelict In The UK we bring you photographs of iconic and deserted buildings, this time St Leonards Parish Church. Standing grand on the St Leonards seafront, this beautiful building was completed in 1961 to replace its predecessor destroyed by a direct hit from V-1 ‘doodlebug’. It originally had structural building problems […]

From land and sea the iconic structure that defines the St Leonards seafront

Stuart Baillie finds out about the history of a building that has always intrigued him…  I was standing on top of the East Hill at the weekend showing some friends who were visiting the town some of the landmarks of the area. They pointed west and asked, ‘what’s that?’ What they were asking about was of course Marine […]

The Concrete King’s million gallon masterpiece

Even today more than 30 years after it closed people still fondly remember ‘the old bathing pool’. It’s a place where memories were made. If this feature evokes some memories in you we’d love you to share them with us, or if you have old photographs we’d love to see them email us at tellmeyourstory@hastingsinfocus.co.uk […]

Remembering old Humphrey…

Spare a thought for Old Humphrey. In case you are wondering, Old Humphrey was one of the pen names used by George Mogridge, a very popular religious writer in the 19th century and who remains popular in some countries today.  Alas, he is virtually forgotten in Hastings despite Old Humphrey Avenue just off All Saints Street […]

Drag queens bring Hastings Pride to care home’s back garden

Hastings drag queen, Paris Grande, brought the town’s ‘Pride’ to a care home’s back garden in a celebration of diversity and inclusion. Paris, together with Kikiara George and Nicole Grande from the Hastings Queer Collective, brought a rainbow of colour, dancing and singing to residents at Hastings Court Care Home on The Ridge. Lifestyles Manager, Kimberley […]

Taking everyone at face value

‘Can archdeacons go to heaven?’ was a question that exercised medieval minds because it was this rank of the clergy – between the parish clergy and the bishop – which dealt with financial matters.  Today’s archdeacons remain concerned with matters of finance and buildings but I hope that the current Archdeacon of Hastings – whose […]

Grass Routes – breaking down barriers!

Flashes of orange now cut through the running community in Hastings. Grass Routes Trail Running and Outdoor Fitness CIC was founded this summer by director Aimee Whatford, the company aims to address barriers that different people face in accessing outdoor exercise – this includes but is not limited to refugees, BAME and LGBTQ individuals, people […]

Whatever happened to the Memorial Clock?

Those of you who are old enough to have been around may well remember the Memorial Clock writes Tom McCann. Commissioned after Prince Albert’s death from typhoid in 1861, the Albert Memorial clock tower was designed by Liverpudlian Edward Heffer. There had been a contest to find a designer and Heffer beat off competition from […]

How Queen Victoria was hit by enemy fire in Hastings

Hastings and St Leonards are full of quirky statues and historical artefacts, Tom McCann has been looking in to the history of some of them Erected in 1902, a year after her death and unveiled by the Marquess of Abergavenny, the town mayor and other famous locals, the statue of Queen Victoria in Warrior Square […]


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