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 […]

Congratulations to the Old Town and its people!

Old Town Week will soon be upon us and I’m looking forward to being involved as an honorary Old Towner for the first time.  It should be a wonderful week of celebration as we emerge from Covid restrictions. We have lots of church-based events planned ranging from our special Old Town Service at St. Clement’s on […]

On your marks… get ready… but the council won’t let you go!

While councils across the south east have given the green light for Parkrun events to restart later this month once the current lockdown restrictions are lifted in Hastings the borough council is still refusing to give the go ahead and is asking organisers to meet impossible conditions. Parkrun enthusiast and ward councillor for West St […]

Old Town Parish pulls out all the stops!

A major restoration of one of England’s finest organs will be celebrated on Monday (July 5th) at All Saints Church in the Old Town The concert will be given by the internationally renowned organist Gordon Stewart who has played in every All Saints concert series for the past 32 years. Last year’s concerts had to be […]

The history and legacy of slave-ownership in Sussex

Hastings Stand Up To Racism group is hosting a round table discussion tomorrow night (June 30th) to explore the histories and legacies of slave-ownership in Sussex – including ‘Mad Jack’ Fuller – and explain why Sussex is ‘not innocent’ when it comes to colonial slavery. The meeting will also examine the resistance to slavery and some of […]

Costs of keeping Buckshole Reservoir safe put big strain on council finances

Urgent safety improvements to Buckshole Reservoir in Alexandra Park still haven’t been completed despite approval to do so being given more than a year ago in January 2020. And the works are now set to cost more than originally planned. Members of Hastings Borough Council’s (HBC) ruling cabinet heard at a meeting earlier this month […]

Councillors’ decision on town centre bar expected next week

Fifty-eight pages of police reports were put in front of councillors this week as they considered the future of Crowley’s in Havelock Road. Hastings Borough Council’s Licensing Committee agenda was dominated by what to do about Crowley’s. Among the pages of reports were details of repeated cases of over-intoxication, two reported incidents of sexual assault […]