TEN GOOD REASONS TO LIVE IN HASTINGS

A group of us were in Hastings last week being shown around the town and discovered ten good reasons to live in Hastings.

Obviously it is no secret that the area is deprived, with double the amount of unemployment of the South East average, but it is clearly on the up, especially thanks to the new pier attracting wider interest and new funding to the area and it most definitely feels like the close community spirit is helping to turn the tide on their long slow road back to fortune (back in the day it proudly boasted the first of 99 British piers and used to be our most important resort).  OK the transport links to London could be better (Amber Rudd should be able to help – she’s the local MP), as it took just over two hours to get back to Waterloo on the train.

So my top 10 list will explain what we found and why you should give it a try.  Here, a picture on the wall in The Crown pub explains why locals are proud of and their “wonky old town”:-

1. THE COMMUNITY SPIRIT

There is a fantastic sense of community here, with arts and live music, historic buildings and more of a sense of pride than I was expecting. This was flying high last week with the looming 1066 Battle of Hastings, 950th Anniversary and everyone we talked to seemed to want to show us new developments in the area. No more so than the children of Ark William Parker school who teamed up with First News to produce a short film on their Hastings.

2. THE PIER

The opening of the new pier this year, after a devastating fire in 2010 has kick-started the revival for the town. It is really, really impressive. The funds were crowdsourced and supported by lottery money and it has been described as “the coolest looking pier in the world”. I have to agree with that. It was a real surprise to walk onto a British pier and wonder where all the kitsch had gone. This is a wide open space (with 42 miles of hardwood decking) ready to allow not only contemplative and peaceful strolling, but a host of events – film festivals, markets, sports et al. It is no doubt going to contribute hugely to the local community and from there I would expect to see a slow trickle of hotels planning to set up shop along the seafront. “Shoreditch on Sea” is how I heard Hastings described on several occasions. British seaside towns haven’t been doing very well since the rise of cheap flights and package holidays, but post Brexit, this is no doubt set to change again and the town is quite clearly reinventing itself in interesting ways:-

3. HISTORY

There is a proud history in fishing and of course in the historic and life changing Battle of Hastings. There is a lot on for 1066 (part of ROOT 1066) at the moment, including an incredible Medieval Mosaic display – a complete re-creation of the Bayeux Tapestry (that took him over 30 years to complete!!)

There is an area along the seafront where they were hosting an outdoor photography exhibition amongst the extraordinary fishermans huts in the Fishing Quarter – built upwards instead of outwards to avoid the taxes. We visited the John Cole Fishermen of Quiberville outdoor photographic exhibition, hanging among the net huts. In this area you’ll also find the Blue Reef Aquarium, the Fishermen’s Museum and the Shipwreck Museum.Historical building galore, with yes, a faded glory, but it wouldn’t take much to get them back on track:-

The Hastings funicular railway is also here:-

4. NEW INVESTMENTS

We visited the new Jerwood Gallery (the edge of which you can see in the below photo) and met a number of entrepreneurs who were passionate about developing the area:-

5. PROPERTY IS VERY CHEAP

Not only is it by the sea but you can still buy a three bedroom, stunning Georgian style house for under £230,000

Is that a joke??

6. BEST FISH & CHIPS IN THE COUNTRY

Apparently…and fishmongers galore:-

7. LARGEST UNDERGROUND SKATE PARK IN EUROPE

Sourcepark or Source BMX was incredible – built in the space that used to be the old swimming baths, it is an underground BMX and skatepark run by Matt Brown, an incredible man with a huge passion. He is supporting the community in many ways. Told us about a lot of children who play truant from school whose main passion is for BMX’ing and he works with the school to come to an arrangement whereby if they behave at school for the week they can come on Friday afternoon’s to do what they love.

8. BEAUTIFUL COUNTRYSIDE

Sorry, forgot to take photos.

9. GREAT SHOPS

The shops are quirky in the Old Town, with lots of independent shops, cafes and restaurants, which was very refreshing to see:-

10. BEST BAKERY EVER

Previously owned by the woman who runs Green & Black chocolates I understand, it was a wonderful bakery with the biggest doughnuts I have ever seen:-

So all in all, well worth a visit and I’d love to hear your views. Can you think of ten good reasons to live in Hastings?