Author Archives: Fiona McGarry
Walking 66 Miles for Puppies
SOLE IRIART explains why, as a professional carer for people, she also cares profoundly about the animals undergoing vivisection in a UK facility. I am a 50-year-old carer from St…
Sea Swimmers Talking Sewage
FIONA MCGARRY Reports indicate that 2026 is on track for high volumes of sewage spills, with 3,899 alerts already issued by late March, over double the same period in 2025.…
Jack and the Beanstalk
FIONA MCGARRY My eight-year-old granddaughter and I went to Jack and the Beanstalk at The White Rock Theatre last Thursday. We arrived slightly frazzled (with Grandpa in tow) straight from the…
Small Plates Festival St Leonards: Back by Popular Demand
Small Plates St Leonards, the food tourism festival launched in Spring 2024, will be returning to St Leonards Sea on Saturday 27 September 2025. A diverse mix of local eateries…
Have Fun and Veganise
Anything You Can Cook I Can Cook Vegan Richard Makin, blogger and creator of School Night Vegan, recently launched his new book: Anything You Can Cook, I Can Cook Vegan.…
Leche Frita
If you’re looking for an unusual summer dessert, try this traditional recipe from Andalusia. It has a sweet, rich flavour and is easy to prepare using store cupboard ingredients. You…
Stag Nights In The Old Town
The Stag Inn in All Saints Street is one of the town’s oldest pubs – it even has its own Wikipedia page if you want to read about its ghosts…
Oceanic Feelings
Electro Studios Project Space is an independent space for curated projects in a beautiful location overlooking the beach in West St Leonards. Although many local residents might not be aware…
FULL HARVEST: Listen, Walk, Enjoy!
Full Harvest is a series of audio stories and poems inspired by the landscapes and history of the South Downs National Park. It was commissioned and produced by Applause Rural…
An Afternoon Out with Cruella de Vil
FIONA MCGARRY is taken out by her mother and lavishly entertained at Hastings’ Posh Club. What is The Posh Club?The poster for the current season in St John the Evangelist…
Climate Art at Bridgepoint, Rye
Last weekend saw a surge of visitors to Rye Harbour, intrigued by the large yellow structure that has appeared on the shingle amidst the poppies. The installation is The Beacon,…
May Day Tea Party
Most of the live Hastings May Day celebrations might have been cancelled this year, but Liz Emtage launched her new range of tea sets on 1st May to coincide with…
Join the Opera and Help to Create ‘A Town that Sings’
In HIP Issue 169 Fiona McGarry wrote about the background and development of Barefoot Opera’s ambitious Bloom Britannia project. Now, with Lockdown easing, she looks at how their Bloom ……
AltPitch: Experiencing Art in a Different Space
You may have read the calls for entries for the AltPitch festival – but you may not be clear exactly what the festival involves or how you can watch this…
Documenting Strange Times: JJ Waller’s New Lockdown Project
JJ Waller is well known in Hastings and St Leonards. In the first lockdown he photographed more than 100 local individuals and families from behind windows, doors, and balconies and…
Bar Talk With Tim B’vard
The Bavard Bar has now been running for nearly three and a half years at the Kino in St Leonards and in ;Following its return to the Kino on 16th…