Author Archives: HIP - Page 44
Expanding Hastings Higher Education
CALLUM THOMSOM Hastings is no stranger to film and TV crews, with their numerous vans often spilling out along the seafront. The Great Escaper (2022), Close to Me (2021), Dear…
Legitimate Protest vs Mob Rule
SIMON HESTER, convenor of Hastings Stand Up To Racism and chair of Hastings & District Trades Union Council says that, far from mob rule, marches like this Saturday’s in London…
Cream Tea with HotWax
SERENA FERRARI “Which one do you put first – the cream or the jam?” asks Tallulah Sim-Savage, lead vocalist and guitarist of new hyped rock band, HotWax. “The cream, I…
FOOTBALL: Cruttwell Returns
HASTINGS UNITED 1, BILLERICAY TOWN 1HUGH SULLIVAN Hastings United matched play-off rivals Billericay Town in an absorbing contest at Pilot Field last Saturday - their first competitive action since 13 February…
Tipping Point
According to Government figures issued by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), there were 1,555 recorded incidents of illegal dumping across the town of Hastings in…
Fox Hunting Law and Practice
The Hunting Act 2004 outlaws hunting of wild mammals, including foxes, with dogs. Not only the hunters themselves, but the owner of land they hunt on and the supplier of…
Fire Station Reprieve
At a meeting of the East Sussex Fire Authority on 8 February, it was determined that the provision of full-time fire engines at The Ridge Community Fire Station will be…
Ice Creams but no Café
Hastings Borough Council have been inviting ‘Expressions of Interest’ to operate an ice cream concession from a fixed location outside the West Hill café for the 2024 season. Prospective operators must…
Standing Upfor Nature!
CHARMIAN KENNER explains how we can find out more about vital local environmental issues. The Unite for Nature group is holding an event for everyone in the Hastings area who…
It’s Reality, But Not As We Know It
HELEN MURPHY AND NICK PELLING go beyond mere reality. At first glance, you wouldn’t guess that the old Observer building, besieged as it is by rusty scaffolding, is home to…
The Chamberof Horrors
ELSPETH TIDDLYPUSH gives a personal view on the reasons for the malaise in local politics. A Wednesday morning a few weeks ago in January, I decided to attend a meeting…
Who Runs our Schools?
Our new education correspondent, CALLUM THOMSON, a former Hastings teacher, considers the debate between Academy and Local Authority schools. Ba Kode Academies are state-funded, non-fee-paying schools which are independent of…
Life with Nigel
Baxter Look, ok, I know it’s not supposed to be like this. But sometimes, as a dog, you just can’t seem to bond with your owner. It may be their…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Commons Transparency It is a shame Oli Smith sent his letter to HIP (Jess Steele: Questions to be Asked) before the public meeting held by Hastings Commons Community Land…
Grapes of Rother
We suspect that many of our readers like a glass of wine - this is how it starts! CHRISTINE O’GARA shares her experience of grape-picking. Bailey’s Job Agency on Hastings…
What’s in the Air?
SARAH MILNE talks to Jude Montague about her graphic novel-in-progress Matt Armstrong Jude Montague’s talents are spread right across the local art and music scene. From musical performances with her…
Treading the Boards at The Stables
STUART BAILLIE In the coming months I’m going to be writing about The Stables - Hastings’ vibrant and exciting theatre and art gallery down in The Bourne. Courtesy of The…
4 Rooms – Plus
SARAH MILNE on Markus Thonett’s new exhibition at St Andrews Mews Tessa ThonettMarkus Thonett with Infinity Rail Track The secret rooms of St Andrew’s Mews, mysterious decaying grandeur found upstairs…
Virtual Storytelling
Over the summer of 2023, MSL led people in Hastings and Medway on a detective hunt, delving into the towns’ archives and interviewing residents to find out about the past…
Concerto Competition
VICTORIA KINGHAM at the inception of the 2024 Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition Alice DennyCompetition judges Vanessa Latarche (Artistic Director) and Pascal Escande (centre) With a splendid reception at the…
Jerry Bergonzi Quartet Return to Jazz Hastings
Jerry Bergonzi is becoming a regular fixture at Jazz Hastings. After two triumphant appearances in the last two years, this legendary American tenorist is back by popular demand. Bergonzi gained…
BOOKBUSTER REVIEW: One Fine Day
By Ian MarchantPublished by September Publishing, rrp £ BY TIM BARTON Ian Marchant, a regular presenter on ‘Open Country’, Radio 4, and diarist for Church Times, is dying. Side by…
Poetry Corner: Eddie
BRIDGET GRIFFIN Tiles mosaic Stomach archaic Sprightly glistening territorial eyes A tongue that laps up. All the noise Very scaled. Many pigments of brown This artful dodger has a frown…
Poetry Corner: Nature’s Philosophy
VICTOR TIMMONS Nocturnal birds in sibilant causerie Forest creatures in distant revelry While nature's blanket dims their rivalry And stills the air to peaceful reverie How brief is this tranquillity…
HOCKEY: Tough Travelling
South Saxons Mens, Womens and Mixed teams were all in action over the weekend despite the desperately wet weather. In South East Mens Division 1 (East), the Men’s first team,…
HOCKEY: Saxons Honour Sophie Ford
Eighteen year old Sophie Ford, a much loved first team player for South Saxons Hockey Club, tragically lost her life in a car accident on the A21 in October 2023.…
TENNIS: Amherst Ladies Rule
There’s both strong local rivalry and shared camaraderie in relations between the tennis players of Amherst, whose club courts sit squarely in Hastings, and those of The Green, a mile…
HIP List #246
Music Friday 1 March Sue Harding The Jenny Lind Inn,69 High St Hastings International Piano Concerto Finals Night 1 White Rock Theatre,White Rock One of the finalists of HIPCC 2024…
HOMES AT RISK!
PAUL McLAUGHLIN Residents living in Foxcote and Penhurst Close (below Little Ridge Ave) have been forced to abandon their homes as a major landslip threatens to push their properties into the stream…
None of the Above
New Group Show at Electro Studios Six contemporary artists. Six contrasting styles. Commitment to challenging work, from deeply personal to fiercely political. There is no overarching narrative. These artworks transgress…
New Year Assault on Hunt Sabs: Police Still Seeking Culprits
RICHARD PRICE In a shocking incident captured on video, a group of four masked assailants targeted a broken-down car, smashing its windows and threatening the terrified occupants. The attack unfolded…
International Women’s Day Festival Promises to be a Roaring Success
ERICA SMITH Each year, Hastings Women’s Voice hosts an International Women’s Day event. Last year’s festival in Stade Hall was such a success that it has outgrown the venue. This…
Wicked Leeks
In fact, Leeks were traditionally considered virtuous and were linked to St David (a teetotal vegetarian). So what could be better to cook right now as St David’s Day approaches?…
Getting Involved with the Local Transport Plan
HASTINGS SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT FORUM East Sussex County Council, our Transport Authority, is planning for the future with its Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4), Town Deal money is going to be…
Azur Closure
The Azur Marina Pavilion has been closed to all customers and hirers since 29 January following an agreed out-of-court settlement between the leaseholder company Azur Events Limited and its landlord…
Cabinet Approves Council Tax Hikes
A meeting of Hastings Borough Council’s cabinet on Monday evening (12 February) approved proposals to bring forward the period from two years to one year when an unoccupied and substantially…
New Management at White Rock
As promised, a virtually seamless transfer of management has taken place at the White Rock Theatre. Gone from the end of January were Trafalgar Theatres, who had presided over the…
Independents Review Electoral Prospects
The newly formed Hastings Independents party – no connection with this newspaper, see below – held its first public meeting last Saturday at His Place in Robertson ; PAUL MCLAUGHLINCllr…
Plan Ducks Priority Issues
CHARMIAN KENNER The ESCC Local Transport Plan contains a pretty comprehensive list of nice outcomes it would be hard to disagree with. But how is it going to be implemented?…
My Art Belongs to Daddy
Hastings resident Phil Cooper watched a live TV stream of the Grammy Awards, the US music equivalent of the Oscars, with personal interest last week. His daughter Em Cooper was…