Archives for Articles
News in Brief
Homes for Hastings Hastings Council leader Glenn Haffenden has welcomed new affordable houses coming on stream with the first residents moving into new homes at Orbit’s Levett View development in…
William Conquers Hastings
PAUL McLAUGHLIN The Prince of Wales paid a whirlwind visit to Hastings on 9 July, spending the day meeting local fishermen, playing crazy golf and being inducted into the Winkle…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter About Horsing Dear Editor I was interested to read the article by Peter Grey about Norman horses and how they were shipped across the sea. The image on the…
Welcome to the House of Fun
RACHEL ATTFIELD Walking along my road in Hastings recently, I found myself delighting in the abundance of plants growing through the cracks in the pavement. Dandelions, grasses, tiny flowers, plants…
Read to the Beat
TOBY BULA-EDGE The ever-popular Summer Reading Challenge returns this month for children aged four to eleven. This year the theme is Read to the Beat and explores the connection between…
Counselling Plus Community Relocates to St Leonards
TOBY BULA-EDGE Local mental health charity Counselling Plus Community (CPC) will be relocating to the St Nicholas Centre from 1 September. The collaborative move was announced by long running charity…
Town Plans and Money Plans
The 410 pages of Hastings Council’s Draft Local Plan on the future of the town till 2041 attracted many criticisms earlier this year, and the Council meeting on 23 September…
Umbrella Sussex Needs Your Help!
TOBY BULA-EDGE A new Community Eco Hub is the next aim of Umbrella Sussex – the group behind the Library of Things, Make and Mend, and Save the Convent Campaign.…
Gamechanging Futures
TOBY BULA-EDGE As we sweat our way through the third heatwave of the year, it’s impossible to ignore that the climate is changing. That’s why Hastings United FC and Bexhill…
Multilayered Meanings in Iranian Art
MARK SPELMAN on his new exhibition at Project 78 I first recall seeing what you could broadly call ‘Persian Miniatures’ when I was installing a show in Dammam, KSA. I…
Jamboranja Jamboram
ED BOXALL Do you have an imaginary friend? Or do you think you might be someone’s imaginary friend? Imaginary friends make our worlds bigger, wilder and full of new possibilities.…
Hastings writers contribute to anti-Trump anthology
‘Art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth’: words uttered by John F. Kennedy in 1963. TDS 2026 is an anthology of poetry and art…
BOO – Love, Loss, and Redemption
VICTORIA KINGHAM BOO – (Battery Operated Orchestra) make “highly charged electronica with incredibly addictive melodies” and are an independent act now based in St Leonards. Their new album Sea Views…
Coven Club at the Carlisle: Female-Led Live Rock Music Night Returns
The Coven Club, a fabulous new live music night to showcase femme-fuelled rock, punk and metal bands, returns to The Carlisle Rock Bar in Hastings in July this year. The…
CRICKET: First Win in Eight For Priory
4 July: Hastings & St Leonards Priory 267 all out; Preston Nomads 216 for 7 11 July: Cuckfield 152 all out; Hastings & St Leonards Priory 156 for 5 HUGH SULLIVAN The…
BASEBALL: Pirates Sail On
JAMES YOUNG Hastings Pirates baseball club continued their blistering form last Sunday (5 July), with two impressive on-the-road triumphs over the Brighton Jets. The wins gave the Pirates a record…
Hastings Arts Forum: Two Seaside Exhibitions
Arts Forum at 20 Marine Court has been showing consistently good-quality art here since 2006, and this summer’s shows are no exception. Bill Greenhead, IceScream GREENHEAD’S GULLS Local Hastings artist…
From the Ecclesiastical to the Educational
VICTORIA KINGHAM Joseph Stannard is an enthusiast. He loves music and he loves film. When he isn’t editing record reviews in a music journal, he is exploring the paranormal. “I’ve…
Paul Joy: A Boxer Who Went to Sea
JOHN COLE The name Paul Joy is well known in Hastings, especially in the Old Town. Paul has been a fisherman here for most of his adult life and he…
Cafes, Castles and Community: How Bunka transformed Hastings’ high-up spaces
ELLA LOWDEN In 2024 the Hastings Independent met with Josh Levy, Tad MacDonald and Celia Farrar to discuss the beginning of Bunka, a collaboration delivering restaurant pop-ups across Hastings and St Leonards.…
Octopus Rescue: A Sign of Things to Come
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN The Pett Level Rescue Boat team, usually tasked with helping distressed swimmers and vessels, found themselves in uncharted waters on Saturday 4 July when they responded to an…
Convent Arson
KENT BARKER The future of the former Convent of Holy Child Jesus in St Leonards is in serious doubt following a fire which destroyed a large area of buildings. Photos: Chris Ostwald…
My Antisocial Town Centre
In this special investigative report, new HIP writer JAMES ARNOLD-HO presents a detailed picture of the acute problems facing businesses and their employees in Hastings’ busy town centre throughfare, Wellington…
1066 Country Rides Again
KENT BARKER Hastings is expected to rejoin the 1066 Country marketing partnership in the near future. Deputy Council leader Julia Hilton told HIP that they had been in discussions with…
Arson Suspected in Hastings Convent Blaze
Hastings police are investigating a fire at the former Convent of the Holy Child Jesus on Magdalen Road in St Leonards as arson. The blaze was reported at around on Thursday…
Greenhead’s Seagulls at Arts Forum
Local Hastings artist Bill Greenhead invites you into the mind of a seagull. Imagine a universe where Earth is not dominated by humans, but by avian creatures that call themselves…
Pride in Place Applications Invited
HUGH SULLIVAN The Hastings Neighbourhood Board (HNB), charged with allocating £20 million of government money over the next ten years to boost community amenities and activities in the town, is…
NEWS IN BRIEF
Businesses Fined Following investigation by immigration enforcement officers, two businesses in Hastings have been fined for employing illegal workers. Edi’s Car Wash Ltd in Battle Road have had a £40,000…
Big Names and Bright Lights
TOBY BULA-EDGE Two local filmmakers were named ‘Filmmaking Champions’ at the Into Film Awards 2026 on 16 June. The awards, which celebrate young filmmaking talent and enrichment, took place at…
Automotive Stars Shine at ESC Awards
East Sussex College’s Automotive Training Centre celebrated student achievement, industry partnership and automotive excellence at its annual awards ceremony in Hastings. The event brought together students, staff, governors, employers, families…
Oh Big Blue in Concert
JOHN ENEFER A remarkable night is in store at the Stade Hall on 5 July which will showcase both the breadth of musical talent in Hastings as well as the…
Bringing Generations Together
Generational conflict is an eternal battle where peace can seem ever distant. But that hasn’t stopped people trying to bring an end to it. The Intergenerational Grants Programme is a…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
From our website We Need Defence In response to We Won’t Be Silenced (HIP 303), I’m not for any war. However, we need defence, right? Or should we have no…
A Sauna on the Pier
FRANCESCA SULLIVAN After the Samphire Sauna’s annual summer break for overhaul, the UK’s only sauna on a pier will be back on 5 July, bigger and better! Photos: Francesca Sullivan…
Let Nature be your Teacher
CHRIS WATKINS When I met Elliot Riley he showed me round his sunny suburban garden in Bexhill, which itself has grown unusually ; He told me about the plants there,…
Love Supreme – Musica Feminina
Rawicz and Spalding – Amazons at the Festival VICTORIA KINGHAM The Love Supreme jazz festival takes place this weekend at Glynde Place, near Lewes. Tickets are still selling but it…
Tea Museum Hosts Telly Event
TOBY BULA-EDGE Free cups of tea, and a retro feel, will be on offer at two exciting Tea and Telly pop up events on 8 and 22 August. They will…
Book Festival and Competitions
Hastings Book Festival is returning for its 9th year with a bumper programme of talks, performances and workshops. Their short story, poetry and non-fiction competitions are already open for entries.…
Everywhere At Once Festival
This is a fallow year for Glastonbury, allowing the litter-strewn, dog-infested, mud-trodden or dried-raw fields to regenerate. Instead a Lottery-funded project, the Everywhere At Once Festival, has temporarily taken its…
A Meander Through an Artist’s Mind
DAVID MILTON Visiting De La Warr Pavilion’s art shows recently has been a bit like the three cream cracker challenge – an unpalatably dry, instantly regrettable experience that has you…