Archives for Articles
New DAB licence for Seahaven FM
Residents of Hastings, St Leonards and Bexhill can now tune in to a new local radio station from 1 September. Seahaven FM, already broadcasting to East Sussex for more than…
Marjorie’s Grand Day Out
Four generations of one family enjoyed a special day beside the seaside when aptly-named, 104 year-old Marjorie Seaman took a trip to Hastings. Marjorie, the oldest resident at Heathfield Court…
Full of Life: Celebrating Older People
More than 100 events across the county will help celebrate ageing in East Sussex and mark a national Older People’s Day. Nordic walking, New Age Kurling, coffee mornings, gardening drop-ins,…
Hollington Community Spirit
CHRIS WATKINS Back at the start of this long, hot Summer, at The Bowl Play Park on Wishing Tree North, Hollington celebrated itself. The Hollington Community Spirit group worked with…
Ukrainian Independence Day
KHRYSTYNA MASHCHENSKA The 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence was marked with separate events in Hastings, Rye and Bexhill, bringing Ukrainians together with local residents, civic representatives and friends of Ukraine.…
Aladdin’s Cave on the Ridge
CHRISTINE SANDERSON What’s the link between the tragic fields of Flanders in WWI and an unusual shop on The Ridge? Well, built around 1920, that iconic building was a workshop…
Women, Work, and the Weight of Expectation
ANTHEA CARLING The Trouble With Women opens as part of Coastal Currents Festival on 5-6 and 12-13 September in the artist’s own home in Hastings Old Town. Lauren Joy KennettWriting…
Afrit Nebula: What Next?
An Afrit is a powerful demon in Arabian myths. A Nebula is an interstellar cloud of ; Local band Afrit Nebula have been gigging mainly around Hastings, St Leonards and…
PhotoHastings ’26
GARY WILLIS PhotoHastings’ collective of photographers aims to inspire an appreciation of contemporary photographic art through its annual festival programme. It is directed by Tracy Jones and Neale Willis, with…
Colouring to Heal
East Sussex-based author, artist and trauma-informed practitioner, Corina Stupu Thomas, has recently published We Tell Many Stories: A Therapeutic Colouring Book and Reflection Journal for Women’s Healing and Self-Discovery. The…
Fetish & Fantasy – Grace Lau
VICTORIA KINGHAM Since the early 1980s, Grace Lau’s photographic journey through sexuality, gender identity and sado-masochistic subculture has explored a world largely hidden from mainstream view. Fetish Stories brings together…
Fell: The Horror
ELIZABETH ALLEN Fell, ‘freely adapted’ from Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, is a dramatic work which challenges both the audience and the actors. Writer and director Frances Viner…
Cabaret Franglais Comes to The Stables
BallyBest theatre production company is delighted to bring Café Franglais to The Stables. It’s a café-chantant celebration of French and English popular songs, with vocalists Tamara Leggett and Neil Sellman,…
Hastings’ Hidden Stories – and Pizza
On 18 September, Spun Glass Theatre launches Pizza & Plays – a new theatre night inspired by Hastings’ history, and created in partnership with Hastings Museum & Art Gallery. The…
Roger McGough with Penny Pepper at White Rock
St Leonards’ own writer, poet, and disabled activist Penny Pepper, hot from the world premiere of the D-Punk documentary film, is excited to be the support for legend Roger McGough…
Afri-Co-Lab September Events
On Saturday 19 September, for the next instalment of Creative Chill, their series of creative workshops, Afri-Co-Lab will welcome back local artist Elaine Mullings for a workshop called Care In…
Arts Forum News
Hastings Arts Forum, the long-standing quality arts collective, is staging two new exhibitions this month. The first, Smalls! HAF Small Works is on until 19 September, and reflects its title.…
The Future is being shaped in St Leonards and Hastings
DOMINIC O’REGANPrincipal, Mulberry West St Leonards Primary History is often something children read about in textbooks: distant, untouchable and confined to the past. But at Mulberry West St Leonards Primary,…
Gridlock misery for The Ridge until 2028
Drivers have been warned to expect more than two years of gridlock along The Ridge, as SGN (formerly Scotia Gas Networks) begins a marathon gas-pipe replacement project. The work –…
Gulzar Acquitted of Knife Crime
Sheikh Gulzar, owner of Hastings pier, emerged triumphant from a hearing before Brighton Magistrates last week after being cleared of unlawful possession of an eight-inch knife blade. The 80-year-old had…
Government Pauses Council Reform
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Government plans for the reform of local government across Sussex have been put on hold. Angela Rayner, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, told…
Huge boost to Tackle Hastings Homelessness
Local homelessness charity Seaview has been awarded a £200k funding boost to support their vital work in getting people off the streets. The funding, from the government’s £ million Ending…
Free School Meals Opt-in
As children across Hastings return to the classroom after the summer holidays, Local MP Helena Dollimore has urged all parents to check their eligibility for free school meals after the…
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Letter Food Waste Rollout Dear HIP I welcomed Hastings Borough Council’s food waste rollout with open arms and the earnest hope of a true eco-warrior. I was ready to save…
Community Garden Calls for Volunteers – and Visitors
HELENA JONES Bexhill Community Garden is encouraging people to visit and discover what it has to offer – whether they want to volunteer, learn how to grow food or simply…
A Close Shave for Emmaus
Residents and staff from homelessness charity Emmaus Hastings & Rother have shaved their heads in a powerful show of support for a much-loved counsellor who has helped many people in…
A Taste of the Outdoors
CALEB GEARTY This year, the UK has experienced the most days over 30 degrees in its recorded history. With five near-continuous heatwaves that decided to concentrate most of their wrath…
CRICKET: The Great Escape
Priory win by two runs to retain Premier status 29 August: Hastings & St Leonards Priory; Three Bridges rained off5 September: Priory 251 for 8; Preston Nomads 249 for 9…
East Sussex Highways Robbery
The Independent Hastings Borough Councillor, Andy Batsford, has launched a campaign calling for East Sussex County Council (ESCC) to disclose how it allocates the nearly £1 million in lane rental…
Town Centre to Lose Yates Pub
Yates pub and sports bar, which straddles Robertson Street and Havelock Road in Hastings Town Centre will close permanently from this Sunday 13 September. The lease of the premises is…
A Very Special Moment
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Royalty and world leaders may have topped the guest list, but it was the schoolchildren from Hastings who stole the spotlight at last Wednesday’s historic unveiling of the…
BASEBALL: Pirates Play-off Bound
JAMES YOUNG Next Saturday the players and coaches of Hastings Pirates baseball club will wake up to some unfamiliar feelings. Nerves. Adrenalin. Excitement not just at playing a game, but…
Tom Hunter: From Squat to Saatchi
VICTORIA KINGHAM Hackney in East London (nowadays a boho-arty des-res area, affordable only to higher-paid professionals) had a bad reputation in 1997. A number of its 1960s-built tower blocks were…
SupermumsHelp Female Entrepreneurs Embrace AI
Hastings businesswoman Heather Black is launching a new national initiative to help women embrace AI and technology– whether they are running a business, freelancing, returning to work after having children…
Seafood, Wine & Music Festival
Hastings Seafood, Wine & Music Festival is just a few weeks away, running from Friday 11 to Sunday 13 September 2026. ELLA LOWDEN gives a glowing preview. HBC Hosted in…
Help Foodbanks this Summer
Local foodbanks are calling for donations of everyday essentials as families face extra pressure during the school summer holidays. DANIEL GRAVESAldi Community Donation Point To help shoppers support their local…
Is a Disabled Facilities Grant for You?
Would a stairlift or level-access shower make it easier for you or a family member to stay in your home? Did you know that the council can offer disabled facilities…
Longshore Drift
DAVID EP DENNIS Charles Dickens came to Hastings in 1861 to perform a public reading of A Christmas Carol in the Old Music Hall, now called Yates’s Wine Lodge. This…
MASS Observations
DAVID MILTON One of the many kiss-of-death committees which blight the lives of all small towns decided at the planning stage that De La Warr Pavilion could do without a…
Classical Music News
Max Baillie, violinist, musicologist and entrepreneur, has been touring with his outstanding and unusual Lodestar Trio, who many of you will have heard when they played for the first time…