Archives for History
Where are the Blue Plaques?
DR HILDA KEAN, FRHistS, historian, and retired Dean of Ruskin College, Oxford on how we honour and remember people in Hastings. This May, including the May Day celebrations held in…
The Turnpike Roads
The development and layout of Hastings and St Leonards owe much to turnpike roads (toll roads) built in and around the towns in the 18th and 19th centuries. Local historian…
The Net Shops – Part Two
Local historian, author and honorary curator of the Fisherman’s Museum, STEVE PEAK, explores the history of the net shops. See the last edition for Part ; All the unique and…
The Net Shops
– Part One
Local historian, author and honorary curator of the Fisherman’s Museum, Steve Peak explores the history of the net ; The Hastings net shops are unique: tall, thin wooden sheds, up…
Introducing the Hastings Cottage Improvement Society
Following recent articles in HIP, Geoff Longmire, a director of the Hastings Cottage Improvement Society, owner of rental properties in and around Hastings Old Town, hopes he can persuade you…
The Hastings Variation
To mark the upcoming Hastings International Chess Congress, John Bostock explores the fascinating connections between Hastings and chess. You may have seen the excellent Netflix series, The Queens Gambit, in…
Edith – The Handfasted Queen of England
By David EP Dennis Here is a woman whose lifelong husband is going to have sex with a widow whose husband he had killed, just so that his future son…
Happy Birthday Hastings Pier
Steve Peak presents the history of Hastings pier on its 150th birthday Hastings Pier celebrates its 150th birthday on 5 August. It started a new phase in the history of…
Saving Lives at Sea The Hastings Lifeboat – and its Women
By David EP Dennis The Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) crew is one of the most respected groups of professionals in Hastings. Along with the police, fire service and NHS…
How the Rock Fair Ended
As part of his history of America Ground Steve Peak wrote about the three main fairs, and how the killjoys ended the biggest and best – the Rock Fair. Three…
A Word From Our Founders
Current Features Editor Ben Bruges asked long-term HIP writer Gareth Stevens to explore the developmentof HIP from founding to 200th edition. Below Ben explores his own reasons for getting involved with…
Vendelis: The History of Old Winchelsea
David EP Dennis Was there ever such a place as Old Winchelsea? Myth or a fisherman’s tale? The truth is that in the early part of the 13th century, Old…
Rock-a-Nore: once the Eco-Nore of the East
Local historian Steve Peak explores some of the ways Rock-a-Nore has been ; Instead of pumping all our sewage into the sea, why can’t Hastings have a recycling plant to…