Archives for Articles - Page 3
Strategy to Halt Biodiversity Decline
PAUL McLAUGHLIN East Sussex County Council (ESCC) has published a pioneering Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) designed to reverse biodiversity decline across East Sussex, and Brighton & Hove. As the…
TV Pop Up Museum
TOBY BULA-EDGE A look into the past was on offer on August 8 at the first Television Museum pop-up. The event, run by charity Screen Culture UK, aimed to give…
CRICKET: Team Priory Find a Higher Gear
1 August: Hastings & St Leonards Priory 231 for 8; Middleton 184 all out 8 August: Roffey 244 for 6; Priory 201 for 7 HUGH SULLIVAN Craig NowlanShawn Johnson bowling against Roffey…
FOOTBALL: Disappointment in Cup Defeats
7 August: Kingstonian 4; Hastings Utd 1 8 August: Bexhill Utd 0; East Grinstead Town 3 New player-manager of Hastings United Ronnie Dolan tasted defeat in his first competitive match…
Local Skipper Homelessness Once Again
PAUL McLAUGHLIN The skipper of the stricken sloop, Maranatha, which ran aground off the Sussex coast, is locally born sailor, Justyn. After becoming homeless in Hastings two years ago, he has…
Contemporary up for Award?
NICK PELLING Something extraordinary has happened. Hastings Old Town has reached the last six of a European competition. To be more precise, Hastings Contemporary is the only UK gallery selected…
Skinny Sunday Youth Fest
HANNAH DEEBLE A fresh wave of emerging talent will take over Studio 27 at Hastings White Rock Theatre on 23 August, as Skinny Sunday – the one‑day festival curated, produced and…
Dutch toTake the VOC Amsterdam Home?
DAVID EP DENNIS An ever-present reminder of the power of storm and tide for the last 277 years, something sits at St Leonards. At the lowest tides of the year, when the…
Reform in Reverse
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Reform UK has withdrawn its threat to report Barry Ashley, the owner of the Grumpy Cook café in Robertson Street, to the police, along with local Labour MP…
Local Pensioners Face 14-Year Prison Sentences
FERDUSARA ALI Two local pensioners, Nina Heaton from Hastings and Mary Law from Rother were arrested outside Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday (30 July), under Section 12 of the Terrorism…
The Pub That’s Bringing People Together
TESSA BOASE Ed Nash and Robbie Ormrod dreamed of creating a pub with community at its heart. Just five months in, the revamped Prince of Wales is proving that their…
Sad Tale of Sabastian Straw’s Shoes
MICK WAITE This year’s annual scarecrow competition in Battle invited entries including those inspired by countries and iconic figures. So Battle Town FC Runners’ entry was in honour of Sabastian…
Will You Be My Friend?
The BBC is looking for local children aged 5-8 who love making friends. The casting call is for a brand new six-part series about friendship for BBC One and iPlayer…
Pier Owner Gulzar Faces Triple Court Reckoning
HUGH SULLIVAN Sheikh Abid Gulzar, 80-year-old owner of Hastings Pier, is set to make three court appearances, each at a different venue, over the next four months. On 12 August,…
News In Brief
National Emergency Briefing A group of local and community activists have come together to organise a viewing of the National Emergency Briefing film to highlight the need for the town…
Tested by the Waters
Sea-swimmer, dog-owner, and relative newcomer INGRID ALLAN dips her toe in the waters around Hastings TOBY COLLINS With the recent Blue Flag and Seaside Award given to Marina and Pelham…
Coast is Queer
David Milton Forty-odd years ago, the most important gay artist of that era, John Yeadon, suggested that the then New Painting should be boldly confrontational and transgressive. His luminous depictions…
From the Ecclesiastical to the Educational
VICTORIA KINGHAM Joseph Stannard loves music and he loves film. When he isn’t carrying out his duties as deputy editor of long-running music magazine The Wire, he is investigating the…
Raining, Cats and Dogs
You may have wondered at the inspiration behind our long-running, consistently whimsical comic strip and about its creator. The real Lola and Bill are gratified to appear in these august…
Madagascar to Ethiopia – Hanitra and Haymanot
JUDE MONTAGUE AND VICTORIA KINGHAM Two extraordinary female African musicians, Hanitra Ranaivo from Madagascar and Haymanot Tesfa from Ethiopia, visit Hastings this summer. Hanitra Ranaivo and Jean-Marc Bontemps at the…
Wildfell Hall: Still Relevant
ELIZABETH ALLEN Anne Brontё was the youngest, least famous of the sisters. Yet hers is the novel that offers a stunning, overtly feminist, attack on the patriarchal structures of the…
Mozart and Movement
ELIZABETH ALLEN A highlight of the Battle Festival was Barefoot Opera’s performance of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, and it proved particularly well-suited to the distinctive Barefoot style. That style involves…
John Donaldson New CD Release
VICTORIA KINGHAM Due to be released in August is an album written entirely by pianist John Donaldson, founder of Jazz Hastings. We Were Together, I Forget the Rest, dedicated to…
Shouting for Bexhill
TOBY BULA-EDGE Bexhill will come alive on 15 and 16 August for the Bexhill Art Weekender which HIP spotlighted in the last issue. This time, we sat down with Flatland…
Perello Duoat the Beacon
Perello, the Liverpool-based guitar and vibes duo who enchanted their Kino-Teatr audience last summer, are back in Hastings on 7 August – this time at The Beacon. The Perello Duo:…
Convent Preservation is ‘Council Priority’
Following the fire at the former Convent of the Holy Child Jesus in Magdalen Road earlier this month reported in HIP 306, Hastings Borough Council issued a press release highlighting…
Greens and Reform Clash over Al Mawasi Link
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN The simmering tensions between the Green-led Hastings Borough Council (HBC) and Reform UK, the main opposition group, burst to the surface at a prickly meeting of the Full…
Fraud Charges to Proceed against ex-Southern Water Staff
JAMES ARNOLD-HO Former Southern Water boss Matthew Wright and three other former employees are facing prosecution over allegations that they manipulated wastewater test results. A High Court ruling on 22…
Water Bill Boycott
KENT BARKER A campaign is growing for Hastings residents to join a boycott of payments to Southern Water. Organisations like Boycott Water Bills, Don’t Pay for Dirty Water and Extinction…
Cinque or Swim?
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN The government has confirmed it will proceed with plans to abolish Hastings Borough Council (HBC), four other neighbouring district and borough councils, and East Sussex County Council, replacing…
Senior Council Appointments
Hastings Borough Council (HBC) has appointed Rob Cottrill as its permanent Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service. The appointment was confirmed at the meeting of the Full Council on…
CRICKET: Chastening Defeats for Priory
18 July: West Chiltington & Thakeham 231 for 9; Hastings & St Leonards Priory 181 all out25 July: Priory 237 all out; Haywards Heath 238 for 3 HUGH SULLIVAN After their encouraging win against…
BOOKBUSTER REVIEW: Establishment and Fascism
If We Tolerate This By Daniel TrillingPublished by Picador, 2026, rrp £ BY TIM BARTON This timely book is subtitled ‘How the British establishment made the Far Right respectable’. A…
Poetry Corner: Queen Victoria’s Hat
TIM BARLOW One day I’ll climb the Empire State with you To fly a flag and go down on one knee But just for now our love is clandestine This…
Protecting our Heritage
JULIA HILTON is Deputy Leader of Hastings Borough Council and the Portfolio Holder for Shaping Places and Regeneration. Here she replies to the recent article in HIP issue 304 headlined…
World Upside Down
In the space of just over a week, thousands of struggling families across Hastings and St Leonards have learned that the automatic allocation of supermarket food vouchers issued to them…
Shock Closure of Source Park
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN The Source Park, one of the world's largest underground skateparks, has been forced to close its doors with immediate effect due to urgent health and safety concerns. The…
Uproar as Council Scraps Food Vouchers for Kids
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN Reform UK-led East Sussex County Council (ESCC) has scrapped the automatic allocation of supermarket food vouchers for struggling families over the summer holidays. The decision has provoked outrage…
FOOTBALL: Chalmers and Black Return to the Pilot Field
IAN GRANT With preparations for the new season underway, Hastings United will be hoping to banish memories of the previous two, one of which ended in relegation and the other…
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…