Archives for Top Stories - Page 5
Big Brother will be Watching
KENT BARKER Residents of Hastings and East Sussex can expect to be subject to measures that have been condemned as serious erosion of civil liberties. Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner…
Badgers Blamed for Nuns’ Exhumation
KENT BARKER The exhumation of the bodies of 46 nuns from a graveyard at Holmhurst St Mary near the Ridge at Baldslow has been dubbed “utterly disrespectful” and “absolutely disgusting”…
CRICKET: Thrilling Win Puts Priory Back on Top
2 August: Hastings & St Leonards Priory 262 for 6, Mayfield 183;9 August: West Chiltington & Thakeham 189, Priory 190 for 7 HUGH SULLIVAN Hastings & St Leonards Priory returned…
Savour and Sip Local: Food, Wine and Music by the Sea
The Hastings Seafood, Wine and Music Festival returns to Hastings from Friday 12 to Sunday 14 September 2025. Now in its second year as an independently-run event, it is proudly…
A Paradox for All to See
ROD WEBB The National March for Palestine in London on 9 August was clearly going to be different from others. Alongside this march, over 500 people had pledged to defy…
Bottle Alley Art Market 2025
BAAM is a free public event showcasing Fine Art from curated local and national artists. It will once again fill the historic lower deck prom, bridging Hastings and St. Leonards,…
Carr Taylor – Wine Pioneers Who Ran Out of Road
HUGH SULLIVAN As previewed in HIP 281, Carr Taylor Wines Limited was put into insolvent liquidation last Monday (4 August). Dave Young The company’s directors David and Linda Carr Taylor…
Old Town United
Paul McLaughlin Hastings Old Town residents and business owners packed the Stables Theatre on Thursday evening (7 August) for an urgent public meeting called by local Labour MP Helena Dollimore…
Marine Lifein Hastings Contemporary
VICTORIA KINGHAM Odd how music that was cult-radical in the 1960s and 70s has become today’s café muzak; the institutionalisation of the ex-radical. So, sitting in Hastings Contemporary’s new café,…
FOOTBALL:A Shrinking Game With AFC Hastings
HUGH SULLIVAN Football coach Dan Pascoe comes to every Friday evening training session at St Leonards Academy with a heavy bag. It doesn’t contain footballs, boots or other playing gear;…
A Park to be Proud of
ROD WEBB It’s easy to take some of the great things in this town for granted and not think about their long-term future. Alexandra Park is one such treasure that…
Breaking Down Barriers
Hastings White Rock has announced the launch of its Tickets for the Community initiative as part of the venue’s commitment to making arts and entertainment accessible to all. The scheme…
Council Approves Palestinian Friendship Link – But No Funding
HUGH SULLIVAN After an impassioned debate on 16 July at which a large number of councillors spoke, Hastings Borough Council approved a resolution to recognise and support the friendship link…
War on Waste
Labour and Greens trade complaints over seafront rubbish HUGH SULLIVAN Earlier this month the Labour group of councillors on Hastings Borough Council delivered a formal complaint that the council’s Green…
Hastings Gaza Protesters Arrested
KENT BARKER A childminder has been arrested for alleged criminal damage with a rock after writing in chalk on the road during a protest, while a St Leonards man is…
Attack on Freedom of Speech
GABRIEL CARLYLE Why did I risk arrest and a possible jail sentence by joining the demonstration in Parliament square earlier this month? Instead of fulfilling its legal obligations under the…
What’s the Point of Recycling?
CLLR TONY COLLINS explains what happens when you drop a can in the recycling bin Recently a team of Green councillors from Hastings Borough Council visited the N+P Group plant…
Seals Raise Funds for Royal Marsdon
POLLY GIFFORD Many people will have stood on the beach in Hastings, staring out to sea and wondering what it would be like to swim out… and just keep going…
The Notes are Just the Beginning
VICTORIA KINGHAM It’s undoubtedly a privilege to watch skilled professors of music talking with gifted young performers about their interpretations of pianistic works of great genius. The weekend event organised…
CRICKET: Priory Surmount Injury Knocks
5 July; Hastings & St Leonards Priory 202 for 5: St James’s Montefiore 205 for 5 12 July; Preston Nomads 2nd XI 148: Priory 149 for 3 HUGH SULLIVAN It’s…
Use It Or Lose It: The Battle to Protect Free Advice Services
With face-to-face advice services under threat from continued austerity, INGRID ALLAN looks back at the unique role they’ve played in improving welfare across Hastings and East Sussex and offers advice…
Ask a Busy Man: Boorman to Chair Neighbourhoods Plan Board
Retired senior manager at Hastings Borough Council Kevin Boorman has been chosen by its members, in consultation with local MP Helena Dollimore, to chair the board responsible for delivering up…
Pulling Up The Bridge
HUGH SULLIVAN The Parchment Trust has provided services in the community for disabled adults of Hastings for the past 30 years. As well as running the very productive horticultural nursery,…
Can’t Run On Empty
Youth Commons Pleads for More Revenue Fundingto Avoid Closure HUGH SULLIVAN In January 2023 Hastings Commons was awarded £ million of public and charitable funds for investment in youth infrastructure…
Fading Beauty: The Art of Anne Lydiat
VICTORIA KINGHAM This article was originally intended to be the second item in an occasional series about Hastings photographers. However, from Anne Lydiat’s work and writing, it is quite clear…
CRICKET: Priory Frustrated by Last Pair
21 June; Roffey 2nd XI 272 for 6: Hastings & St Leonards Priory 278 for 828 June; Priory 194: Eastbourne 110 for 9 HUGH SULLIVAN In a topsy turvy game…
Local Schools Face Major Staffing Crisis
Schools in Hastings and St Leonards are facing a major staffing crisis as new figures reveal exceptionally high teacher turnover rates in the town. Data from the Department for Education…
False Claims Spark Outrage and Fear
PAUL MCLAUGHLIN A number of inflammatory posters appeared last weekend outside 67 Sedlescombe Road South in St Leonards, sparking a wave of controversy on social media. The notices, which included…
Become Best Friends with Alexandra Park
DAVID EP DENNIS All photos by the author Alexandra Park was formed in 1876 and has one of the finest tree collections in Europe. Its glorious landscape is the home…
Musicof the Future, Music of the Past
VICTORIA KINGHAM One of the basic principles I have found invaluable is that comparison of one type of music with another, as a value judgement, has got to be invalid.…
Active Arts get Even Louder
LIANNE BUTTREY This July, prepare for a truly unforgettable evening of talent, creativity, and community spirit as over 60 performers from Active Arts – a flagship visual and performing arts programme…
No Sleepy Heads Hastings Bakers Rise Early
EDWINA HUGHES Rob BatchelorRob Batchelor aka Ginger Baker and his sourdough We are spoilt with an amazing range of bakeries in Hastings and St. Leonards – from the long-standing institutions…
Copper Pot finalists of Gin Guide Awards
This issue, HIP Business gets an exclusive interview with Copper Pot, recently founded independent gin and spirits distillers, and finalists in the prestigious Gin Guide 2025 High ABV & Navy…
Smiley Fish and Cheerful Things
GARY WILLIS The Hastings Art Forum welcomes an exhibition that aims to spread a little happiness The current show is the inaugural exhibition curated by Dawn Timmins, a local artist,…
The Last Hurrah
VICTORIA KINGHAM talks to a local legend It’s impossible to classify Linda King, or her work. Performer, homemaker, gardener, sculptor, ceramicist, drawer, painter, crafter, storyteller, creator of dreams, maker of…
The Wreck of the Amsterdam
As an experienced sailor living in St Leonards, PETER GRAY finds the established story at odds with how this type of ship sailed There is a mystery as to why…
Uproar Over Vive Closure
Hotel Staff Left Unpaid, Guests Barred Access HUGH SULLIVAN The Vive Hotel at 44 Havelock Road in Hastings Town Centre closed last month after two companies involved in its management…
FOOTBALL: Pilot Flight
Lee Carey In as Hastings Manager, Star Players Out HUGH SULLIVAN Lee Carey featured prominently as a 19-year-old in the Hastings United promotion side of 2006/7 and captained the team…
CRICKET: Priory’s Spinners Regain Control
10 May: Hastings & St Leonards Priory 251-7; Preston Nomads 2nds 252-5 17 May: Brighton & Hove 181; Priory 182-4 HUGH SULLIVAN The cricketers of Hastings & St Leonards Priory…
Getting Greener
New Council Leader and Mayor Elected by Hastings Council At the Annual Full Council meeting of Hastings Borough Council last Wednesday (15 May), Julia Hilton stepped down as leader, to…