On 6 August, the annual Hiroshima Day commemoration will take place in Alexandra Park, Hastings, as local people remember those who died from the first use of nuclear weapons in war.

Across the world events will take place to mark the occasion, from Coventry Cathedral to the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. The global events will take place against a backdrop of war and political disputes across the world – some featuring nuclear-armed states – which have increased concerns that we may be on the brink of nuclear disaster.

In January the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said the symbolic ‘Doomsday Clock’ was set at 85 seconds to midnight, meaning the human race is now closer to catastrophe than at any time since 1945. This judgement was made because of threats to human survival posed by nuclear weapons, climate change, biological threats and Artificial Intelligence.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was first produced shortly after World War II to try and promote understanding of the dangers of nuclear weapons and influence policy in relation to them. It was founded by scientists who’d been involved in the creation of the atomic bomb and were acutely aware of its dangers. Key figures in the development of the bomb, Albert Einstein and J Robert Oppenheimer, were early supporters of the Bulletin.

The bomb that devastated Hiroshima on August 6 1945 was followed, three days later, by the atomic bombing of the port city of Nagasaki. An estimated 185,000 people died as a result of the bombs dropped on the Japanese cities by the US air force. They perished due to the force of the blasts, fire, falling buildings, untreated burns and due to radiation sickness, which was little understood at the time.

The standard justification for the attacks – that they were essential to defeat the ‘fanatical’ Japanese – is seriously undermined by an extensive study launched by the US government as it tried to understand the impact of the allied bombing campaigns during the war. The Strategic Bombing Surveys concluded (p107) that “Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war and even if no invasion [of mainland Japan] had been planned or contemplated.”

Those who perished in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be remembered on Hiroshima Day as people affirm ‘Never Again!’.

On Thursday 6 August, people will gather from 8.00pm at the lake near the main entrance to Alexandra Park, with the event beginning at 8.30pm. It is organised by Hastings Against War, which is now also known as XR Peace after the group joined forces with Extinction Rebellion in 2024.

The outdoor project transforms part of Alexandra Park into a living storytelling trail that encourages people to slow down and step into nature. Using only a smartphone, visitors can access a series of short films inspired by the trees; all created by a new generation of filmmakers working with mobile phones.

Eight selected trees have a QR code linking to a short mobile-friendly film created by a diverse group of participants aged 8-70. To take part, visitors to Alexandra Park can follow a map which takes them to the selected trees (all within a short walk). Scan the QR codes with your phone to watch the films instantly. Alternatively, watch them at home by visiting askthetrees.world .

The films vary – playful, poetic or reflective – but share a common curiosity and care for the natural world. The tree species represented have origins across the globe, including Australia, the Mediterranean, Ireland, China, the American Northwest and the UK, reflecting the international roots woven into Hastings’ landscape.

Ask the Trees was commissioned by a cohort of refugees participating in a project run by OBX, part of Hastings Commons. The Initiative supports people who rarely get opportunities to shape artistic programming where they live. The group developed an artist’s brief to explore community, connection and the natural world.

Rebecca E. Marshall was selected from the 16 artists who responded, chosen for her collaborative approach, emphasis on the natural environment and links between Hastings and other parts of the world. The project is supported by Arts Council England National Lottery funding, with recruitment support from The Refugee Buddy Project.

With no tickets, schedules or special equipment – only a phone – Ask the Trees offers an accessible, uplifting way to spend time outdoors, discover something unexpected and view familiar surroundings with fresh eyes. OBX and Dear Future Films hope the project encourages more people to visit the park and connect with these stories.

Watch the film about Ask the Trees here for more information: youtube.com/watch?v=tp_W1rCchnw&t=1s

Something pretty special has been growing in Alexandra Park – and it’s not just the plants.

The Alexandra Park Greenhouse Group has scooped two major Royal Horticultural Society honours: a Gold Award for Community Engagement and an “Outstanding” rating in the It’s Your Neighbourhood category at the South & South East in Bloom awards. Not bad for a project that began with a leaky, ivy-covered glasshouse and a bunch of determined locals with loppers and a dream.

Fast forward eleven years, and the once-derelict 1930s greenhouse is now a buzzing community horticultural hub. Think propagation benches crammed with seedlings, workshops filled with chatter, and volunteers turning up in all weathers to garden, laugh, and bring their passion for plant life to the people of Hastings.

And it’s not just about the plants. This year alone, the team has donated around £3,500 worth of plants to schools, charities and community groups across Hastings helping brighten playgrounds, support wellbeing projects, and encourage more young hands to get muddy.

“It was a fantastic honour to represent the greenhouse to collect the award. We were just not expecting it, we really weren’t,” says volunteer coordinator Christine Roberton who went to RHS Wisley for the award ceremony. “It’s really nice that all the hard work the volunteers have put in – and it was a big team effort – is recognised by an organisation outside the community and with the RHS involvement. I think the volunteers are very proud.”

The greenhouse hasn’t just blossomed, it’s become a lot busier too. With more plants, more people and more partnerships, the team now hosts events like last week’s Halloween storytelling sessions for children by Ed Boxall, herbal skincare workshops by Doorstep Herbs, as well as hen parties and concerts.

But if there’s one thing this group has proven, it’s that Hastings knows how to rally people behind a much-loved place full of childhood memories. A little more than a decade in, the greenhouse is thriving – full of life, laughter, learning and a healthy supply of compost.

Not a bad harvest for a project that started with hope, pruning saws and sheer determination.

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 brings enormous pleasure to the people of the town, not least because it’s free and has something for everyone. Fortunately, it now has friends to keep an eye on it.

And here’s your chance to have your say about its future or join the re-launched Friends of Alexandra Park (FOAP) to actively participate in it. FOAP will be holding their first Annual General Meeting at the park’s greenhouse on Tuesday 12 August so there’s plenty of time to organise your diary as well as think about what its future should look like.

The park was originally called St Andrew’s Gardens when it opened in 1864, growing in increments to become the present 109 acres, stretching 2.5 miles from the town centre out to residential areas. It became Alexandra Park when formally opened by Alexandra, Princess of Wales with her husband Prince Edward in 1882.

During 1998, the lower portion of this Grade II listed park was closed for a storm drain project but, fortunately, lawns and entrances were returned to their original state after a regeneration scheme costing £3.46m. The park was officially reopened in 2004 by Charlie Dimmock (how things have changed). It received its first Green Flag Award in 2005 which it has retained ever since.

The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) who organise a weekly walk around the park (along with others in the area) describe the walk as follows: “A beautiful combination of the formally managed area and a woody patch with a series of fabulous expanses of water. Look out for kingfishers, cormorants and many, many ducks.” What better introduction than a guided walk.

The AGM will run on 12 August, 6.30pm–7.30pm at the site off St Helens Road, near the Pumphouse Café and Deli.

For more guided walks from TCV go to 123walks.org/rother-hastings

Alexandra Park was formed in 1876 and has one of the finest tree collections in Europe. Its glorious landscape is the home of beautiful flower displays, lakes and notable tree giants. It has a rich wildlife, many peaceful paths and a magnificent greenhouse.

In the Greenhouse on 26 June – the anniversary of the Royal Opening of the park, the Friends of Alexandra Park (FOAP) will be inviting you to join.

Members will be able to learn from guided talks and presentations about how the park is cared for and its many secrets: the often complex and wonderful lives of the creatures that live there – such as birds, insects and bats, and the seasonal cycle of life.

If you love nature and find great benefit in the peace and tranquillity of parkland environments, then Alexandra Park is what we might call ‘the lungs of Hastings’. It’s a remarkable park.

Robert Marnock was a leading landscape gardener of the Victorian era. He created Alexandra Park over a six-year period from 1876 to 1882 to give birth to the vision of Thomas Ross, five times mayor of Hastings. When it was finished, it was declared “superior to any park in any other seaside resort” and “one of the most beautiful parks in the country”. It was the best of the best, and it still is a treasure for our town.

The Victorians, encouraged by their poets such as Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Christina Rossetti, were in love with natural things. The people of Hastings had already formed a trail through the valley of the Priory Stream that led to Old Roar Gill and its tea garden. Paths led to the three reservoirs of Hastings, the Shornden, Harmers, and Old Roar (now known as Buckshole). Spread out below was a small urban landscape known as St Andrew’s Gardens. Mayor Ross interviewed notable landscape gardeners, chose Robert Marnock and told him: “…make me one of the most beautiful parks in England.”

Marnock examined the whole landscape tract from Old Roar to the railway viaduct at the top of Queen’s Road and wrote a letter of recommendation to Ross:

“…looking at the natural features of the ground, with the singularly happy combination of hill and valley, wood and water, it can hardly be an exaggeration to assert that for picturesque beauty the locality thus selected is probably unsurpassed by anything of the kind elsewhere.”

Alexandra Park has some remarkable trees obtained for a remarkable price – only £70.00. 1,200 trees were to be purchased for this sum (now £7,172.00), and by 1882, when the Prince of Wales and his wife Princess Alexandra came to open the Park on 26 June 1882, 1,000 of those trees had been planted and labelled.

Nowadays, Alexandra Park in Hastings is renowned for its exceptional collection of trees. According to the Hastings Borough Council, the park has one of the best collections in Britain, with many considered ‘champions’—the tallest or largest of their kind in the country. A 2024 tree survey reported that the park had 77 county champion trees for East Sussex and nine national champions for Britain and Ireland, more than any other public park in the UK.

The wonderfully-named Emmenopterys Henryi is a flowering tree closely related to coffee and gardenia. It was discovered in China in 1897 by the plant hunter Augustine Henry and brought to England in 1907. It flowers after hot summers and first flowered in England at Wakehurst Place in 1987, 73 years after first planting. It prefers moist shade and protection from harsh winds – and we hope it will flower for us this year. To find out where it is in the park – join FoAP!

Buckshole Reservoir is a hotspot for waterfowl and kingfishers. Shornden Reservoir is often frequented by various gull species and cormorants. The Old Roar Gill and Coronation Wood areas are excellent for spotting woodland birds like nuthatches and treecreepers. Harmers Pond is known for sightings of grey wagtails and other water-associated birds. As well as the normal bird population of robins, blackbirds and goldfinches, the park is home to some less common and migratory birds, such as: firecrests, pied flycatchers, spotted flycatchers, chiffchaffs, blackcaps, willow warblers, redwings (in winter), mistle thrushes, rose-ringed parakeets, little grebes and greater whitethroats.

With membership you could join in with plant surveys for flowering plants and shrubs, lichens, oak galls, fungi and ferns. The Friends need a full butterfly survey. Bats are surveyed using a powerful ultrasonic device once per month to build a record of their habits, and we plan a series of bat boxes to be placed on tall trees to enhance the current bat population. We also study the effects of global warming and how it affects life in the park – advancing the normal times when plants flower, birds migrate and caterpillars turn into butterflies, for example.

The Friends would like to support the park gardeners by offering their help with some maintenance of the beds and borders and hopefully encourage funding to enhance the planting. They are looking for ways to develop their volunteering efforts.

The Friends of Alexandra Park is a voluntary group dedicated to promoting the use of Alexandra Park, encouraging wildlife conservation and protecting the park from unwanted development. They organise various activities, including guided walks and talks on topics such as trees, bats, fungi, insects, birds and the park’s history. The group also engages in conservation work within the park.

Supported by Hastings Borough Council, the Friends have the following key aims: to undertake fundraising for key projects in conjunction with the Council and other partners, ensuring the future of the restored park is sustained, encouraging activities that promote/improve the park, promotion of interpretational and educational activities and, overseeing the care of the tree collection and seeking to expand the range of trees planted.

It is worth noting that the Alexandra Park Greenhouse Group is another organisation associated with Alexandra Park in Hastings. They focus on the restoration and maintenance of the park’s 60ft long greenhouse erected in 1934.

To join the Friends of Alexandra Park on the Park’s 143rd anniversary, email FOAPHastings@gmail.com. To come to the relaunch, meet us in the Greenhouse from 6.30 to 7.30 on Thursday, 26 June. You can access the Greenhouse via the ramp off St Helens Road next to the HBC Park Depot.

Ever wondered why the rats in Alexandra Park are so chill? It’s probably all that wild garlic they’ve been munching on. Wild garlic has been scientifically proven to lower the blood pressure of our furry friends. Yes, really. The plant also has medicinal benefits for humans – more of which later.

Allium ursinum is most commonly known as wild garlic, though some call it ramps, ramsons or bear’s garlic. The wild plant grows in woodlands, meadows and damp places in Europe and parts of North America and Asia.

The ‘ursinum’ bit of wild garlic’s botanical name translates as ‘bear’ in many Eurasian languages. Folk tales suggest the name comes from bears’ predilection for the lush green leaves and its white flowers, which they would eat after hibernation to remove toxins from their sluggish bodies and regain strength. Others argue that it got its bear nickname because the plant emerged at the same time as the bears did.

It’s believed that we have used the plant in cooking and in our medicine cabinets as far back as the Stone Age. Wild garlic was known to early Celts and ancient Romans who referred to it as Herba Salutaris, the healing plant. Recent research has shown that the plant has antioxidant, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, and cardio-protective effects on humans. A 17th-century proverb praises wild garlic’s qualities thus: “Eat leeks in Lide [March] and ramsons in May, and all the year the physicians may play.”

Wild garlic has one of the longest seasons of wild plants and can be found from mid-February to April. It’s at its most lush and pungent around mid-March, which is when you’ll find me in Alexandra Park, picking it (for pesto) from a couple of my favourite spots – both of them by the stream that runs along the side of St Helen’s Road.

Wild garlic grows in fairly large patches and is easy to spot once you know what you’re looking for – its bright green leaves are long and pointed, and its flowers look like bulky dandelions. Be careful though, as wild garlic looks similar to some toxic plants like autumn crocus or lily of the valley. A key distinguishing feature is a strong garlic odour.

Be sure only to pick the leaves though – you can’t really do much with the flowers apart from sprinkling them on salad to look pretty – and be sure not to pull up its bulb root as this is illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981.

Spots to find wild garlic in and around Hastings include Alexandra Park near Roar Gill, the East Hill and Gillsmans Hill woods.

Alan Bromley from the British Cactus and Succulent Society’s Rother Valley branch, and his colleague, Christian Hamilton, from the Portslade branch, will give growing tips and offer booklets about their speciality at the Alexandra Park Greenhouse on Saturday 20 July. The event runs from 10.30am to 4pm and admission is free.

Stuart Riley, from the Rother Valley group, will be selling some of his plants and there will be a stall giving away starter kits to children that include a pot, some compost and a packet of seeds.

Mr Bromley, who lives at Laughton, near Lewes, said Mr Hamilton’s display will include large plants as well as smaller varieties. He added: “We’ll show the wide diversity of plants available and tell people about the hobby.

“Cacti are in the same family, but succulents belong to seven families. There are different types of cactus; many people think anything with prickles is a cactus, but they vary in shape and form.” Greenhouse volunteer Eddie Weeke, who specialises in growing cacti and succulents, will also have some varieties on sale.

Later in the month, local artist Amanda Prouten will display her work and run a workshop to craft botanical compositions on Sunday 28 July at the greenhouse.

Painting with Scissors will give visitors the chance to use colourful painted papers, acrylic paint pens and mixed media to make vibrant pictures. The course is suitable for all levels, although students must be 16 or older. The course will draw inspiration from the plants in the greenhouse.

The workshop will run from 2 to 4.15pm. Tickets costing £35 are available from the website: our-greenhouse.org on the events page.

There will be a private view of Amanda’s work on Friday 26 July from 6.30 to 8.30pm and a pop-up exhibition on Saturday 27 July and Sunday 28 July, from 10.30am to 1pm. Fifty per cent of Amanda’s sales will be donated to the greenhouse.

The greenhouse is a community project that raises funds for its running costs by ‘recycling’ unwanted plants and then selling them. Access is via St Helens Road, near the Pump House Cafe.

The Rother Valley branch of the British Cactus and Succulent Society meets on the second Thursday every month at 7.30pm in Sedlescombe Village Hall. More details from 07876 024402 or via email secretary@rothervalley.bcss.org.uk 

With Wimbledon starting in less than two weeks, many people are toying with the idea of picking up a racket. Tennis is seriously good for you: it involves short bursts of high-intensity activity, “a thousand little sprints” according to Bjorn Borg; and it tones the muscles, strengthens the joints and improves your brainpower by forcing you to be alert throughout the game.

WILL’S STORY

Will had never been much of a sportsman. Since leaving school in the sixties, his entire adult life was sports-free apart from watching Wimbledon every year. In the summer of 2021, his interest was given a boost by the meteoric rise of Emma Raducanu. Now retired, he had time to follow the world tour and became truly hooked, watching every subsequent tournament.

In 2022, shortly before he turned 70, he woke up one day and thought: “I watch it all the damn time – why don’t I actually try and play the game?” He discovered that a friend of his played at Amherst, so went along with him a few times and learnt the basics. Then, one day while getting his car MOTed in St Leonards he noticed the gates to the Green Lawn Tennis Club hidden away next door. “I thought it was a lovely looking club,” Will says. “When I realised it wasn’t expensive to join, I did.” He soon became addicted to playing tennis and now feels incredibly fit: “When I started, I could do an hour twice a week; now I play two hours a day – every day.”

ALEXANDRA PARK PROJECT 

Luckily, it’s easy to find places in Hastings to play. If the established members’ clubs of Amhurst and The Green don’t appeal to you, there’s also Alexandra Park.

Last year, Hastings Borough Council refurbished the six unused tennis courts in Alexandra Park with funding from LTA. They offer everyone the opportunity to hire a court for just £5.50 per hour (household yearly membership just £39). 

When the courts first opened, a free day of coaching was offered to more than 250 participants. From zero participation, there are now over 300 players attending affordable coaching, over 400 annual family memberships and 1,000 players actively using the courts. Coaches Ross Cudmore, Alex Williams, and Joe Adams from Breakpoint Tennis have set up and implemented a full coaching schedule seven days a week for juniors, adults, and those with disabilities. There are several low-cost and free opportunities to play including Walking Tennis sessions for £3 per player and Free Parks Tennis every Sunday morning with equipment provided. 

Joe coaches players at several clubs in the area, including The Green and Alexandra Park. He emphasises that anyone can play: “Our aim is to increase participation across the whole community by expanding our partnership with Active Hastings and local schools.” He goes on to describe some of Breakpoint’s projects including tennis camps and walking tennis. He’s passionate about the coaching they do with SEN and disabled groups such as The Parchment Trust – including one group with three people in wheelchairs.

OPEN DAY

If you want to try some tennis yourself, Alexandra Park Tennis is celebrating its first birthday with a picnic in the park on 7 July, 10-2pm. There will be tennis sessions for the whole family with cardio tennis, junior tennis and adult tennis lessons for free, or just bring your racket for some free time on the courts – even if you haven’t picked one up for years.

For more information and bookings, visit: clubspark.lta.org.uk/AlexandraParkHastings.

ROBIN GRAY explains. 

The ‘Hastings Sierra Leone Friendship Link’ has been working since 2003 to improve the lives of the residents of another Hastings over 3,000 miles away, in West Africa. The little town was virtually destroyed during the Rebel War in the 1990s and appealed for help.

SOWING THE SEEDS OF CHANGE

Combined churches in Hastings & St Leonards (known as the LOAF Project) rebuilt thirteen simple bridges, and The Link has continued that work, helping the local people to build a community centre and to extend and refurbish the Health Centre. Perhaps the most amazing development has been the dozen school partnerships which have led to global curriculum work, teacher exchanges and the setting up of ‘school farms’. Starting with a donation of seeds from Battle Horticultural Society, The Link has funded a project that now involves some 30 schools in and around Hastings SL. The children have taken to the theory and practice of raising food with great enthusiasm, and thanks to the country’s warm, wet climate, they proudly produce more than one crop of all kinds of vegetables each year – either to improve school meals or to sell and raise funds for basic school materials.

A group of our teachers has just returned from Hastings SL where they spent their half-term holiday teaching in their partner school. Two members of the group studied the present state of sanitation in the schools, updating a survey that The Link had carried out before the Covid epidemic. We now have a clearer idea of what is needed. A reliable water supply may require a deeper well or borehole, and repairs to a water-pump or the building of a water-tower. Most schools have utterly inadequate sanitation, which has a serious impact on the education of the children, especially girls. This will be a huge and expensive undertaking over time, so The Link’s various fundraisers are vital.

FUNDRAISING FUN

Recently, Sussex Brass gave a wonderful concert in Alexandra Park for The Link, and there was also a highly successful music quiz. The two fundraisers coming up are a cryptic quiz competition and a wine-tasting evening. (The questions for the quiz are easily obtained online at hastingshastings.org.uk or from the Community Information Hub on the side of the Old Town Hall, off Priory Meadow).

This year’s theme is ‘In the Garden’. There are modest cash prizes, but above all, hours of brain-teasing amusement for the family over the Christmas holiday. The wine-tasting evening will be run by wine expert Ted Bacon at St Leonards CEP Academy, Collinswood Drive, St Leonards at 7pm on Saturday 9 December. It’s a fascinating and convivial evening, and we’ll sample wines that Ted suggests might accompany the different stages of a Christmas meal. The evening includes a raffle, a wine auction and a buffet supper. Should be fun. 

Details and reservations from lynnwhi@live.co.uk 

The Pumphouse in Alexandra Park was packed last week (14 July) for a meeting to discuss the recent sewage pollution of the Old Roar Gill. There was a strong turn-out too from Hastings Borough councillors: six from Labour and three Greens were in attendance. 

Myriam Lengliné from the local activist group, Sewage Contamination in Alexandra Park & Old Roar Gill, spoke with passion about the sewage leaks which, she said, had turned the stream that flows into the Buckshole Reservoir into a “giant open sewer”. She claimed that the most recent leaks, which date back to mid-May, had “poisoned wildlife and left pet dogs suffering bouts of vomiting, diarrhoea and seizures.”

There was palpable anger from many of those in attendance at the lack of communication from both Southern Water, who are responsible for the sewage network within the park, and from the council, which owns the park. Both faced stinging criticism for their failure to act in an open and transparent manner in the face of what a number of people described as an “environmental and ecological disaster” with serious health and safety risks to children and animals. There were complaints that there were still no warning signs around the park and woods to warn visitors of the dangers.

Council leader Paul Barnett acknowledged the scale of the sewage leaks. He proposed setting up an on-going group to protect the Gill and called on local residents to join in and help the council to gather detailed information which could then be properly assessed to “discover who did what, when, and how this has impacted local ecology since May.” 

Pointing to the number of local councillors present, he said the protection of the Gill was a major priority for the council and added that he and his colleagues “were all determined to hold Southern Water and the Environment Agency to account.” 

Damning results

As if right on cue, Becca Horn from the Hastings and St Leonards Clean Water Action Group read out damning results of water samples taken from the Old Roar Gill which appear to contradict information presented by Sue Cobb, Southern Water’s head of Stakeholder Engagement.  

In an email dated 11 July, Sue Cobb stated: “Following a report of a possible pollution in the Buckshole Reservoir area, a team attended on site last night. We tested in three different places including two surface water outfalls. A sample was also collected from the downstream watercourse and there were no issues found in any of the samples”. 

However, water quality samples taken by the Clean Water Action Group on 12 July and tested at the Envirochem Analytical Laboratories Ltd in Fareham and paid for by local people, found “extremely high levels of E-Coli.” There were 8,800 cfu/100 ml (colony-forming units per 100 ml of water) against a bathing water standard set by the Environment Agency of up to 500 cfu/100 ml.

The Group believes the quantity levels of bacteria were the result of sewage pollution and they have urged the Environment Agency to “undertake a full, independent investigation to determine the source.” 

The Environment Agency publish a water quality data archive. The sampling figures for the “East Confluence by Tennis Courts” in the park taken on 29 June 2023 show extremely high levels for E-Coli and intestinal enterococci. There were 6,900 cfu/100 ml against a bathing water standard up to 185 cfu/100 ml. This suggests that there has been a serious discharge or, more likely, an on-going misconnection into the water course which joins through the culvert running under St Helens Road between the junctions at Ashford Road and at Dordrecht Way.

In the wake of these new figures, Cllr Heather Bishop has called for signage to be put up by the council to warn people to keep their dogs away from the water. She has also called on Southern Water to investigate another misconnection in the park.

It will be of interest to Paul Barnett and local residents to know that the detailed water quality information he wants help in gathering is freely available through the DEFRA data services platform on the Environment Agency Water Quality Archive.

To date, Southern Water have still not released any detailed water sampling data. 

Sunday 6 August will see the annual Hiroshima Day commemoration in Hastings. The event has been held each year by Hastings Against War (HAW) since 2007.

Nuclear weapons have become a hot topic since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, prompting fears that the conflict could spiral into a nuclear conflagration between east and west. Recently Russia’s president Putin announced that ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons had been sent to Belarus, a country bordering Ukraine, and militarily allied with Russia. Meanwhile the US has its own ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons sited at bases in five NATO member countries – Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 remain the only occasions when nuclear weapons have been used in war. An estimated 185,000 people died as a consequence of the bombs dropped by the US air force (USAF) on the Japanese cities. The victims included Koreans who had been forced to come to Japan as labourers, and American prisoners of war.

The official justification for the bombings has always been that they were essential to defeat Japan and bring about the end of World War Two. As early as September 1945 Major-General Curtiss E Lemay of the USAF said, “the atomic bomb had nothing to do with the end of the war at all.” Britain’s wartime leader Winston Churchill, though he didn’t oppose the use of the bombs, wrote: “It would be a mistake to suppose that the fate of Japan was settled by the atomic bomb. Her defeat was certain before the first bomb fell.”

Each year those killed in 1945 are remembered in ceremonies around the world as people affirm such nuclear attacks should never be repeated. 

In past years the ceremony in Hastings has involved launching traditional Japanese floating lanterns on the main lake in Alexandra Park, but increased restrictions since the pandemic have meant that over the last three years the lanterns have been placed round the edge of the water, becoming more conspicuous after sunset. 

This year, once again HAW is encouraging people to bring their own lanterns. Instructions on how to make them are available on the HAW website (hastingsagainstwar.org). For those who don’t bring lanterns, there will be spares available on the night.

The event will begin at 8.30pm on Sunday August 6 (with people gathering from 8.15pm) at the lake nearest the war memorial, at the south end of Alexandra Park. All are welcome.

Hastings Borough Council is delighted that Alexandra Park, Hastings Country Park, and St Leonards Gardens have retained Green Flag status for another year.

The Green Flag Award scheme is managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The award recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces and sets the benchmark standard for the management of green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world.

Cllr Ali Roark, lead for Environment at Hastings Borough Council, said, “I want to say a huge thank you to everyone involved […] from the council’s Parks team to local volunteers and park users who take their litter home and report issues to us. This fantastic achievement is a testament to all your hard work and dedication.”

Keep Britain Tidy’s Green Flag Award Scheme Manager Paul Todd MBE, added, “Alexandra Park, Hastings Country Park, and St Leonards Gardens are vital green spaces for the community in Hastings, bringing people together and providing opportunities to lead healthy lifestyles. The staff and volunteers do so much to ensure that it maintains the high standards of the Green Flag Award and everyone involved should feel extremely proud of their achievement.”

A full list of Green Flag Award-winning parks and green spaces is available at keepbritaintidy.org.

Six hard courts in Alexandra Park have been renovated by Hastings Borough Council  (HBC) with funds from the Lawn Tennis Association, and will be officially reopened tomorrow (Saturday).

In celebration, Break Point tennis, an enterprise led by local coach Joe Adams, will be offering free tutorial sessions throughout the day, with games, competitions, and social events. Rackets and tennis balls will be provided, so anyone can come along and play.

Coaching sessions will be split across the day, including adult coaching, cardio tennis, family time, junior (11-16) and youth (5-10).

The future cost of playing on these courts has been set remarkably low. A household of up to five people can book them for up to two hours per day for 365 days a year at an annual cost of £36. This compares with an individual subscription of £147 per five-month year for a season ticket on the council’s bowling greens.

Asked why there is such a discrepancy, a council spokesperson said that ‘fine-turf’ maintenance of the greens is much more expensive than upkeep of hard tennis courts. “The prices for tennis were based on a combination of experience from other LTA-funded sites; they were set at the lower end of what is typically charged elsewhere. It was decided to make it as easy and affordable as possible for people to play tennis.”

Adams said: “It is with great excitement that we are partnering with Hastings Borough Council, the LTA, and Active Hastings to make tennis more accessible to the community of Hastings. There is no doubt that the quality of the courts and exceptional value of the membership will attract hundreds of new players to the sport. The full coaching programme will complement our existing activities at The Green and Amherst clubs, and at local schools.” 

Cllr Andy Batsford, lead councillor at HBC for health and culture, added: “We are delighted with the new courts at Alexandra Park and are looking forward to seeing lots of people at the opening. The refurbished courts are a fantastic addition to the sports facilities in our town, a big thank you to the LTA for funding the improvements. Tennis is a great way of getting out in the fresh air and it can be played with friends and family, so it’s a sociable activity too.”

You can find out more and book your free session and/or annual subscription on-line at clubspark.lta.org.uk/AlexandraParkHastings

It has been yet another bad fortnight for Southern Water. After being roundly criticised (see HIP 228) over its failure to provide crucial data to an independent inquiry set up to investigate the flooding of Hastings town centre back in January, things got worse in several directions for the privatised water company.

A pollution leak into Buckshole Pond in Alexandra Park poisoned fish and caused diarrhoea in dogs; people living in Ore and Fairlight were left without running water; more raw sewage was dumped into the sea; and the car park at the old bathing pool in Bulverhythe had to be closed for public safety.

On top of these incidents came leaked slides from Southern Water proposing a 73% increase in bills over the coming years to pay for all the extra investment needed to clean up the mess.

Sick animals at Old Roar Gill 

There have been a number of leaks from sewers close to Buckshole Pond in the park in recent weeks. The first leak was reported back on 14 May when residents complained of a strong toxic smell and gave vivid reports of seeing untreated sewage in the stream that runs south through Old Roar Gill and Coronation Wood Nature Reserve into Buckshole. There have been four further leaks since, caused by a “fatberg” of un-flushable material in the drains.

Myriam Lengliné, from the Sewage Contamination in Alexandra Park and Old Roar Gill Facebook group said that local people had only found out about the environmental hazard when warning signs were put up by Hastings and Bexhill Angling Association advising its members that the area was closed due to sewage leaks in the water. 

Following reports of dogs falling sick after drinking the polluted water, the group paid for and put up their own signs warning of the “environmental and ecological disaster” and advising of the “serious health risks to children and animals.”

Southern Water admitted that the initial leak had resulted in the death of fish and eels. Sue Cobb, their Stakeholder Engagement Manager, issued a statement that the leaks had been “found on unmapped sewers that came into our ownership in 2011”. She said engineers were “working as quickly as we can to carry out this repair”. She insisted that the company had put up their own signs in the area to inform people of what was happening but had had to remove them after they were vandalised. She wanted to reassure residents that “this small leak has been completely contained”.

Locals were not reassured, however, highlighting the continuing strong acrid smell across parts of Alexandra Park and a build-up of algae and foam on the reservoir as evidence of a much bigger problem than Southern Water are prepared to admit. They also pointed to the continued presence of the company’s vans in the area as testament to the fact that the clean-up is still on-going. There is a growing anger that their concerns have not been fully addressed.

Ore and Fairlight without water

For those living in Ore and Fairlight, the problems with Southern Water were with the actual supply. On 15 June, residents there began reporting that discoloured water was coming from taps with a strong smell of chlorine. Southern Water identified the problem as a pump failure at the Darwell Pumping Station and Reservoir. They despatched a team of engineers to fix the problem, but not before 1,800 homes had been left completely without water.

For most residents the supply returned to normal the following morning, but others were left without water for up to five days. When the water supply was fully restored, customers were advised to run their taps for a few minutes before drinking. With the help of Hastings Borough Council, the company opened an emergency unit at the Pelham Place Car Park to distribute bottled water, later re-sited to Asda in Silverhill.

The company blamed the recent hot weather for causing a spike in demand and appealed to customers to use as little water as possible to avoid further restrictions.

More raw sewage into the sea

Perhaps it was inevitable that, within the recent heat wave, there would occur some stormy weather, and sure enough at the weekend of 17-18 June Hastings experienced an intense thunderstorm and was deluged by heavy rain. The intensity of the rain was such that sewers and sewage pipes were once again overwhelmed and Southern Water took the decision (once again) to open the sluice gates and dump raw sewage into the sea to relieve pressure on the system. Surfers against Sewage described the action as “simply staggering though not surprising”.

Old Bathing Pool, Bulverhythe

Another problem for the company emerged towards the end of last week at the site of the old bathing pool in Bulverhythe, which has led to yet more inconvenience for local people.

When the Bulverhythe main sewer split in February, Southern Water commandeered the car park by the playground for its fleet of tankers. The repair took several weeks to complete, and the car park was left in a terrible state. The extent of the damage was such that the company was forced to repair it.

Paul Barnett, the borough council leader, reported, however, that the repair was so bad that the council had been forced to close the area to the public immediately. He said: “It looks as if Southern Water have scooped up shingle from the beach and dumped it on the worn-out surface, so cars can’t safely use it.”

…and yet, bills to increase by 73% ?

Despite this catalogue of failure, Southern Water has indicated an intention to increase bills by 73%, meaning an average household bill would rise to £759 per year. Unlike its plans to invest an extra £50m in the next two years to reduce storm overflows and its commitment to reduce sewage spills by 25% before 2030 and by 75% by 2050, which were widely trailed on television and in the national media, the proposed increases in bills were leaked to the Press Association. Southern Water insisted that the leaked slides set out various options for future billings and were not final proposals.

A company spokesperson said Southern Water was set to increase household bills in line with inflation for the 2023-24 period. This means dual service customers can expect an increase of 9.4% on their charges, with an average annual bill rising from £401 to £439, while water-only bills would go up by 9% and waste-only by 9.7%.

For many local people, the shoddy car park repair encapsulates Southern Water’s whole approach to its business dealings – namely, one short-term fix after another.

Sitting Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye, Sally Ann Hart, said there was an urgent need for even greater investment to improve water infrastructure. She insisted that the Government has a fully costed plan to eradicate sewage discharges into rivers and the sea, and that this plan includes the “strictest targets” to deliver the largest infrastructure programme in water company history. In the meantime she “strongly opposed” Southern Water’s leaked plans for a 73% increase in bills, saying “people want clean water but do not want to be crippled by bills.”

Helena Dollimore, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate in opposition, said: “It’s one failure after another. From sewage to flooding to the taps running dry – all while we pay more and Southern Water makes eye-watering profits. It’s time they got their act together and invested properly in our water infrastructure. With the climate emergency upon us, the time to fix infrastructure and protect our water is now. A Labour Government would get tough on the water companies and legislate to end the sewage scandal.” 

Arts on Prescription has gone from strength to strength since it was initially founded in 2019. AOP delivers quality art activities and workshops across a full range of creative domains to all ages and has done so online (during the pandemic), in GP Health centres and more recently in their dedicated ‘Art in the Park’ building in Alexandra Park.

Project Director Tara Reddy tells me that since they took on a disused building with a large green outdoor lawn in Alexandra Park in 2022, AOP has piloted a varied program of activities to promote creativities, nature, and community engagement for those who experience mental health issues. Some of these have been exacerbated by the lockdown, the cost of living crisis and exponential increases in social and economic inequalities.  

“In our first year at Art in Park, during spring and summer, we delivered multiple family-friendly events reaching out to over 1,000 residents,” she says.

This year has seen the project realise some very significant milestones. At the beginning of May, and thanks to a crowdfunding campaign, a large shed was purchased and erected next to the existing building in Alexandra Park. Needed to provide extra storage space for art materials and equipment, the wooden building was constructed by AOP’s amazing team of volunteers. Further to this, a purpose-designed metal ramp has been installed to increase accessibility to the main building.

At around the same time, AOP was proud to host their first-ever group exhibition, Who Am I? in The Exhibition Space in St Andrews Market. Although I was unable to make the private view, Tara tells me that it was an extremely well-attended event – to the extent that there was a queue outside to view the works.

When I saw the exhibition I was touched by the way that AOP participants’ and facilitators’ artworks were hung alongside each other. The work was rich, varied and expressive. Delicate pen and ink drawings of birds were interspersed with more exploratory collages and monoprints. Embedded in all the work was AOP’s commitment to providing participants with a very wide range of material practices and processes. The photographs of ceramic tiles made as part of the Tile Tale of Trinity Triangle embodied the community ethos of the project. The original ceramic murals can be seen in the furthest reaches of Gotham Alley and are well worth a visit.

For many contributors, the show provided their first experience of exhibiting works to the public and Tara explains how this provided them with important validation and boosted their confidence. 

I was fortunate enough to meet with Daisy Bishop for whom AOP has been transformational in her life. Tara talked of her, and other AOP participants, with such pride and love. Daisy wouldn’t mind me saying that she has been through tough mental health issues that resulted in severe anxiety and discomfort with social situations; now she describes AOP as her second family. “The support I get from everyone in the group is lovely – it makes me feel a part of something and loved,” she tells me. As a direct result of her experiences at, and the support she received from, AOP she is now studying her Level 3 course in Art and Design at Hastings College and hopes to move on to a Foundation Course next year. She not only participates in the many varied workshop activities that AOP organises but also volunteers to help support them herself.

Daisy explains that producing art helps her to feel calm and purposeful. When ‘in the zone’ she can build the strength and resilience to manage her inner world more effectively. “When I first joined I was anxious for weeks until I got used to the people there. No one forced me to say or do anything I wasn’t comfortable with, such as speaking in front of everyone or showing my artwork. Over time I became more relaxed around them and started showing my work. I have made some long-lasting friendships with a lot of the people at AOP and I love them all. I am so grateful to be involved in this as I feel part of a community … and a family.”  

For more information go to  artsonprescription.org

Anyone who’s ever opened a café, bar or restaurant will know that opening dates can often be pushed back… several times. This was certainly the case for Pump House, the new café and deli in Alexandra Park. “We were hoping to be up and running in February, so that we had time to iron out any kinks, but we’ve been thrown in at the deep end…” says Michael Fawcett, who has taken on what was once, as the name suggests, a Victorian pumping station, with Rikki Finegold. 

Both Fawcett and Finegold have impressive foodie CVs. Finegold runs a successful catering company while Fawcett has been in the world of food and drink for many years. He opened Manchester’s famous Greens vegetarian restaurant, has run a bistro in Southern Spain and, prior to his move to Hastings, was general manager at St John’s Tavern in Archway, north London. 

The pair met when their now-grown-up children started at the same school and, says Fawcett, had long wanted to do something together. That something almost happened just as lockdown loomed and so had to be shelved. But then fate intervened. “Rikki said she’d heard something was going on with this old building in the park, so we decided to take my dog for a walk and have a look,” says Fawcett. 

As luck would have it, the owner was on site and the three of them got chatting. “We asked what he was going to do with the place and if he had anyone lined up, and he didn’t.”

And so Pump House was born

Coffee comes courtesy of Redemption Roasters – “proper specialist coffee!” says Fawcett. “They’re in London and actually roast their beans in prison. It’s really good coffee, and the guys who run it also train people in prison to be baristas.” And as well as a selection of cakes and pastries, Pump House’s launch menu, described by Finegold as “New York deli, meets the Med meets Hastings” includes “overstuffed focaccia or ciabatta sandwiches – there’s a BMW (broccoli, mushroom and vegan ricotta) as well as a classic BLT – quiches, soups and salads. 

“At the moment, we’re getting a feel for what people want. We’ll hopefully start doing small plates soon, some charcuterie…” says Fawcett. 

The Pump House is licensed and currently offers a tightly curated selection of white and reds, “I’m using my suppliers from my time at St John’s,” and with warmer weather just around the corner, Fawcett is about to add a rosé, that summer essential, to the mix. 

“We’re licensed until 7pm, and we’re planning on introducing some cocktails. Hopefully people will come down for an early evening drink on our terrace when summer arrives.” 

Being licensed also makes the place perfect for events, something the pair are currently looking into. 

Pump House is dog friendly and also wheelchair accessible. 

Pump House, Alexandra Park, St Helens Road, Hastings, TN34 2EL pumphouse.uk

 Hastings Borough Council and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) last week announced a partnership to renovate six tennis courts in Alexandra Park at a cost of just under £100,000.

The money is being provided as part of a nationwide investment by the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation, delivered by the LTA, to refurbish public tennis courts across Great Britain, with the aim of “opening up the sport to many more people”. It is claimed that park tennis courts are vital in providing opportunities for children and adults to get active, particularly critical to opening up the sport to “those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and women and girls”.

Alongside the investment, Hastings Borough Council “and local tennis providers” will also work with the LTA to deliver a range of activity across the park sites. This will include weekly-organised free tennis sessions for all ages, playing levels and experience where equipment is provided, meaning that people will not need someone to play with or their own racket. Both for these sessions and otherwise, the courts will be available to book online via an LTA website.

Existing clubs Amherst in Hastings and The Green in St Leonards, which already offer generous membership terms and extensive coaching to juniors, are not involved in the renovation of the park courts. But Peter Farthing, head coach at Amherst, believes it’s positive news for tennis in Hastings. “The more merrier,” he said. “It’s great to have a route into tennis via park courts – just as it was in the past. Then, as beginners improve, and seek better quality surfaces and more coaching, the clubs are there to provide them.

Work is due to start on Monday 3 April and be completed by the summer.

An East Sussex County Council (ESCC) spokesperson said last week that alternative options have been “carefully considered” following the decision of Hastings Borough councillors in December to reject the installation of a cycleway through Alexandra Park.  “Having worked on these proposals over a ten-year period, and with no guarantee that an alternative would be feasible, we have decided that we are unable to provide any further resource or funding to develop new proposals on this route at this time,” the spokesperson said.

ESCC is due to enter discussions with South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) to determine how and where remaining externally secured capital funding from the Local Growth Fund programme may be spent. This entails reviewing all schemes within the Hastings and Bexhill Movement and Access package, which include cycle infrastructure proposals in Hastings, to ensure they continue to offer the best value for money and that the funding can be spent by March 2025  – if not, it may presumably, be withdrawn.  “Once agreement has been reached with SELEP, we plan to seek approval from the Lead Member for Transport and Environment [CLLR Claire Dowling] this summer,” the spokesperson said.

For more progressive news on the Hastings Greenway cycleway and pedestrian route, see page 9. 

Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne took up their case, and put in a bid for funding to the Home Office under their Safer Streets programme. In March 2022, Hastings Borough Council (HBC) as owners of the park received a grant in excess of £200,000 to undertake safety improvements.

Now, a year on, according to HBC, cameras have been installed “throughout the park” and lights have been installed along a path running within it near the boundary with St Helens Road. Maintenance contractors Idverde have also conducted a large clearance of vegetation – trees, shrubs and undergrowth – within the vicinity of the path. And that has not been to everyone’s satisfaction.

Dave Smith, a local resident who last year led the successful opposition to the installation of a cycleway through the park (rejected by a vote of the council in December – see below), complains that this clearance has gone far beyond a seasonal cutback and has involved the grubbing out of numerous mature and healthy trees and shrubs. The greenery which used to be a barrier to noise, pollution and visual intrusion from the traffic on St Helens Road, has been stripped away – for no useful purpose, in Mr Smith’s opinion. “Not that there’s anything we can do about it now, sadly.”

Local ward councillor Andy Batsford doesn’t agree, however. In a social media post responding to Mr Smith, he explained that trees had been cut back to allow street lighting and better visibility. “The officers and parks staff work so hard to retain our beautiful parks award status and would do nothing to put that at risk. Nothing sinister going on apart from works agreed to make the park safe for all. Like all pruning, it looks harsh but it will grow back and look great.”

There was a clear natural cause of the flood which engulfed Priory Meadow, South Terrace and other parts of the town centre, as well as Alexandra Park, in the early morning of Monday 16 January: over an inch and a half of rain falling in a few hours on ground that was already saturated.

The human machinery – drains, pipes and pumps beneath the ground that are supposed to direct water flows from the Priory Stream out into the English Channel – simply couldn’t cope. But whether that was because of defects in their operation, including blockages in the pipes or drains, malfunctioning of the pumps, or a whole system that was inadequate for its task, remains to be argued in the weeks, months, possibly years ahead.

Southern Water, the company responsible for maintenance of the system, issued a statement asserting that “our assets continued to work properly throughout the latest bout of floods”. Alex Saunders, head of their wastewater networks pointed to “months of exceptional rain” which had left the ground waterlogged. Rivers in the area such as the Brede and Rother have burst their banks. “Every fresh fall of rain has nowhere to go,” he said.

The local Met office has confirmed that 40 mm of rain (1.58 inches) fell in the 24 hours up to 9am on the Monday morning – not quite beating the January record of 42.9mm (1.69 inches) set in 1879.

Why previous floods?

However, John Bownas, acting as promoter and advocate of businesses in the town centre as manager of Love Hastings Ltd, is far from happy to accept that the flood tide should be ascribed to a freak of nature. If the system was working as designed, which is what Southern Water seem to be contending, why have there been other more minor floods in the area in recent years? “The big question is – what was different about that Monday from similar weather patterns?” he asks.

Property insurance companies seem to have already rated Hastings town centre as an area of high flood risk and have either refused cover or offered it at such prohibitive premiums or large excesses that few (if any) businesses will have any aid from that quarter. It could be that this rating arises from the proximity of the sea rather than from the threat of surface water or river overflow. Mr Bownas suggests that’s something to investigate.

In any event, virtually every business in Priory Meadow was affected, with Primark’s ground floor left wholly under water, and HMV, Hastings Furniture Service and Subway among those suffering major loss and damage. Marks & Spencer were able to reopen on the following day; many others lost trade all week. The only retail shop that, as of the start of this week, has announced permanent closure in the aftermath is Handsome Bicycles in Harold Place (see Low, Wet and Handsome No Longer). Mr Bownas says he is hoping all others will “pull through”. But, as he added: “If you’re independent, you’ve got a heavy load to bear.”

South Terrace, to the east of Priory Meadow, is the lowest-lying street in the town centre and, not for the first time, suffered the deepest water accumulation, one car in the street being virtually submerged. The Quaker Meeting House at no. 5 has had to be abandoned for the time being, last Sunday’s meeting being rearranged to take place at the Salvation Army premises in St Andrew’s Square, which escaped damage.

As part of the latest stages of refurbishment, workers from Clarke & Baker, a surfacing company based at Ninfield, near Battle, have removed old paving from the greenhouse and prepared the floor for flat and reliable concrete tiles. The previous floor will be used to build a decorative wall in the space, which is being turned into a centre for nurturing and selling plants, talks, and courses to encourage people to grow garden plants and food.

Linda Pearson, chairman of the Alexandra Park Greenhouse Group, explained that funds donated by Hastings Round Table and a grant from the National Lottery were being used to pay for the work. She said: “We asked for the funding so that we can have a flat, trip-free floor for the community’s safety.”

Apart from its regular schedule of plant-based activities, the greenhouse space will also be available for community use, horticultural exhibitions, small concerts and social gatherings 12 months of the year.

Additionally, a new roof of reinforced glass panels is being installed after a successful fund-raising campaign Let’s Raise the Roof. Find out more about the greenhouse and its services at our-greenhouse.org

The cabinet of Hastings Borough Council (HBC), shorn of Green councillors since the breakup in October of their party’s coalition with Labour, met on 5 December. Items on the agenda were the hotly contested plans for a cycle route through Alexandra Park; safety works to the Buckshole Reservoir; plans for a major overhaul of the East Cliff Railway; and next year’s fees and charges.

Cycle route through Alexandra Park

Cllr Ali Roark, Chair of the Environment Committee, presented a 100-page report on the previously aired plan for a cycle route through Alexandra Park.

The proposal is for a shared cycle/walking path through the Grade-II listed park with new paths constructed in accordance with independent road safety and equalities impact assessments undertaken by East Sussex County Council (ESCC). They are fully funding it, but the promise of money is time-limited and could be withdrawn if there are further serious delays. The plans were first drawn up almost seven years ago in January 2016.

Cllr Roark acknowledged that the cycle route had “attracted some controversy”, to the extent that she felt the issue should go before the full council so that “all councillors and all political groups get the chance to vote on whether it should go ahead.”  She would, however, would be speaking in favour of the project in the full council meeting.

Paul Barnett, not only in his role as leader of the council but as chair of its Regeneration and Climate Change committee, also supported it, as an integral part of a much wider cycle route across the town which would connect those people who did not drive.

The cabinet voted unanimously to recommend the report be passed to the full council meeting this Thursday 15 December for a final decision on the plan. 

Buckshole Reservoir Improvement Works

The council was required to make improvements to the reservoir in 2016 following a safety inspection, which identified a risk to the town centre of flooding. The original budget for the works was approved in January 2020. Upgrade work was delayed because of the Covid crisis, however, and a sharp increase in capital costs since the pandemic has created a financial headache for the council, as the originally allocated budget has not been sufficient to cover all the works. 

The cabinet was informed that the safety works have now been completed apart from the area around the reservoir, which will be left as bare soil until the spring, when new trees will be planted to restore it to its former natural beauty.

However, Cllr Maya Evans, the deputy leader of HBC and chair of the Housing & Community Development committee, told her colleagues that the council was now proactively looking for funding to cover important safety works to its legacy assets, not only relating to the reservoir but also to the cliffs around the town which are eroding and need netting installed to prevent any threat to the public from falling rocks. The council had a duty to undertake the works but were not being given the necessary funding to do so. In consequence, local MP Sally-Ann Hart has been asked to work with them to seek additional government funding

Cllr Evans said she met with Mrs Hart last month, and they discussed making an application to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for funding under the Bellwin scheme – named after an Environment minister of the 1980s to provide local authorities with emergency financial assistance for costs incurred on, or in connection with, their immediate actions to safeguard life and property. 

Sally-Ann Hart has confirmed subsequently to HIP that she has written both to Thérèse Coffey, the DEFRA Secretary of State, and to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), in support of HBC’s funding application.

The MP said she had also written to the CEO of Southern Water asking for financial help from that company to fund the council’s additional costs. She suggested it would be a gesture of goodwill by the water company to the town after their recent unacceptable performance in releasing raw sewage into local waters.

East Hill Cliff Railway Major Works

HBC looks set to give the go-ahead to plans for a major overhaul of the East Cliff Railway. The funicular has been closed since October when a series of faults to the track were discovered. The last time it underwent a similar refurbishment was back in 1973.

The railway, which was opened in 1902, will require the replacement of concrete pillars and rails and the removal of the lift cars, and this will require specialist contractors. Because of this, the Cabinet backed plans for a derogation from the normal procurement process to allow a preferred contractor to be appointed and to advise the council on the likely cost and timescale of the work. It is hoped the works can be completed as soon as possible, with the aim of re-opening the railway before the start of next summer.

Cllr Andy Batsford, chair of the Health and Culture committee, said the funicular, which is claimed to be the steepest railway in the UK, “was one of the town’s key cultural and tourist assets and attracted visitors from across the globe.”  The money to bring it back to life, he added, “would be money well spent, as it would generate so much more income for the town than it would cost to repair.”

This view was endorsed by Cllr Barnett, who added that the railway generated over £250,000 annually in ticket sales, which was “more than its servicing costs but not enough to cover the major overhaul which was now required.”

Council Fees and Charges 

The Cabinet also considered the annual report on fees and charges for 2023-24 to be set against the costs of provide essential services and to supplement government funding.

Cllr Simon Willis, the chair of the Finance and Equalities committee, said this year’s review had been a very challenging process. Council costs have increased significantly, due to inflation, and this has meant that the fees charged by the council would have to increase simply to cover costs. He stressed, however, that the council was aware of the need to “balance these increases with the financial situation many of our residents will be in”; as a result, the proposals put to the cabinet “are mainly below the current inflation rate”. Nevertheless, it is proposed that fees and charges will be increased by 10%. This will net an additional £600,000 of income, which will allow the council to continue to fund services rather than make deep cuts.

The cost of an off-street parking annual season ticket will rise from £765 to £840.  A quarterly ticket rises from £215 to £235, the monthly ticket from £85 to £95, and the weekly ticket from £35 to £40.

Whilst most planning and licensing charges have not increased, some services will see larger increases. The cost for use of the chapel as part of the cemetery and crematorium fees will increase by 74% from £149 to £259. Councillor Willis explained that this was because this fee had not increased in years, and it would still be competitive when compared with other councils.

Cabinet members who attended the meeting in addition to those mentioned above were John Cannan (Charity Committee) and Judy Rogers (Community Safety, Governance and Disabled Access).

CREDIT: Kevin Boorman/HBC

Beneath a blue sky that emptied of clouds for almost precisely the hour’s length of the religious service, the park audience stood or sat in the sun, the majority motionless and outwardly emotionless, as all the pomp, ceremony and musical crescendos of 70 miles away were paraded in front of them in zoom-lens close-up and audio hi-fi.

The mayor James Bacon, leader of the council Paul Barnett and other local dignitaries were among the crowd but kept a low profile. No speeches or other interventions were made. The only moment of active community engagement came when, at the end of the service, the televised choir and brass ensemble struck up a rendering of
God Save The King. Virtually the whole audience stood up in recognition of…well, whatever the new monarch may signify to each of them. 

Over the previous week, civic roles were performed in the manner expected of the officers concerned. On Friday 9 September Cllr Bacon sent condolences “on behalf of the people of Hastings” to Buckingham Palace and the Royal Family, and laid a wreath at the war memorial in Alexandra Park to join other floral tributes collected there. Flags at Hastings Town Hall in Queen’s Road and at the borough council offices at Muriel Matters House were lowered to half-mast; they were raised temporarily on Sunday 11 to mark the proclamation of King Charles III’s accession to the throne, which was read out that afternoon by Cllr Bacon to a small gathering at Queen Square; then they were lowered again until after the funeral.

At 8pm on Sunday 18 Septemeber dignitaries including the mayor and deputy mayor Cllr Margi O’Callaghan stood for a National Minute of Silence for Reflection outside the Town Hall.

On one side HIP encountered HUB (Hastings Urban Bikes) and the Hastings Greenway Group, congregated around a table of explanatory leaflets. “This is information-giving, not a demonstration,” said Gordon Russell, Greenway Group chair. Accompanying members emphasised the long history of cycling (albeit illegally) in the park and claimed not to know of any reported incidents. They stressed the bigger context of the struggle to establish Hastings Greenway as a car-free, mainly off-road route across town over the last 25 years.

‘You’ll always get some problem cyclists, and we don’t condone anyone who is inconsiderate,’ added Russell. “No-one wants high speeds.” 

Claire Carr and Glenn Haffenden; Dave Smith; Justine McKellar

Green party councillors Glenn Haffenden and Claire Carr had come to observe both perspectives. “There need to be safe routes for everyone participating in active travel,” said Haffenden, going on to reassure a questioner that in order to widen existing paths, “there’d be no cutting of trees, only moving of turf.”

Hostile mood

Among those opposed to the cycleway the mood was less calm, with protestors asserting shared use to be unsafe and claiming direct experience of bad behaviour from cyclists. Older people, the mobility-impaired and small children were seen as in jeopardy.

As counterpoint to continual references to rudeness and aggression from cyclists, when two people on bikes passed slowly by, the mood instantly became hostile. Angry shouts of “get off”, “selfish” and “against the law” rose from this crowd. As further indication of the tension, two people at the HUB table said: “We’re for it [the cycleway], but didn’t dare bring our bikes here.”

Justine McKellar, visually impaired and using a white stick, felt that a shared user cycle route would “ruin the park” for her. Already frustrated by cyclists, as well as cars half parked on pavements, this should be a space where she could feel safe. “Cyclists should have segregated space, but they want our space. Lots of vulnerable park users feel intimidated,” said Justine. “I’m not anti-bike, I ride on the rear half of a tandem with my sister, but we dismount in shared spaces.”

Dave Smith organiser of the ‘Supporters of Alexandra Park’ protest said: “We’re anti this route. not anti-cyclist” He felt divisions over the plan were exacerbated by Hastings’ remoteness from East Sussex County Council (ESCC) HQ in Lewis. “They don’t come and get involved… ESCC spend millions on the Brighton to Polegate cycle route but nothing here.”

Contradictions

Suggested alternatives, opinions and, frequently, contradictions abounded. Some thought funding was agreed, others claimed otherwise. “Why not make Upper Park Road one way with diagonal parking and put the cycle route there?” suggested a voice from the crowd. “Too expensive,” replied another.

People arguing against a dual pedestrian/cycle path repeatedly stressed an age divide: older walkers, younger cyclists.  Yet those present on the day contradicted this view with a widespread of ages in both groups. Cyclists ranged from parents with toddlers to over 70s, and included people with disabilities.

Of concern to all were possible ‘pinch points’, such as outside the main toilet block (focus of the anti-cycleway gathering) and in the steeper northern section of the park. There was ubiquitous fear of vehicle traffic, despair at potholes and concern at continual transport underfunding. “It’s cars that damage people,” said Russell. 

Currently the project has the approval of both ESCC and Hastings Borough Council. Work is due to commence later this year.

Correction: 15 July 2022

In the news report Shared route, little common ground in HIP 204, reference was made to a potential alternative cycle route on Upper Park Road.  This was incorrectly reported: the proffered alternative was on Lower Park Road.

Celebrating the royal family can be a bit divisive. We are not all monarchists, so the Jubilee may bring some people out in republican hives. However, Tara Reddy from ‘Art in The Park’ and her niece Megan Donfrancesco Reddy, from The Dirty Old Gallery, have found a clever way around the political minefield by posing the question, Who Is YOUR Queen?  

As Megan says, “it is basically about celebrating someone in your life who you think deserves a crown.” Anyone, from professional artists to dilettantes and doodlers, can contribute a piece of art to the Dirty Old Gallery in Old Town. Submissions must arrive by May 29. There will then be an exhibition at D.O.G in June. There will also be a free art workshop for children happening at the old bowling green venue (home of Art in the Park) in Alexandra Park on 5 June, when kids will be encouraged to get messy with their own monarch. This will be a part of a whole family-oriented Jubilee Picnic in the beautiful park. 

Left: By Sara; Right: By Rose

Art in the Park has only been in place since Easter, but Tara Reddy has already established an extraordinary range of activities and classes. There are all manner of options, such as well-being Wednesdays, Kids workshops on Thursdays, Qigong, painting workshops and various taster days. Tara has several local artists, such as Louise Whitham, Alice Mason and Marta Munoz, helping her at different times. She also appreciates offers of help from volunteers. And one of the things on offer on Tuesday mornings is life drawing inside the old clubhouse.  We decided to go along. Tara facilitates the whole thing in a very welcoming way and with great enthusiasm. The model, on this occasion, was the poet Jemia de Blondville. It was only her second time of modelling but she was brilliant, holding her poses with an impressive stillness. 

Although many artists will say that drawing the human form is the bedrock of learning to draw, it is also true that life drawing is curiously therapeutic. Tara is the driving force behind Arts on Prescription – a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping people enhance their emotional well-being. This can be part of a way of helping people who have issues impacting on their mental health but it also can be just about reducing isolation or loneliness. There is no pressure in these drawing classes, the atmosphere is non-judgemental and people soon enter that meditative state you reach when you are seriously looking at something. Attempting to draw a hand, for example, can send you into a peculiar trance when everything else around, except this particular hand, dissolves into nothingness. Some gentle cello recordings also helped. 

On a more prosaic note, materials are provided and there are several types of easel to work from. There is also a cup of tea in the break, when everyone can have a bit of chat and get to know each other.  The whole experience was actually lovely. 

If you think this might be for you, it would be advisable to contact Tara first –the space in the clubhouse is relatively small. Having said that, Tara is keen that drawing might occur on the green itself with bigger groups but, obviously, the model will not be entirely naked. Hastings is not quite ready for that, I feel.  

Overall, we left with a roll of messy charcoal drawings but also a sense that Tara really is an extraordinary woman. In fact, I think she is our Queen. 

• More information about ‘Art in the Park’ – including a call out for a proposed ceramic mural in Trinity Triangle and the Jubilee Picnic on 5 June can be found on www.artsonprescription.org

A new walking group to help men open up about their mental health has come to Hastings. MenWalkTalk is a mental health charity that aims to bring men together to walk, talk and share their feelings. 

The charity was started in January 2020 by founder and CEO Matt P, who had been struggling with his own mental health due to troubles at work with stress. Six months earlier, he had decided to take part in a fundraiser for Samaritans called ‘Samarathon’ ─ run, jog or walk 26.2miles throughout July. After walking one mile every day to work, he found that his new routine significantly improved his mood and felt that it could help other people too.

“I remember on my walks seeing loads of guys walking or running on their own, and I thought rather than just a nod of the head or a good morning, what if we could have a more in-depth conversation?” Matt P said. “I was aware that there were probably a lot of people struggling that were unable to say it out loud. So, I decided to set up a walking and talking group for Littlehampton, and it just took off from there.”

MenWalkTalk received funding to set up a group in Hastings through Hastings Mind after a men’s consultation in the local branch found that there was a desire for a men’s walking group in the area. The charity has walking groups set up predominantly across the South Coast, with walks in Brighton, Worthing and now Hastings. But they have plans to expand their reach further so that there is always a group near anyone that may need it across the country.

There was a good turnout for the first walk on Saturday 27 February with eight people of all ages and backgrounds (and a dog) taking part. The walk was run by Brighton volunteer and walking group leader Matt S. He told HIP that attendees are welcome to contribute to the conversation and say as much or as little as they want. There is no pressure to talk. People are more than welcome to come along for a bit of fresh air and exercise.

He added, “I am there to listen and to offer support. You can’t make somebody open up, but it’s about trying to facilitate that. If somebody doesn’t want to talk because there are too many people, I will hang back and give them that space to talk without the pressure of other people.”

• All walks are free to attend by men over 18 and last for around 1.5 hours. The next monthly Hastings walk will be
on Sunday 27 March at 10.30am, meeting outside Eat @ the Park Café in Alexandra Park. 

• To find out more or to sign up for the next walk, visit their website www.menwalktalk.co.uk  

AoP was founded in 2019 by community activist Tara Reddy to link patients suffering from depression, loneliness or anxiety with local artists who can, in the words of the company website, provide “creative, reminiscence and confidence-building activities to enhance wellbeing and reduce social isolation”. Its output has been available for prescription by local GPs and other health professionals over the past two years. However, the social restrictions enforced from the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic have meant that it has been mainly been conducted online hitherto. Now it will have a permanent physical base, albeit with an initial commitment for only one year.

Back in February 2020 the council resolved to cease paying for the upkeep of the bowling green in its 2020/21 budget. The site has subsequently been maintained by the park contractors Idverde over the past two summers as a standard grass area. Then, in the summer of 2021, the council undertook a low profile promotion asking for ‘expressions of interest’ to be submitted by alternative commercial or community enterprises. 

CREDIT: Felix Sullivan

The commercial viability of the site appeared diminished by a stipulation that there was to be no public provision of tea, coffee, soft drinks, ice creams or light snacks, which would compete with a kiosk already rented out at one end. HBC’s cabinet was told last week that, nevertheless, six organisations put in tenders. One sought to develop a pre-school sporting facility; others proposed respectively a community farm and farm shop; a centre for children and families including baby and toddler sessions; a dog grooming business; and a mixed-use facility including for outdoor leisure and private hire. 

“A natural setting”

The bids were “of quite a high standard”, Cllr Peter Chowney, HBC’s financial portfolio holder, told a meeting of HBC’s cabinet last week, and the one received from AoP was not the best financially – in fact the initial year’s rent would be limited to £1,000 without full repairing obligations. But he praised the idea of providing mental health benefits “in a natural setting”; the “social value” of the bid should, he argued, put it first. 

There is some irony in the probability that the loss of the bowling greens has itself led to problems of isolation and inactivity. At the time of removing the subsidy for them, Cllr Andy Batsford, then HBC’s leisure services lead member, issued a statement admitting that “bowling is a great way to prevent elderly isolation and keep
active. We want to make sure we preserve this traditional sporting pastime”.

But, nearly two years on, Cllr Paul Barnett, deputy leader of the council, made a strong speech in cabinet in support of AoP’s provision, referring to serious mental health issues in his Hollington ward among younger age groups and to an increasing gap in life expectancy between rich and poor. “It is not in the main because older people are running out of puff after a lifetime of sweat”, he declared. “It is more shocking than that. It is younger people, particularly younger men, who are killing themselves in middle age.” 

Major maintenance and safety work at Buckshole Reservoir, which started back in September, has been put on hold until next spring.

A Hastings Borough Council (HBC) spokeswoman has attributed the delays in the work to “uncertainties around the weather going into the winter, with higher rainfall and reservoir levels, which could have caused additional risk and delay to the completion of the works”. Lower temperatures may have compromised the strength of any concrete work attempted to be laid, which rendered postponement “necessary”.

CREDIT: Ben Cornwell

In January 2020 HBC allocated the sum of £837,000 from its capital budget and £62,775 per year from its revenue budget to undertake the works in 2021. The start of construction work was delayed from August until late September for reasons which have not been made clear, and all work has now ceased for the winter. 

It has been suggested that the postponement will lead to an overall increase in expenditure  of £170,000. But while the council neither confirmed nor denied this figure, it maintains there was no financial reason for either the delay in starting the project or the decision to pause and restart in the spring.  A council spokeswoman added that the contingency budget agreed by the full council would cover any additional costs incurred.

Why the works are needed

The reservoir is one of three in Alexandra Park, established more than 150 years ago. While it may not serve its initial purpose of supplying drinking water to the residents of Hastings, it is still considered a valuable asset to the town in terms of fishing, recreation and wildlife.

The council has a legal obligation to undertake annual and ten-yearly inspections of qualifying reservoirs under the Reservoirs Act 1975. Buckshole is categorised as a category ‘A’ dam, meaning that there is likely to be loss of life if it fails, hence works must be completed to the highest standard. 

A detailed inspection of the reservoirs in 2016 identified the need for improvement works at Shornden and Buckshole Reservoirs. While the works at Shornden Reservoir were completed in 2018, further assessments and studies were needed to determine the scope of work required for Buckshole. The inspections were undertaken by the council’s specialist reservoir engineers, Stillwater Associates, against national standards set by the Environment Agency for reservoir safety and flood risk.  

CREDIT: Ben Cornwell

They determined that Buckshole needed a new outlet pipe installed within the existing overflow structure, which would allow it to drain quickly should there ever be a problem with the dam. A new replacement spillway channel — which will be bigger to ensure that it can cope and protect the dam from the largest predicted floods — will also be constructed, as the original has aged and deteriorated beyond repair. 

Environmental consequences

The council has confirmed that any trees removed will be replaced and replanted once the work has been completed. Dr McCabe’s Well, a spring located within the fenced enclosure at the top of St Helen’s Road, appears to have been carefully preserved with separate fencing around the spring’s plaque. Named after its creator Peter McCabe, a former mayor of Hastings in 1838 and 1843, the spring has been a part of the park’s history since the 19th century as a supply of clean water.

However, park users are upset that the suspension of works has left parts of the park ravaged and obstructed. Mary Boorman, who lives in Battle but visits regularly, describes its condition as “a real shame…I love the park,” she said. “We do not have a nice big park like this in Battle, so I try to come down here as much as I can. Now you cannot easily get through.” But she said she understood that there is “very little that the council can do” to prevent areas and footpaths being fenced off.

A Hastings couple walking their dogs in the park were confused why the footpath had to remain shut for the next few months. “They have postponed the works now and left it in an absolute mess,” one said. “I can understand the decision to leave the area fenced off as they will need to access it again when the works resume. But if they are not working for a few months, why not reopen the footpath to the public over winter rather than making us have to go out of the park, past the barriers and then back in?”

The council has indicated that the lower footpath through the park between the public toilets and the reservoir will be closed for safety reasons for the duration of the works, while the footpath on St Helen’s Road will stay open subject to short periods of closure to allow construction vehicles in and out of the site.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic the council had already resolved to cease paying for the upkeep of the green in its 2020/21 budget. It has been maintained by the park contractors Idverde over the past two summers as a standard grass area. However, in recent weeks the council has undertaken a low profile promotion asking for ‘expressions of interest’ to be submitted by commercial or community concerns who may put forward alternative uses. These should come within the general F2 Local Community use introduced by the Business & Planning Act 2020, which entails recreational and sporting use or the supply of “essential” goods; otherwise planning permission for a change would be required. 

CREDIT: Felix Sullivan

The single storey clubhouse offers a large main room, kitchen and changing room below a pitched roof and attractive clock tower. The commercial viability of the site appears clearly diminished by a stipulation that there is to be no public provision of tea, coffee, soft drinks, ice creams or light snacks, which would compete with a kiosk already rented out at one end.

According to the council estates office, there have been two ‘expressions of interest’ received, but it would not comment on the nature of them as they are “commercially sensitive”.

Trees are grown from saplings for up to 10 years before getting the chop in preparation for their brief moment of glittering glory in our living rooms. Twelfth night heralds the undressing of the trees and the unceremonious trip to the dump or recycling centre. In Hastings the final destination for many Christmas trees is Harmer’s Walk at the top end of Alexandra Park. This year it does indeed seem as though there are more trees than ever before. A remarkable variety of species has been on display. Some remain swaddled in sales packaging having never fulfilled their intended destiny. One or two still have a lone bauble attached.

The mass Christmas tree graveyard is a rather sad sight. It seems somewhat wasteful to cut down trees in order to decorate our homes for just a few short weeks. An estimated 50% of UK families opt for artificial trees thus avoiding both disposal issues and the inevitable residue of pine needles in cars and living rooms. In terms of sustainability, a good quality artificial tree may last for years but most are made of non-recyclable and non-biodegradable materials and end up languishing for hundreds of years in landfills. 

Putting a conifer in a small pot is a bit like putting a cod in a goldfish bowl

In contrast, living trees contribute oxygen to the environment whilst growing and when Christmas is over they can be recycled. The trees are shredded and transformed into municipal compost or mulch. They can even be used to help stabilise sand dunes. Finally, for those of us lucky enough to have a garden there is also the option of a pot grown tree with roots. Putting a conifer in a small pot is a bit like putting a cod in a goldfish bowl as the smallest of these trees will eventually grow to over 20ft if planted out. It pays to choose a small tree and check out the variety before purchasing. However, with a bit of luck and careful management a
potted tree will tolerate the annual Christmas ritual for several years whilst dropping very few needles and avoiding the trip to the Christmas tree graveyard.

Proposed cuts in the Hastings Borough Council (HBC) 2020/21 budget will affect many areas of town life from shortening of museum opening hours to rescheduling of street cleaning services. Amongst savings of nearly £1.8m, there is one item that could hit hardest upon the sporting life of the town – reduction of £20,000 in the subsidies paid for the upkeep of bowling greens.

There are, according to council figures, around 310 members of bowls clubs spread, in aggregate, over eight teams across the borough. Most play at one of three principal bowling areas currently provided with a pavilion and greens maintained by the council: at White Rock Gardens, West Marina and Alexandra Park.  Up to last year each of these three areas was servicing multiple clubs: White Rock, Rosemount, Hastings and Hastings Visually Impaired at White Rock; St Leonards and Observer at West Marina; Alexandra and Clive Vale at Alexandra Park. 

Bowling at White Rock

Why the duplication? You might as well ask why AC Milan and Inter Milan share the San Siro stadium. It’s a matter of history, and most of the bowls clubs in Hastings have a long one. The Alexandra club celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2018. However, it folded last year after being hit with an annual fee of £1,000 to use the pavilion. And it seems that HBC now intends to withdraw from 1st April the maintenance of the greens at both Alexandra Park and West Marina which is currently undertaken by its estate contractors, Idverde.  Members of the various clubs at these locations can instead, it is suggested, join one of the clubs at White Rock, where there are still four greens that will apparently continue to be maintained. 

A long-term future?

The secretary of White Rock BC, Simon Moore, is not unwelcoming but seems doubtful that many of these ousted players will either be willing to transfer their sporting allegiance or, if they do, that there is a long-term future for the sport, even at White Rock.  Each individual green costs up to £10,000 per year to maintain there, the head green-keeper has told him, in an uncontrolled area open to the public to abuse or misuse. Paying that level of upkeep on top of ever-increasing charges for pavilion maintenance and insurance is beyond the means of ordinary club members, and would drive them out altogether. There are currently less than 70 of them at his club.

Car parking at White Rock, for which the bowlers compete with tourist traffic is also a big issue: East Sussex County Council, who control the roadways, offer no dedicated concessions, other than an extension of the 4-hour maximum stay generally applying in and around Falaise Road.

Volunteers

Aren’t most sports clubs in town, and certainly in surrounding villages, kept alive and kicking by volunteer labour – whole cricket grounds mown by the local farmer on his tractor, pavilions and clubhouses swept and kept by dedicated associates? The typical age range of most bowls club members no doubt reduces voluntary offers of this kind, and Mr Moore laments the difficulty of organising any reliable volunteers for the services his club needs.

On the other hand, one could point to Hollington Old Church Bowls Club off Wishing Tree Road. They do not own their clubhouse or green, renting both from the Trustees of the Gibbons Memorial Playing Field. However, their club chairman, Malcolm Sealby, confirms that they do not receive any subsidy from either the Trustees or from HBC, and accept sole responsibility for the upkeep of their playing facilities. 

Council statements

HBC’s leisure services lead member, Cllr Andy Batsford, has issued a statement: “Bowling is a great way to prevent elderly isolation and keep active. We want to make sure we preserve this traditional sporting pastime, but we have to be honest about the fact that we can’t afford the current subsidy for the clubs in Hastings.

“It’s really important to stress that we want to work with the bowling clubs and the larger community to look at ways of addressing the funding pressures we face as a town. The subsidy level for bowling is significant, especially when it is compared to the levels of subsidy that other sports receive. I really hope that we can achieve a way forward”.

The council’s proposal to remove Idverde maintenance from the greens at West Marina and Alexandra Park seems to have come very precipitately.  But, according to HBC, discussions with the clubs have been taking place since 2016 with the aim of reducing the council’s subsidy –“Unfortunately, despite the work done to date, no viable option has been found”. And at a meeting between HBC’s Resort Manager and representatives of the affected clubs held on 31st January, the latter were invited, according to an HBC spokesperson, “to propose alternative ways of operation that could reduce the level of subsidy currently in place, and to prepare for the changes and the need to relocate to a central venue if no alternative can ultimately be found”.

As Mr Moore points out, the restoration of a green that has been left to seed for even a season or two would be very difficult. Closure of pavilions doesn’t mothball them either. The clubs may have been made an offer they can’t refuse. But what are the council’s intentions for the emptied facilities left behind? Just more monuments in the wasteland of what was once municipal glory?

These green spaces are among a record-breaking 1,970 UK parks and green spaces and 131 in thirteen other countries around the world that will today receive a prestigious Green Flag Award – the mark of a quality park or green space.

Colin Fitzgerald, lead councillor for environmental services said: “The awards recognise our parks are maintained to the highest standards in the UK.”

The Environment Agency has confirmed that the water at Shornden Reservoir near Clarence Road in Alexandra Park has high levels of blue-green algae. This can produce a scum that is toxic to animals and can potentially harm people. 

Hastings Borough Council is monitoring the situation and have put up signs around the affected areas warning people and pets to stay out of the water.

Freshwater algal blooms are usually the result of an excess of nutrients, particularly phosphorus or nitrogen. Sources of the excess chemicals can be garden and agricultural fertilisers as well as household products. 

Blue-green algal blooms often persist for several weeks or months, depending mainly on the weather or flow conditions. Cooler, windy weather or increased flow may reduce or prevent blooms from occurring. A spokesperson for HBC said: “Fortunately this natural phenomenon will go away in time when temperatures drop significantly, but this is unlikely to happen until the winter.”

•  Please report any suspected sightings of blue-green algae to the Environment Agency on their incident hotline [24hrs service] 0800 80 70 60

All profits from sales at their plant store will be ploughed into the refurbishment of this beautiful timber-framed structure. 

Chequered history
Built in the 1930s by Richardson of Darlington, and originally used by Hastings Council parks department to propagate plants, the greenhouse later fell derelict and for a time housed a statute of Prince Albert – removed from the town centre clock tower in 1973.

There was once also a popular petting zoo (many middle-aged people recall it as where they first saw rabbits) but when this ceased in the 1980s the site became completely overgrown. The future of this 100m teak-framed (one of the reasons it survived) greenhouse looked bleak until a group of volunteers, drawn initially from the Friends of Alexandra Park, began the slow process of rescue and restoration in 2014.

Linda Pearson

Rival and renewal
Led by Linda Pearson – and with the support of park ranger Nick Hennessey and Terry Drinkwater of Parks and Gardens – a dedicated group of amateurs and experts have since cleared the plot. Granted a 25-year lease by Hastings Council and now a registered charity with three trustees and 20 regular volunteers the group estimates essential internal and external repairs will cost at least £70,000. A new roof, including a 10m-zinc section, and toughened safety glass throughout, are two of the larger jobs. Many people have already donated skills and time to relay floors and build flowerbeds (with surplus bricks from the Bohemia walled garden). The building now has an electricity supply, but there remains the original cast iron guttering to restore, not to mention plans for solar panels… 

Helping hands
Businesses both local and national – including Tesco and Greggs – have contributed with small grants. Local firms have also helped hugely: Dynamic Scaffolding provided a temporary roof completely free of charge and Timbercraft used wood from the old pier to construct internal plant beds.

The overall idea is not just the restoration of a beautiful building but also the creation of a community space for people of all ages. In Linda’s words “I see it as a happy, lovely place the community can use, a place to look and learn.”

Already young people with learning difficulties from a local college use the greenhouse and in future it could accommodate a grannies and babies group. Arts activities, with support from local creative people are also being discussed. 

Future plans
In addition to regular local fundraising through events and plant sales the scheme hopes to get grants from education, health & well-being and heritage trusts and charities, while in the long term becoming increasingly financially self sufficient. To achieve these aims at some point a paid social coordinator may need to be appointed. Meanwhile the greenhouse restoration project needs people with ideas and the wherewithal to implement schemes, in particular a treasurer experienced in accounting/bookkeeping to replace the current trustee and initiate a crowd-funding appeal, and someone to run the group’s social media.

For visitors 
The season is in full swing with events including:

• 11th May Local florist Katie@flowerhowpresents.co.uk holding a workshop making garlands for those taking part in the May Queen celebrations

• 26th May Chelsea week plant sale

• 21st July Bird Song fund-raising concert by Harmony One Choir at Hastings Museum, 3pm to 5pm. Tickets £10.00 includes tea and cake

• 7th AugustHBC playday in the park

• 9th December Christmas event

• More information: on 26 bus route, parking nearby – please note the greenhouse can only be accessed from St. Helens Road. www.greenhousealexpark.com

This year, for the first time, Cancer Research UK is inviting everyone in the area – women, men and children – to join the Race for Life. There are events for people of all ages and abilities taking place at Alexandra Park on Sunday, 9 June.   

As an added incentive, there’s 30% off entry fees during January with the code RFL30. 

Our Race for Life events are fun, colourful, emotional and uplifting. They help people with cancer by raising money for research, including clinical trials which give patients in Hastings access to the latest treatments. 

You don’t have to be sporty to take part.  You don’t need to train or compete against anyone else.  All you need to do is go to the Race for Life website, pick an event, sign up and then have fun raising money in whatever way you like.

Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, in partnership with Tesco, is an inspiring series of 5k, 10k, Pretty Muddy and Pretty Muddy Kids events which raise millions of pounds every year to help beat cancer by funding crucial research. 

Taking part in these events enables like-minded people to get together and remember loved ones lost to cancer or celebrate the lives of those who have survived.  At the same time, they are helping to make a difference to people with cancer, right now. 

Our Race for Life events have been women-only since they started, over 25 years ago.  But we now feel the time is right to open them up so that everyone – women, men and children – has the chance to participate together. 

One in two people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer, at some point during their lifetime.  Sadly, this means nearly everyone is touched by the disease, either directly or through a loved one or friend.  

To make a significant difference in the fight against cancer we need to harness as much energy and commitment as possible – so what better way than involving everyone in the community in our events.

Thanks to everyone who raises money, Cancer Research UK is able to fund research to fight 200 types of cancer.  The good news is more people are surviving the disease than ever before. Cancer survival in the UK has doubled since the early 1970s and Cancer Research UK’s work has been at the heart of that progress.

• To enter Race for Life today visit raceforlife.org or call 0300 123 0770.

• Jenny Ainsworth is Cancer Research UK’s Hastings Event Manager.

Wild Hastings photography exhibition
A free and accessible exhibition at Hastings Rail Station until 31 January 2019. Hastings’ urban areas are interspersed with and surrounded by many wild and green spaces. The photographers featured here have created images in response to their feelings of connection with these natural environments

Email: marybethhaas@ymail.com for access to the exhibition without a rail ticket.

Good example
A north London supermarket has become Britain’s first to introduce plastic-free zones in a move campaigners hope will spur the giant chains to follow suit.

Thornton Budgens in Belsize Park has converted more than 1,700 product lines to non-plastic packaging over the past 10 weeks in an attempt to take the store “virtually plastic-free” within three years. The supermarket claims to have become a “public experiment” in how to retail food more sustainably

Andrew Thornton, who owns the Budgens franchise, said: “We’re hoping that what we’re doing here will challenge the likes of Sainsbury’s, Tesco and others. As soon as one of them turns round to the big producers such as Coca-Cola, Heinz or Unilever and says ‘unless you stop sending us products in plastic, we’re not going to stock them’, change will come very quickly.”

Unique conifer
Hastings residents Max and Lee Colton have donated a rare Wollemi pine to Alexandra Park. This most unusual tree was discovered in Australia in 1994, previously only being known through fossil records. Thanks to a propagation programme the pine is now being grown across the world.

Reaching up to 40m in height it has a unique brown and knobbly bark and makes a welcome addition to the park’s already superb specimen tree collection.

Hastings Borough Council has completed the mandatory improvement works they were required to carry out at Shornden Reservoir in Alexandra Park. Councillor Colin Fitzgerald said: “The bare soil at the site has been grass seeded to help stabilise the dam bank. To allow this to become established, the area will be fenced off, possibly until Spring 2019.”

Similar work continues at Harmers Reservoir and should be completed by early November.

The new harbour wall to protect Hastings’ beach-launched fishing fleet is now finished.

PICTURE: Khosrow Poolad

The standard explanation for the bombings is that they were essential to defeat Japan and bring about the end of World War Two. Critics of this explanation point out that leading figures of the US military at the time believed that Japan was already defeated and willing to surrender before the bombings, a point of view held by both Dwight D Eisenhower – commander of Allied forces in Europe during WW2, and Admiral William Leahy, the Chief of Staff to then US President Truman. In his memoir Leahy said ‘the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan.’

In the ceremony in Alexandra Park Deputy Mayor James Bacon delivered a message of peace which including a poem, while local choir Las Pasionarias sang three songs, including ‘Down by the Riverside’, with its refrain of ‘Ain’t Gonna Study War No More’. Local resident and activist Fiona MacGregor spoke about the current attempts to ban nuclear weapons through the United Nations. To date 60 nations have signed a UN treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons and 14 states have ratified the treaty. Once 50 nations are fully behind the treaty it will enter into force. A majority of 122 nations approved the treaty document in July of last year.

At sunset floating lanterns were released on the lake in Alexandra Park, in the traditional Japanese style.

While people gathered in Hastings, St Leonards resident and local councillor Maya Evans was in Hiroshima, having accompanied a group of Japanese peace walkers on the latter part of their fifty day pilgrimage which began on the island of Okinawa. She says ‘Along the walk I met the children of Hibakusha (people who survived the bomb), who talked of the trauma which carried through into their generation, the sicknesses and the nightmares of their parents.’ Maya attended a ceremony in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on August 6th and describes modern Hiroshima as ‘a centre for peace and compassion, a beacon where people can learn about the importance of humanity. Hiroshima is a proud city which holds itself up to the rest of the world and says ‘never again’.

The event in Alexandra Park was organised by Hastings Against War. On Tuesday September 4th the group will be holding a public meeting with the Hastings and District Interfaith Forum. The speaker will be retired ecological architect Mary Roslin and the theme of her talk ‘Overcoming Despair in a Turbulent World’. The meeting will start at 7.00pm at the Quaker Meeting House, 5 South Terrace, Hastings. The venue is wheelchair accessible and all are welcome to attend.

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Councillor Colin Fitzgerald, lead councillor for the environment said, “Our parks are fantastic places for all our residents and visitors to enjoy all year round. The council is extremely proud to again receive Green Flag awards for three outstanding parks in the town, St Leonards Gardens, Alexandra Park and Hastings Country Park. The awards recognise our parks are maintained to the highest standards in the UK. I would like to thank the dedication and hard work of all our staff and contractors who make these parks the special places they are”. Alexandra Park and St Leonards Gardens have also received the much coveted additional Green Heritage Site Accreditation for the management of the historic features.

International Green Flag Award scheme manager Paul Todd said: “We are delighted to be celebrating another record-breaking year for the Green Flag Award scheme, with more Green Flags awarded this year than last year…Each flag honours the thousands of staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to maintain the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award. We are proud to have so many wonderful green spaces in the UK for people to enjoy, and hope that next year, we award even more flags.”

The Green Flag Awards Scheme (greenflagaward.org) is run by the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, under licence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, in partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful, Keep Wales Tidy and Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful. Keep Britain Tidy is a leading environmental charity. It aims to inspire people to be litter-free, to waste less and to live more. It runs programmes including Eco-Schools, the Green Flag Award for parks and green spaces and the Blue Flag/ Seaside Awards for beaches. To find out more about Keep Britain Tidy, their programmes and campaigns visit www.keepbritaintidy.org.

Any green space that is accessible to the public is eligible to enter for a Green Flag Award. Awards are given on an annual basis and winners must apply each year to renew their Green Flag Award status. A Green Flag Community Award recognises quality sites managed by voluntary and community groups. Green Heritage Site accreditation is judged on the treatment of the site’s historic features and the standard of conservation.

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Hastings Borough Council is offering at least two free events for each week of the summer holidays this summer. Although the summer is a peak time for holiday visitors, local people are well catered for throughout July and August. Cllr Peter Chowney, leader of the council said, “There’s something here for everyone – it’s good to see such a range of free activities on offer. The council can put these events on because we’ve bid for and won substantial external funding to make them possible. I would also like to thank Freedom Leisure, Big Local North East Hastings, Optivo and Orbit Housing associations, Hastings Area Opportunities Fund, the Source Park, 18 Hours, Coasters, and the Arts Council, all of whom have funded or organised summer events. But I’d also like to pay tribute to the many volunteers from the community who organise and help with so many events around the town. Without them, such a comprehensive programme would not be possible.”

For young children, there are Play Days at Alexandra Park beginning at the end of July. Street Bites, aimed at 11 to 16 year olds, includes a free lunch and offers sport and craft, twice weekly in August.

There is a free football tournament at Horntye at the end of August, and free summer streets sessions, with football, sports and craft activities available 5 days a week in August.  For more information about summer sport and play go to www.hastings.gov.uk/sport_play_summer_season

The Source Park offers a free BMX session to those new to BMX biking every Tuesday afternoon. More information is available at www.sourcebmx.com

Hastings Museum and Art Gallery offers free storytelling from around the world for children, inspired by pieces from the museum collection on Wednesdays, and free open-air theatre to celebrate Dinosaur Day.

Don’t miss “Collect”, opening in July at Hastings Museum and Art Gallery. Local artists were set the challenge of responding to either particular objects or the idea of ‘collecting’ in whatever way they chose. From fossils to Samurai armour, and seaside souvenirs to the American Plains, inspiration has come from every corner of the museum, resulting in some impressive and intriguing paintings, textiles and mixed media works. Admission is free. www.hmag.org.uk/

For an afternoon walk with a difference, visit the temporary resident dinosaur on the seafront in St Leonards. For those aged 16 and under, there is a name-the-dinosaur-competition, see Hastings Borough Council Facebook page for details. Or, take a walk around Hastings Old Town, this year’s winner of the “best walking neighbourhood”. Hastings’ award-winning parks and nature reserves offer fabulous places to go for walks, picnics, and to play. Some, like Alexandra Park and Hastings Country Park, have regular events for families. There are also hidden gems in the area such as the Filsham reed beds in St Leonards or the ancient woodland of Church Wood.

Stade Saturday free events offer circus extravaganza, dance and performances by local musicians. Cirque Rouage perform a story on a tightrope, dance theatre “Carousel” tells an edgy tale of fairground people with a fully functioning merry-go-round, and members of Lantern Society Songwriters Festival make sweet music. www.hastings.gov.uk/stadesaturdays

As always, there are some well-established events that are free for the community to enjoy such as Old Town Carnival Week, Coastal Currents, Afrikaba Festival, classic car and motorbike shows, and more as September begins. In fact, the season of events continues until 13 October with Hastings Week and Bonfire Night.

Bottle Alley lights up every evening at 10pm for a 7-minute light show, extended to 30 minutes on Fridays. Take a stroll along the seafront from the pier to Warrior Square to enjoy the amazing state of the art light show, and have a wonderful summer!

We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. The future of our volunteer led, non-profit publication would be far more secure with the aid of a small donation. It only takes a minute and we would be very grateful.