Tag archives for Fiona McGarry
Good Grief: A New Festival for Hastings
FIONA MCGARRY A new four-day festival exploring grief, love and loss is coming to Hastings this May. It will take place over the late May Bank Holiday weekend and run…
Sea Swimmers Talking Sewage
FIONA MCGARRY Reports indicate that 2026 is on track for high volumes of sewage spills, with 3,899 alerts already issued by late March, over double the same period in 2025.…
Jack and the Beanstalk
FIONA MCGARRY My eight-year-old granddaughter and I went to Jack and the Beanstalk at The White Rock Theatre last Thursday. We arrived slightly frazzled (with Grandpa in tow) straight from the…
Use a Mediation Service to Resolve Disputes
FIONA MCGARRY talks to Alison Cooper of Sussex mediation service: Mediation Plus You may not be aware of Mediation Plus: it’s a small charity that provides both mediation and one-to-one…
Inappropriate Development
FIONA MCGARRY went along to the Protestival in West St Leonards to see whether a new form of protest combined with a community festival could have any hope of changing…
Compound Interest
FIONA MCGARRY and ROD WEBB finally visit The Compound and find a hidden gem Arts‘Pay as you can’ workshop There are so many interesting things going on in Hastings that…
Opening Doors toa Brighter Future
FIONA MCGARRY celebrates the success of less advantaged young people with Villiers Park Educational Trust Winning students with the Vice Lord Lieutenant and Villiers Park CEO Hastings is the most…
Community: Alive and Well in St Leonards
FIONA MCGARRY On 7 December, members of the Progress Network packed out Concordia Hall for their fourth Big Celebration, this year entitled The Big Takeover. This is a hugely popular…
Festive Season Food Hacks
FIONA MCGARRY shares eight ways to save money on food this winter Eat Seasonally: in December, seasonal vegetables include squash, leeks, swedes, cauliflowers, kale and Brussels sprouts, so the prices…
A Mighty Roar
On Thursday 10 October Hastings SHE Choir staged its first solo gig: Thunder, Lightning and Dirt, at the White Rock Theatre. FIONA MCGARRY went along to experience the power of…
Sister Suzie: Honesty in Mid-Life
FIONA McGARRY It’s been six years since Susan Sims released her last album: Ain’t No Lady .“Life has been a little bit bonkers for me since then, so it’s taken…
Ore Library: Open & Thriving
FIONA MCGARRY visits Ore Library to find out how it’s going three years after reopening When I arrived on Tuesday morning, the Story Time session for pre-school children was in…
Volunteer Weeding Scheme Takes Root
FIONA MCGARRY speaks to Liz Farr about how the residents of Clinton Crescent, St Leonards came together to stop the use of toxic glyphosate in their street In December 2023…
A Very Independent Estate Agent
FIONA MCGARRY speaks to Alex Atabey of Alexander Estates Alex is well aware of the reputation that estate agents have and has a wealth of stories to tell. He is…
Roots of Return: The Road to Recovery
FIONA MCGARRY I took my own relatively good health for granted for many years, so recent health issues came as a shock and made me question my priorities and re-think…
Choosing a Care Home
FIONA MCGARRY What should elderly people do when they can no longer manage to live independently? Angel HealthcareGlenmuir House Care homes had a bad press during Covid, and now that…
TENNIS: A Sport for Everyone?
FIONA MCGARRY 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…
Sunshine and Cocktails
FIONA MCGARRY visits deluxe restaurant and cinema, The Sussex Exchange The first time I visited The Sussex Exchange, I was struck by the fact that the clientele were nearly all…
New Prix Fixe Menu at the Royal
FIONA MCGARRY The Royal in St Leonards has made some changes. It now operates seven days a week and has a bar snack menu including cheese toasties, sausage rolls and…
Connecting through Ceramics
FIONA MCGARRY is entranced by St Leonards Ceramics Studio Over the past few years, there has been a palpable ‘buzz’ in St Leonards as people give in to their urge to…
Every GoodBoy (and Girl) Deserves Flavour
FIONA MCGARRY speaks to Kimberley Duke, co-founder of Life Kitchen: a cookery school providing free classes showing people how to tackle taste loss after illness Amongst other things that come…
Plum Crumble Bars
FIONA MCGARRY There are several good reasons to eat plums: they contain a lot of vitamins and minerals; they are particularly high in antioxidants and hence reduce inflammation; also, like…
Moroccan Delights
FIONA MCGARRY Moroccan gastronomy developed from a combination of Berber, Andalusi, Mediterranean and Arab cuisines. It’s all about big flavours and is more heavily spiced than Middle Eastern food; for example,…
Have Fun and Veganise
Anything You Can Cook I Can Cook Vegan Richard Makin, blogger and creator of School Night Vegan, recently launched his new book: Anything You Can Cook, I Can Cook Vegan.…
Shopping with the Seasons
FIONA MCGARRY looks at what you should be buying from your greengrocer through the year. January: Christmas veg such as Brussels sprouts and red cabbage are often cut price in…
Will You Walk into My Parlour?
By Fiona McGarry Nowadays, we may associate a ‘parlour’ with funerals, beauty, ice cream or even milking cows. Luckily, this restaurant is named more for its more traditional meaning of…
Taking Pot Luck
Potluck suppers are organised by Energise Sussex Coast at The Common Room on the last Thursday of every month. Fiona McGarry went along to check one ; What are potluck…
No Ordinary Chicken Shop
The Bok Shop is a free-range fried chicken and vegan fried chikn joint founded by friends Jamie and Howard in 2017 in Brighton, and it has now come to Hastings.…
Ready for the Next Act
Someone who has worked hard to keep theatre living and breathing is local writer, producer, performer and theatre-maker, John Knowles. Fiona McGarry spoke to him about what’s in store for…
Story Time: at home on the pier
By Fiona McGarry We humans have a great need for narratives. An example is the way my three-year-old granddaughter asks for stories about all the happenings in her life. After…
Back to the Bar
By Fiona McGarry It was good to see the return of the Bavard Bar to the Kino on Wednesday – the first live Bavard since lockdown. The event normally involves…
Bobby’s Corona Story
Imagined by Fiona McGarry Something strange is going on and I can’t put my paw on it. I live with a little old lady. She’s very nice; she feeds me…