Tag archives for Rod Webb
Cancer Support One Cup at a Time
ROD WEBB Nobody will deny that dealing with a cancer diagnosis on your own is very tough. But you’re not alone if you pop down to the Macmillan Information &…
Men Behaving Wisely
ROD WEBB Anyone involved in Hastings’ voluntary sector will know how well served the town is. Local research suggests that regular volunteering is far more common here than in much…
Sustenance on the Move
ROD WEBB Local charity Sustenance has just been given a boost by the purchase of its first electric van, described as “a huge step forward for our environmental mission and our…
Landslides Action Plan
Rod Webb and Paul McLaughlin The threat of landslides in Hastings and St Leonards is real and persistent (see page 5), with 24 recorded events in recent years. The most recent landslides…
Trim those Hedges & Trees
ROD WEBB East Sussex County Council is reminding people that most roadside vegetation is the responsibility of the landowner. It needs regular pruning to keep it within property boundaries, pointing…
A Paradox for All to See
ROD WEBB The National March for Palestine in London on 9 August was clearly going to be different from others. Alongside this march, over 500 people had pledged to defy…
A Park to be Proud of
ROD WEBB It’s easy to take some of the great things in this town for granted and not think about their long-term future. Alexandra Park is one such treasure that…
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…
Street Market Greets Visitors
ROD WEBB Kings Road market was in full swing at the beginning of the month, having dodged the tropical downpour that hit the country the following day. Visitors to St…
Shining a Light on Local Business
ROD WEBB reports from the 1066 Business Awards Ceremony I arrived at the Montgomerie Suite at Bannatyne’s Hotel at 11am to set up the brand new Hastings Independent ‘feather flag’…
Sunny Beaches to Cold Seas
ROD WEBB finds out how David Mears became one of Hastings’ oldest cold sea swimmers I met David Mears at his 90th birthday party held at the White Rock Hotel.…
Help Save Local Democracy
ROD WEBB Hastings Assembles started last year as an attempt to get more people actively involved in meeting, discussing and organising for change in our local communities and in reaction…
Waiting for Answers
ROD WEBB reacts to open letter written to local MP by Hastings & District Palestinian Solidarity Campaign As the Gaza conflict approaches the New Year after nearly 14 months of…
Hastings Assembles in St Leonards
ROD WEBB The first town meeting of Hastings Assembles was held at the Stade in June this year, prompted by a generalised dissatisfaction with the lack of political choice in…
Saying Thank You with an Icy Dip
ROD WEBB We all appreciate stories of survival against the odds, and Cathy Cobley’s story is one of those. Ten years ago, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, one of…
Healthy Conservation at Church Wood
ROD WEBB We’re all aware of the New Year rush to get fit after festive overindulgence - and how it is often doomed to failure. So why not start thinking…
Something Bizarre at St Andrews Mews
ROD WEBB It’s not often that my daughter tells me what I should visit, but she was insistent. “You must go and see ‘Bizarre BUT True!’. It’s so good, and…
Billy Childish Album Launch
ROD WEBB Hot on the heels of Sister Suzie’s Preview Album launch at the Henry Ward Hall (See HIP Issue 263, Sister Suzie Honesty in Mid-Life) comes the launch of…
Talking Big
ROD WEBB looks at the recently released Big Conversation report on enlisting community engagement in town regeneration Under the former government, Hastings was one of 75 towns selected to receive…
Vexatious Vegetation
ROD WEBB East Sussex County Council (ESCC) is reminding people that “most roadside hedges are the responsibility of the landowner and need regular trimming to keep them within property boundaries”.…
Craig’s Cabin
ROD WEBB I’d arranged to meet Craig at the Hidden Eden Wellbeing Garden, an early project of his that involved turning a disused playground into a multipurpose place for the…
Swimming against the Tide
ROD WEBB talks to Jacky Butler about her daughter’s bid to swim the channel In 2020, HIP carried an article about a young Brighton director who was making a film…
Planned Impermanence
ROD WEBB Decisions made by the planning department of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) are a regular source of complaints from the local community. These might appear to be an over-zealous…
A New Beginning
JJ and Paulina, the new owners of the Marina Fountain, talk to ROD WEBB about its future The Marina Fountain on West St Leonards seafront has had a great five…
America Ground – The Musical
ROD WEBB talks to John Knowles about how America Ground The Musical emerged from a concern about the future of this town You might wonder what the history of the…
Two Audiences with Simon&thePope
ROD WEBB Volunteering sometimes comes with rewards. Last year, after a long meeting, some of the local allotment committee members retired to the nearby Marina Fountain to watch Simon&thePope. It…
These Boots Ain’t Made for Walking
ROD WEBB We’ve all seen deathly pale elderly people lying on the pavement waiting for an ambulance. As we get older, it might evoke the thought that ‘There but for…
From Grief to Inspiration
ROD WEBB talks to celebrated actor and comedian Steve Furst about how he came to direct a film about mental health Last month, Steve Furst hosted an event at the…
More Than a Local Protest
ROD WEBB reflects on joining the protest outside the Hastings site of General Dynamics, a company involved in supplying weapons to Israel used in the slaughter of Palestinian civilians Katy…
Keeping HIP on the Road
ROD WEBB Hastings Independent is a print newspaper that attempts to be both for the community and by the community – but given that our town is a particularly diverse…
Should Hastings follow the Basque Country’s lead?
After attending a talk on bottom-up regeneration, regular contributor and former Community Editor, ROD WEBB, visits a grassroots community project. ROD WEBB writes about the recent inspirational talk on social…
Mike Hatchard: How Music Became an Extreme Sport
ROD WEBB Peter Mould Mike Hatchard is at it again. He’s not only a renowned musician and composer, but full of ideas for raising money. To celebrate moving into his…
Black Gull Flies South
ROD WEBB attended the much -delayed official opening of a new bookshop in St Leonards, and to honour its contrast with the ‘here today gone tomorrow’ nature of modern life,…
Keeping the Wheels Rolling
ROD WEBB talks to Mat McDonnell about how Bike Lab became The Bike Project and what this means. Anna SabinSketch for outside mural One of the first positive things I…
Skinny Sunday: Hastings Local Youth Talent is on Fire
ROD WEBB is entranced by young bands of Hastings Rod WebbChimer at the Stade I first became aware of the Skinny Sunday music festival while watching the Fat Tuesday Second…
Support for Children’s Mental Health Launched
ROD WEBB A series of online videos are now available to help parents and carers support their children to manage a range of mental health ; Did you know that…
The Scandal that Keeps Giving
ROD WEBB We have an ambivalent attitude to scandals. On the one hand we might be shocked by the emerging details, but on the other feel some kind of voyeuristic…
Post Office Ltd – How Not to Run a Business
ROD WEBB The Great Post Office Scandal is responsible for ruining the lives of more than 700 sub-postmasters. Find how this happened when Nick Wallis comes to Hastings to talk…
Get Hastings: More than Lifestyle
ROD WEBB talks to Mel Elliott, Editor-in Chief of Get Hastings, about the new quarterly arts, culture and community magazine that was launched two weeks ago. If you haven’t noticed…
Food Crisis or Just Shop Local?
ROD WEBB Having lived through the pandemic and the more recent ‘egg shortage’, I’m a bit sceptical of media stories and government spin. During the pandemic we seemed able to…