Hastings is a dump. Sorry I cannot be more polite about it but that's how I saw it. The one aspect of Hastings that I saw most in evidence was the teenagers and the lack of police. During the night from my hotel room all I could hear was the shrieking and squealing of hysterical teenage girls, shouting of drunken youths and sirens from police and ambulance. Waiting outside a shop doorway to meet my son, and kids in hoods wandering like they own the place, throwing bags of chips into the howling wind, to be scattered to all points of the pavements. Other kids on bikes, racing round roundabouts after dark, regardless of the swerving traffic. In one of the images below, immigrant youths trying to push each other into the stormy sea, disregarding the warning signs and the dangerous undertow. I have included a few images of the pier, itself closed down and locked off. It looks deadly, with warning signs on the shingle beach warning people to stay clear of "falling debris". This pier does not look like it will survive more than a very few winters, so I include it here maybe for posterity.

The seafront at Hastings has at least had plenty of attention paid to it. It look the part and presumably does the business but elsewhere, dilapidated B&B's, hotels and guesthouses crowd the front and rear streets. Loose fitting sash windows, rattling through the night, peeling paint flakes off the walls outside and seabird droppings covering the roof and side walls. I am glad I was only there to visit my grandson, to holiday there would be quite unthinkable. If it hadn't been for the association with a certain nearby invasion in 1066, this place would have disappeared into history eons ago. A resident told me that "this is the last hole on the south coast for "cheap" housing"! Incidentally, the Norman Invasion actually took place in Pevensea, along the coast toward Eastbourne, not Hastings. And the 'battle' of Hastings never happened here.

Since I wrote the above I had been back, but as my grand children lived there, thats the only excuse. Its now 2015 and the Pier is undergoing massive regeneration. Little else has changed though. My B&B has double glazing - but zero sound insulation, it was not easy getting sleep.  Recommendation level 2/10.

The following two images can be downloaded and expanded to 2048 for full detail

Sept 2007 

These people on the beach were eastern European teenagers. They passed me on the prom drinking heavily.
Then they went onto the beach and threw one of them into the water, the undertow is extrememly strong and wind strong
The 'victim' is seem try to get back onto the shingle.

Aug 2015

Smugglers Caves

Hiding Places

Tubman

Watering down the Spirits

Hairy Jack and his 'dead men tell no tales'

Cruel Hawkhurst Gang beating someone

Preventive Officer makes an arrest

Time to Reflect

Cutting grass by remote control

Heading down into the old town, the only part worth using a camera

Taken from the Italian Way Restaurant, best in Hastings

Photo of a photographer!

December 21/22 2015

Inside the Ye olde Pumphouse Inn

Very stormy weekend, strong gales, rain horizontal!!

The Monday evening after the storm, nice long walk along the front

A very good Italian eatery in Hastings, on the front