Hastings - Shithole or up and coming boom town?

[Sigmund Fraud]

I like Hastings, I'd consider living there if the transport links to everywhere weren't so terrible.

 

[Meltingpot]

Hastings is a funny one.
Split into two parts really, the old town being really nice with the likes of Judges Bakery (owned by the Green and Blacks people if I'm not mistaken) and the FILO (First In Last Out) pub which is super nice plus there's an array of second hand furniture shops and bits and bobs.

The new town from my experience is thug-tastic and only any good for the cinema. There used to be a really friendly BMX shop on the sea front!!!

It's close to the The De La Warr Pavilion which has had a few good gigs plus there's Rye down the road and Camber Sands. I nearly moved to that neck of the woods a few years back.

http://http://www.judgesbakery.com/home.php
http://www.thefilo.co.uk/
http://www.dlwp.com/

It's a while since I've been there, but I agree; the Old Town is nice.

 

[g force]

I like Hastings, I'd consider living there if the transport links to everywhere weren't so terrible.

Yep..although I fear i'd spend most of time going to Brighton!

 

[Louloubelle]

I know very little about the place, but I do know that it has a lovely and very secluded naturist beach, although you need to walk miles through and area of outstanding natural beauty to get there.

On the con side, I read somewhere that it has one of the highest rates of paedophiles / convicted child sex offenders in the country.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

DeLaWarr ?

pah!

If you know hastings/ S. leonards , then you will know possibly the must stunning seaside apartments on the South Coast. if a bit run down ( I have a bit of an interest in this, but its a long story )

Marine Court

Studio flats in Marine Court cost from £65,000 at the mo. At the bottom is a row of shops/galleries/cafes/bars, a really eclectic mix. Shop rents are very cheap so people can afford to experiment.

There are also some great junk shops around. King's Road, the main shopping street in St Leonards, has but two chain shops (bookie + Spar). It is a bit run-down in parts, and there are some folk there who are possibly not that well travelled, but money is being spent - note the beautiful St Leonards Gardens, which will be stunning when the plants grow in - and it's already pretty lovely imo, plus there is a good mix of people ethnically and it feels no less cosmopolitan than much of London. Hastings shopping centre is a dump, but if you judge a place by its shopping centre, you deserve to live in Luton.

We've found a couple of sympathetic venues, so watch this space...

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Love that building....but yeah at ground level the "shops" are either closed are run down. But I believe it's being re-done?

You believe correctly, and nearly all of the shops are now occupied.

 

[8ball]

My sister worked there for a bit.

That picture from Children Of Men is fairly close to her descriptions except for the depiction of some form of law enforcement.

 

[g force]

Not sure Hastings will ever be a "boom town" though just because of it's terrible transport links. If...and it's a big if...they got an express train service it would work brilliantly but that god awful service stopping at every backwater Kent and Sussex populace is as depressing a jounrey as i've had by train.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Not sure Hastings will ever be a "boom town" though just because of it's terrible transport links. If...and it's a big if...they got an express train service it would work brilliantly but that god awful service stopping at every backwater Kent and Sussex populace is as depressing a jounrey as i've had by train.

Why depressing? At peak time, the trains are full of bankers, I'll grant you.

 

[g force]

Well quite...getting down the GF's parents on a Friday night from Charing Cross is just horrific. I prefer the (even) slower train from Victoria...best class of twat on that train

 

[littlebabyjesus]

When I've been in London, I often get the 17:38 from Cannon Street. Unless there's been a major fuck-up, I always get a seat, and it reaches Warrior Square at 7. Could be worse.

 

[g force]

There's a train from Cannon St as well? Hmmm....could easily get to Warrior Sq then into Hastings itself.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

There's a train from Cannon St as well? Hmmm....could easily get to Warrior Sq then into Hastings itself.

Next stop on the same train - two minutes further.

 

[DrRingDing]

Is Hastings still a shithole?

 

[DaveCinzano]

every backwater Kent and Sussex populace.

 

[bromley]

WTF? Used to go there on summer day trips as child and thought the place was quite posh!

 

[Fozzie Bear]

It is quite grim in places but there is a faded grandeur thing going on. Some posher new stuff is happening down by the harbour like the Jerwood gallery.

Me and the fam stayed there for the weekend and saw quite a lot of really fucked up people. Way more than you see in Hackney these days (and proportionally way more than I remember there being in Hackney in the 90s).

Whether or not it's a shithole depends on what you like. I quite like visiting but I wouldn't want to live there personally.

 

[t0bytoo]

St Leonards is a nice place. I go there quite a bit and always enjoy myself. Swimming there this weekend if the sunshine stays!

 

[editor]

Loads of Brixton squatters/creative types fled to Hastings after the Foxton-propelled yuppies pushed their rents into fantasy levels, but the damn fools who tried to make something interesting in the once-moribund town have only helped turn the place into a wallet-waving twat-magnet:

Creativity in Hastings: designers do like to be beside the seaside

Town named as creative hotspot

 

[moon]

Me and the fam stayed there for the weekend and saw quite a lot of really fucked up people. Way more than you see in Hackney these days (and proportionally way more than I remember there being in Hackney in the 90s).

That's because apparently lots of London councils send 'problem' tenants to Hastings/St Leonards and pay private landlords to house them there.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

That's because apparently lots of London councils send 'problem' tenants to Hastings/St Leonards and pay private landlords to house them there.

Fair enough. I wonder if they do that indefinitely? I'm guessing not.

It wasn't a problem for me really except for having to help a guy out of the road.

 

[Indeliblelink]

 

[sim667]

My friend has just up and left London for Hastings, because he can get a 5 bedroom house for the same price as a 2 bed flat.

 

[likesfish]

They have remade the pier but it looks like the uni is going to close down

 

[Purdie]

Is Hastings still a shithole?

Shithole, But not a bad one as shitholes go. Lived it for 10+ yrs, left 8yrs ago but still go 2 or 3 overnight trips/year.

Hastings is a funny one.
Split into two parts really, ...<snip>

Beyond that we will never agree

Lots of culture in Hastings in the way of festivals and celebration.
Bike Day

Hastings Drummers

Also Jack-in-the-Green, Pirate Day, Day in the Park and more. The Carlisle does live rock music on weekends and used to host a yearly chess event.
Hastings Country Park stretches for 5 miles to the east along the top of the cliffs. Swimming pool in Glyne Gap has a wave bath and indoor slide
Not much in the way of decent primary schools except for Silverdale comprehensive and 2 rc schools (Dudley and St Mary Star of the Sea)
Connects up to St.-Leonards and with the by-pass built Bexhill is easy enough to reach without sitting in traffic jams
Maidstone is do-able for a good shopping session as there is not much left in Hastings.
Old Town High Street has got a brilliant mineral shop that also sells fossils.
5 Big supermarkets 1 of which is 24-hour, one wholefood shop proper (Trinity)
Seriously hilly for cyclists and beyond the seafront not particularly cycle friendly.
Lots of teenage English language students in the summer months.
Bonfire Night is amazing

ETA Changed the vid, This one got the bonfire on it proper.

 

[Purdie]

Just found this gem too
Hastings Pram Race

 

[Maggot]

Maidstone is do-able for a good shopping session as there is not much left in Hastings.

It's ok for shops, surely not worth travelling all the way to Maidstone for a few more. What has gone?


Anyone know what happened to the cricketer in Priory Meadow?

 

[Purdie]

It's ok for shops, surely not worth travelling all the way to Maidstone for a few more. What has gone?


Anyone know what happened to the cricketer in Priory Meadow?

Loads has gone, Gamleys, bookshop, ELC, BHS, Sussex Book Stores, Olio, Claire accessories are the ones that come to mind.
Smugglers pub has become an eatery and the Sussex Arms by Frederick Road has been a pharmacy for years.
Old Town has changed a lot for the worse in the last 8 years imo. Used to be a health food shop in George Street, is some eatery or coffee place now. Lots of overpriced bric-a-brac but still one good bookshops albeit with funny opening hours.
Maidstone is nice for a day out and something different.

As for the cricketer, he left his ball behind so likely he will be back (it's stuck in the wall above F. Hinds )
When will Priory Meadow cricketer statue return?

 

[Maggot]

Loads has gone, Gamleys, bookshop, ELC, BHS, Sussex Book Stores, Olio, Claire accessories are the ones that come to mind.

According to the internet, Claire's is still there.

 

[Purdie]

According to the internet, Claire's is still there.

Daughter went to Priory Meadow and came back telling me she got all the bargains she did because it was closing down sale. That was late July this year, like a month ago. Didn't question it much beyond that when her uncle confirmed.