This image, taken from Pelham Place, shows a military parade taking place, possibly as part of the Hastings Invasion that took place in March 1909. That event was initiated by Arthur Du Cross, a local MP, with the idea to see how quickly 600 guards from London could use motorised transport to react to an invasion of Hastings. The soldiers used over 400 vehicles to transport them and their equipment down to Hastings. The day was declared a great success, and rounded off with Irish stew for all. More pictures from the day can be seen here.

I’m not entirely convinced that this image is from the Hastings Invasion, but it seems the most likely explanation!

The houses across the road from Pelham Parade were part of Beach Terrace. These buildings were demolished to make way for the redevelopment of the seafront. This photograph shows how close they were to the beach, before the shingle built. One of those buildings is the Primitive Methodist Chapel, a hardline branch of the Methodist Church.

The two images use to make the one above are shown below. I decided to convert the old photograph in to black and white to make the contrast with the colour photo better. The old photograph was found on the Hastings Forum, which is full of interesting images and information about Hastings and St Leonards.