The Swan Hotel, Hastings
At 1pm on Sunday the 23rd May 1943 10 Focke-Wulf 190’s dropped 25 bombs and machine gunned the town. The Swan Hotel was one of five public houses and two hotels hit by the bombs. The hotel was packed with…
Tram Tracks in Mount Pleasant Road
This image shows the tram tracks being laid along Mount Pleasant Road, Hastings in about 1905. Proposals for a tram system were first proposed as early as 1891 but there was stiff resistance to the enterprise by town councillors. They thought…
St Leonards Bathing Pool
The St Leonards Bathing Pool, designed and built by Sid Little, was opened in May 1933. The pool space measured 100m by 27m with a 10m high diving board. Unsurprisingly, given the architect, the bathing pool was an entirely concrete…
Anti Invasion Defences – Hastings Seafront
The above image shows part of the anti invasion defences put up along Hastings seafront during 1940* I can’t imagine how it would have felt to the residents of Hastings seeing these go up. German forces had conquered great swathes…
Ghosts of the Hastings Seafront Bandstand
The image above shows where the Hastings seafront bandstand used to be. There isn’t much information about it on the internet, but it was definitely there in 1902 and probably was a victim to Sidney Little’s renovation of the seafront.…
Ghosts of the Bedford Arms Hotel, Hastings
When you wander around Hastings, and if you are looking you’ll notice a fair number buildings of building that seem at odds with the rest of the architecture. Some of these buildings are eyesores and others are just bland. Bland…
Ghosts of the Albany Hotel, Hastings
Leading on from last week’s post about the anti aircraft guns along Hastings seafront, this image illustrates why the town needed. Despite the best efforts of the gunners and the RAF pilots who were trying to counter German attacks, the enemy…
Anti Aircraft Gun on Hastings Seafront
This image shows an anti aircraft gun on Hastings seafront during World War 2. Hastings had been preparing for the possibility of war as early as 1935, with the formation of an Air Raid Precaution (ARP) Committee. Due to the proximity of the European…
Old St Helens Church, Hastings
Although I’ve lived in Hastings for all of my life, I didn’t know that this place existed. Old St Helen’s Church may have been built originally by King Offa in around 771. As with all ancient buildings it has been…
Parade at Pelham Place
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…
Marine Court, St Leonards-on-Sea
Marine Court in St Leonards on Sea was designed by Kenneth Dalgleish and Roger K Pullen. Construction of it finished in 1938. The building was meant to echo the design of the White Star Line ship the Queen Mary. When…
Ghosts of Battle Road, St Leonards
This was taken in Battle Road, St Leonards just up from the pedestrian crossing. When I saw the original image, whilst browsing the Hastings Forum Old Buildings and Streets pages. the scene seemed familiar, but I couldn’t quite work out…