The image above shows King George V at West Marina Gardens when he visited on 30th August 1918. He was reviewing Royal Air Force Cadets who were stationed at Bexhill, St Leonards and Hastings. After arriving by train at the West…
This image shows the Hastings Lifeboat, Charles Arkcoll II, being moved through Robertson Street to BoPeep for launch on 25th April 1908. It would have been quicker to pull the lifeboat than row it against a strong westerly gale. There…
This image shows two formidable looking ladies crossing Hastings town centre. A typical urban scene, apart from the military vehicles they are passing. This is Hastings during the early period of the second World War. A town subject to aerial attacks and…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
St Leonards Church was built by James Burton and consecrated on 22nd May 1834. It was built to service the growing population of St Leonards and proved popular with the residents. It was even visited by the future Queen Victoria…
