Hastings

OH's art is really going great guns and he now has an agent. This will allow him to have an exhibition locally nearer to Christmas and also show his work to a wider audience. His agent has asked him to do as many paintings of Kent and Sussex seaside towns as he can and to this end we set of yesterday to Hastings for him to take photo's and look for a suitable subject.

It's been a few years since we were last there. I think the boys were still at school and then we took them Smugglers Adventure and the Blue Reef after wandering around the Net Shops. It reminded me of a Dickens novel as we wandered around.

Not much has changed for hundreds of years.

Old disused boat lay abandoned .

The Old Town

A sweet bookshop which is  just for children.

We found lovely small cottages down little alleyways

and large town houses on the main streets.


I was impressed as on the last visit the place was so run down and not that nice really. Since then the town has and still is going through a regeneration. The Old town is full of shops selling retro and vintage items, clothes hand made items and coffee bars. Made in Hastings and Judges Bakery being two of the more well known.
A new shop selling gorgeous clothing called Dress for Less caught my eye and I will be returning very soon to check out what they have for winter.
Down on the seafront you can still find the funfair and the shops selling rock and candy floss. A new crazy golf and adventure area was very popular when we were there.  A little steam railway went just a short way along the edge of the beach for the little ones.

Our brief visit concluded with what everyone should do on a visit to the seaside and that what fish and chips at a cafe over looking the sea followed by pistachio ice cream from the shop next door.