Month: August 2024

Len Cresse, Mike Griffith, Mike Denness – Central cricket ground Hastings

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photo © Duncan

Duncan…  thanks to people for their fond memories of my Grandfather Len Creese.  I have come across a few larger professionally taken photos of him and the Priory Ground. This one I believe is a photo of Len in his Hampshire Jumper umpiring or at least taken stock of the toss between a young Mike Griffith (Sussex Captain 1972) and Mike Denness ( Kent Captain 1972) at Priory Meadow Hastings. My mother at 92  remembers her time, with fondness, in the salon bar where she on occasion helped out her mother and father in serving the locals at the Dripping Well. One person she seems to remember that frequented the pub was local dentist Geffory Dejimmeney, if any one recalls him that would be nice to know about.

Julian Deeprose… Len was also landord of the Dripping Well in Cambridge Road

Fred Marsh… How I would love to wonder down to the town now and watch a day’s county cricket

Patrick Lewis… Was he not the groundsman at the Central Cricket Ground?

Nigel Kennard… Did the Dentist Mr Dejimmeney have a daughter Marie-Lou, who went to Elphinstone Primary school in the mid to late 1960s?

 

Woolworth record cases 1982

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Merv Kennard… Still using one of the lp cases I bought in Stylus early 70s.

Linda Boiling… Chris, I remember them well, sold loads of them when I worked there .

Nigel Ford… I guess that’s what my two are. I don’t remember buying them, maybe had them as presents?

Matt Thomas… I had quite a few

Alan Esdaile… The catches tended to break on the LP ones. Mind you I probably squeezed in more than it should hold!

Nigel Ford… echo your criticism Alan.

Jeff Belton… I used to have 5 small cases and 4 large ones . Different colours.

Sainsbury’s Cambridge Road Hastings early 70’s

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above photos and more from https://www.sainsburyarchive.org.uk/catalogue/search/search/ewao-everywhere:hastings

Steve Fox… Where the abc cinema used to be when I was a child.

Andrew Freeman.. My Mum used to tell the story of how Paul McCartney once got something off the top shelf for her!

Matt Thomas… Had forgotten about the separators

Huggy Leaver… Saturday morning pics , we like to laugh and have a sing song we’re minor’s of the ABC

James Turner… remember it well

Lloyd Johnson… The Ritz….

Debbie Wyatt… Fun shopping on Roller Skates

Kathy Wood… And even though it’s ESK it still has tge Sainbury’s floor tiles

Gary Thomas… I remember going there with my mum on a Saturday just before closing. They didn’t used to open on a Sunday. So people were circling like airplanes over an airport but with shopping trolleys. Then the yellow ticket fun would begin. HALF PRICE BAKERY GOODS! Suddenly the calm atmosphere was filled with trolley people dive bombing the bakery to get to their half priced goods. The funny thing was it was like spot who was here last week. Yep, normally the same people. That was a great memory from Sainos when it was in Cambridge Road.

Pauline Richards… I worked there in the 80s. 9 at night till.7 in the morning!

Ian Johnson… Used to go there with Mum

Martin Curcher… And me when we had the Flat (Beanfeast and Egg Noodles)

Lorna Brazier… I worked there in 82, and left in 83

Jane Freund… I went into labour in this shop, in 1988! Finished the shopping too

Martin Curcher… My first job was working in the Fruit and Veg section in 1981/82. The supervisor was an older lady called Meg

Angela Frances Gardner… Replaced the ABC cinema

Karen Brooker… Used to shop here, it’s ESK now

Jane Kirkham… I worked there when it first opened.

Linda Hollands… Got most of my fruit and veg from green grocers next door to Sainsburys

Anthony Kingsman… Still the same tills and belts i think in the store

Mandy Taylor… I remember those days! Shopping with my nan..

Janette Morfey… If my memory serves me right, it was mid 70’s that it opened. ??

Alan Esdaile… August 74 Janette.

Steve Thorpe… Was it the Co-op before ESK?

Tony Court-holmes… I remember the minors

Lynda Coleman Westlake… Jane, I worked in the old one where nationwide is now lol xxx

 

 

Ritz ABC Cinema, minors song and more

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abc

supplied by Samuel Freeman

Yvonne Cleland… fab

Andre Martin… That was a venue that should never have been sold off for a Supermarket – the trouble was in the late 60s people just did not go to the cinema as in earlier days, and some of these palaces just did not pay.

Philip Meston… I saw many films there, not to mention ABC Minors!

Peter Pursglove… I  think the video recorders did a lot to kill off the cinema sadly ,I used to love the cinema ,early sixties my half day off from hairdressing in Tower Road i used to scoot round and catch 3 shows he he i remember 6 cinema’s then ,2 in st leonards and 4 in hastings

Nick Prince…The ABC Ritz was profitable at the time of closure, as to was the Orion. Although you are quite right, in general, cinema attendences were falling.

Dennis Torrance… Were all palls together last film on abc le mons steve McQueen I think went there most weeks to see a film with my parents during the week. The organ that came up in the stage there the badges 3d each ice poles and the talent shows.

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Wooden Lion and Storm Crow – Hastings Pier 31st August 1974.

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Chris Meachen… Don’t remember wooden lion, but I paid a visit to stormcrow’s lady vocalist in bromley before heading to an ELP gig..

Peter Fairless… Was that disco any good?

Alan Esdaile… Probably wooden like the band Pete.

Peter Fairless… Did you keep set lists?

Alan Esdaile… The only thing I would have definitely played at the start of every Rock gig, would have been In A Gadda Da Vida by Iron Butterfly. Always went down well and guaranteed to get people asking what it was and I know The Disc Jockey and Stylus used to sell loads of it.

Reg Wood… Blimey Alan weren’t we still at school when that came out!

Roy Penfold… Would that have been the full 17 minute version?

Alan Esdaile… I’m pretty sure I first heard In A Gadda Da Vida down the Hi Fi Club, High Street, mind you trying to work out the dates I was probably only 14 when I started going down the HiFI. Mum & Dad just going round a friends house to do my homework! Yes Roy, the full album track to start. Mind you most people popped in, asked what time the support are on, do I know if they are any good and then made their way to the bar.

Shaun Pont… Wooden Lion here http://www.woodenlion.com/woodenlion.php

Clive Richardson… I remember the unusual start to Wooden Lion’s set with the vocalist behind a psychedelic piece of Perspex and the synth guy vcs3 synth, wearing flying goggles, it was a really interesting set. Another band that deserved more success. I seem to recall one of the band had played in Hawkwind at some point . I saw this band 3 times including Watchfield free festival -1975 I think.

Matt Thomas… Sorry I couldn’t make it, I was only 5

Pete Houghton… Yes Wooden Lion put on a good show

Pete Kelly’s Solution – Hastings Pier 31st August 1968

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supplied by Sarah Harvey

Sarah Harvey…..Pete Kelly’s Solution – 31st August 1968 – Originally known as Rhythm & Blues Inc., with Pete Kelly on vocals and Ollie Halsall (later of Timebox and the Rutles) on drums, and hailing from the Liverpool area, this group prospered locally with its soul sound but never found its niche as a recording outfit. Its one and only single for English Decca, “If Your Love Don’t Swing” b/w “Midnight Confessions,” never charted in England but found its way overseas and also onto various reissues over the decades. Ollie Halsall was one of my guitar heros and discovered him when I listened to Patto (roll ’em Smoke ’em Put Another Line Out)

David Miller… Ollie Halsall was and still is one of my hero’s too. I also first heard him and the rest of the band on “Roll’em, Smoke’em…” and there was no looking back…especially after “:Loud Green Song” . Big fan of his playing and contributions to The Rutles (along with Admiral Halsey from The Pattos’ too…).

Pete Fisher… interesting…I think by this time Ollie was playing vibes with Timebox…it was Tony Qunta who first introduced me to Ollie’s guitar genius when he brought round Patto’s 2nd album “Hold Your Fire” in 71/72…recommend the Ollie Halsall and Patto fan page here at FB, and the website…http://www.olliehalsall.co.uk/

David Miller… Some very splendid soloing when Ollie was with Alan Holdsworth in Tempest.

 

Who remembers Phil Cordell?

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Ricky Adelaide… This LP cover thing going on, can anyone remember this local chap great musician sadly no longer with us. Had a studio back of Catsfield went there few times was a really nice man ,,,, back in the day

Martin Stringer… I was in his band and spent many happy hours writing songs with him. Eventually I used to live in his house every weekend so we could work into the early hours. Very fond memories of Phil and Kevin Hoad. We had so.much fun.

Ricky Adelaide… Few credits on here of local musicians

Chris Cozens… Tape-Op – Mike Hedges!!! Whatever happened to him?

Phil Gill… Stallion enjoyed a brilliant relationship with Phil Cordell from 1975/76. He paid for studio time for us in two studios, and brought us into his home studio at Ninfield on several occasions. I remember at one of these sessions at his house he played us a rough mix of a song called “Bavarian Nights”, which later surfaced on his 1977 album “Born Again”, which I have. He was great to be around and we learned a lot from him in terms of studio techniques. He also very kindly lent me a Revox tape recorder so I could demo up some song ideas I had. I found him to be very creative and fun to be around and I guess we owe him some sort of acknowledgement. He’s referenced in the sleeve notes for our CD, “The Hard Life” and I’ve pasted below some paragraphs from that which may be of interest.
“With John (Wilde) on board, Stallion began making something of a reputation for themselves and, as a result, they appeared on the radar of producer and solo artist Phil Cordell. Promptly deciding they should have some
studio time with him in the producer’s seat, in July 1975, Cordell took them into the studio to cut an edited
version of their seven minute song “If Life Were Death”, proposing it as the follow up single to his
number one hit in Europe, “I Will Return”, which he had recorded under the pseudonym “Springwater”. It was the band’s first outing with a producer. Cordell’s techniques were certainly not wasted on them and his
production ideas were quickly assimilated and mentally stored for future use. His producer’s flair for
arrangements and overdubs, particularly keyboards, opened the band’s eyes to many new possibilities.
Cordell showed them how to double track the string sound, with the second track detuned slightly to give a
thicker, richer sound, a technique the band used in the studio thereafter to provide the Mellotron texture they
were seeking.  Bassist Phil Gill, then on his debut studio outing, was asked to lay down several overdubs
of 12 string acoustic guitar. He assumed Cordell was being sarcastic when, at the end of his first overdub,
he told him to go and do another take in the toilet. After the band stopped laughing, they realised that
Cordell was serious; the lavatory was tiled and provided a great natural reverb which brought the acoustic guitar to life, another trick noted and used again in later recordings. The time they spent with Cordell became something of a defining moment for the band, with the results serving to help crystallise their signature sound.”

Robert Searle… Phil, I recorded at Phil’s studio at Ninfield in the early 70s. I used to live in Ninfield and wasn’t too far from his place. He was a real nice guy and fun to be with.

Shaun Pont… Dan the Banjo Man. Radio Luxembourg Powerplay in 1973 and a number one in Europe that year.

Terry Pack… Kev Hoad introduced me to Phil around 1979/80. We met at The Merry Harrier(?) in Cowbeech with a view to doing something, but what actually resulted was a lot of talking and drinking!

Mike Waghorne… I remember him

Alan Pepper… Fascinating  Phil . What an interesting read . Thank you for sharing your memories . I didn’t know Phil was such a great fellow . All I knew was what I had heard about his Rare Earth records  – Great stuff  !!

Neil Stephen Partrick… Was he IN Rare Earth?

Alan Esdaile… No. Dan The Banjo Man singles were released on Rare Earth Records. His biggest hit, under the name Springwater was I Will Return.

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The Dripping Well Cambridge Road Hastings

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Postcard for sale eBay….

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THE-DRIPPING-WELL-PUB-HASTINGS-PROPRIETOR-LEN-CREESE-EX-HAMPSHIRE-C-C/193696525614?hash=item2d19366d2e:g:eo4AAOSwmfFfee7S

Fred Marsh… what was the pub next door called

John Gale… Before the Tubman,,, The Cambridge I think

Reid McDuffie… I went there every weekend in the early 80s. Forget it’s name back then

Fred Marsh… yes The Cambridge well done i shall sleep tonight

Jo Avery… Yes the Cambridge my Aunt and Uncle ran it for quite a few years. Jim and Di Davidson.

Eugene Hughes… Jo, I used to adore the fish pies Di made. Jim went on to run The Railway pub. Then was curator at Rye Museum I believe.

Jo Avery… Yes she was one amazing cook!

Mike Mitchell… I’m sure I had cricket coaching in the nets at the Priory Ground with Len Creese…I also passed by the Dripping Well on my stag night and had several pints of bitter poured down my trousers. Thank you for that Allen Blackford.

Eugene Hughes… How odd. I was just about to post, when I read this. I had cricket training with Len Creese at the Priory Meadow. I never knew that he was the landlord at the DW.

James Bacon… How much for?

Alan Esdaile… £5. current bid.

James Westlake… I used to use the Garage at the top of the hill to fill up our works van.

Tony Davis… Len Crease was groundsman at the Central Cricket Ground and sold me my first Gray Nicholls cricket bat

Eugene Hughes… Gray Nicholls are still there and trading in Robertsbridge. I remember seeing Ted Dexter playing for Sussex at the PM. It was against Kent. He scored 203 not out. He signed and gave my dad his bat when he came back into the pavilion. I have it to this day.

James Westlake… Definitely old enough

Graham Sherrington… cor Blimey memories

Jacquie Hinves…Spent most evenings on there as a student nurse45 years ago. It was the first pub Kevin Hoad and I went the day I started at the old RESH!

Gaynor Lewry… And the pump house we went there as well

Duncan… Thank You all for remembering my Grandfather Len Creese in his capacities as Professional Cricketer, Cricket Coach, Groundsman and Publican. He would be touched that you all remember him so far after his time.

Peter Houghton… Used to go in there in the 70s when I lived in Linton Road

Jeff McCall… Bottom of Dorset Place, used to live there opposite the glass works where my dad worked. It was a two up two down house and I remember the tin bath hung on the backyard door! That was in the mid 50″s.