The Dark Man Film – shot in Hastings in 1950’s

shared from Robert Webb   https://www.facebook.com/robert.webb.927543

Robert Webb… Molly Lester (Natasha Parry) runs towards the theatre after seeing the Dark Man after he had murdered the Taxi Driver. Tony found the location. Claremont, Hastings.

Graham Sherrington… Yep I had to walk up those steps with an Evening Argus bike full of The Evening Argus.

Micky Erends… I loved this film, good opening shots of Hastings seafront ( hardly a car in site! ) , Camber Castle ..ending up at Dungeness.

Floral clock – White Rock Gardens Hastings 1959

Jim Peckham… Used to have one of those in Tunbridge Wells. But like so many things it got vandalised so never replaced

Alan Roberts… Remember the clock well, I used to plant and maintain it when I worked for Parks and Gardens. Unfortunately parents thought it was great to let their children sit on the hands shearing the drive pin. There was a cookoo that came out of the wall behind but that was before my time! Clock workings were under the shelter above.

Jacqueline Marsh… I remember seeing that as a little girl

Carol Acott… Jacqueline, so do l

Lynda Whatley… me too – it was fascinating to see it as a child

John Mcewen… Remember it well.

Betty Austin… I remember it it was lovely each year . And the hospital was opposite.

Mick O’Dowd… Loved this. A pity it isn’t still there but that’s thanks to the low-life over the years re: The Model Village etc. Nice to see it again.

who remembers The Guinness Clock – Hastings 1950’s

photo source: unknown

Thanks to Graham Coco Pops for finding this.

Mike Guy… I remember the one at Barry Island – tidy.

Sandie Carlyon… I do. Dad used to take us watch it. This was one of 7 that were in different sites around the UK. I would love to know what happened to it. It was on the seafront near the end of Robertson Street.

Colin Bell… So did mine Sandie, sadly all the clocks went back to Guinness and were eventually destroyed, apart from one which I believe they have in their museum in Dublin. Thanks for posting Alan, many memories.

Ian Cramp… Which year was this in Hastings?

Colin Bell… Around 56/57 I think Ian.

Ian Quinnell… I remember going to see this. I must have been 4 or 5, so it was late 50’s

Alan Esdaile… Remember it well. I must have been around 4 and as Sandie says, it was on the seafront near the end of Robertson Street. I think it was also on display near the pier.

Jacqueline Marsh… Oh yes great memories. There also use to be a photographer nearby with a monkey. I can remember having a photo taken. Great times

Colin Bell… Some footage of another Guinness Clock from around the same time period as the Hastings one was on display.

Richard Brimm… I do every year it was brought to the village fete at Bodiam Sussex

Monica Bane… Oh yes I too remember that wonderful clock as a small child!

Mick O’Dowd… What a treat this was. It came back for a couple of years or maybe more.

Wendy Weaver… I remember the one in Bournemouth Pavilion Gardens. The original was made for the Festival of Britain in Battersea Festival Park in 1951. There will be another Festival in 2051. See you there????

Colin Bell… I’d love to think so Wendy..but i’ll be there in spirit!

Paul Black… According to my cousin, the Guinness Clock was travelling display that was in Hastings for the summer of 1955.

Pete Brazier… this one! There were others! I haven’t seen a pic of the one I remember

Wendy Weaver… I think there were about 12 of them or so.

Hastings Memorial 1950’s from a different angle!

shared from Jeff Evans Hastings and St Leonards Pictures and Videos https://www.facebook.com/groups/340548556033905/user/1267645523

Jeff Evans… had to reduce the file size of another glass plate photograph: Hastings Town: early 1950’s

Lloyd Johnson… The Council should put back as it was!…

Alan Esdaile… Great photo. Trying to work out what building this was taken from. Thinking Lyons but probably further down?

Leigh Kennedy… first floor of what is now Lloyd’s Bank..

Colin Bell… Didn’t it look so much better then with a central focus point

Roger Simmonds… Wish it was still like it now!

John Wilde… Fantastic.

Toker Tokin… The feeling of the place then ,was a feeling of content, with the majority of people.

Peter Ellingworth… Pre 1957 for sure, t-bus still in Hastings Tramways and not M&D livery.

Barry French… The town centre lost its soul and identity the day the Memorial was demolished.

Steve Glover… I concur with all sentiments. It wasn’t a lot different in the early sixties, the town centre had all you would need in the way of shops, how things have sadly changed, not a shadow of its former self. I had heard the Albert Memorial still exists, dismantled and in storage somewhere in the borough???

Peter Fairless… Steve, In a former Councillor’s garden, allegedly,

Peter Fairless… I liked the mid ’70s layout with a lot of walls for moody teenagers to sit on!

‘Happy Harold’ Silverhill Junction in 1954.

Supplied by Leigh Kennedy

Roger Simmonds… Happy days!

Alan Esdaile… I remember the chemist shop.

Peter Ellingworth… In one of the books I have – when time allows I will look it out- there is a good colour photo of ‘H-H’ having just turned out of Beaufort Rd. from the depot and pulling into the stop by Apps’s former Silverhill shop in spring 1959, if I remember right. Is this one of David Padgham’s photos or possibly that of Robert Mack, the well known bus and train photographer from Leeds ? In another book R M had a very good photo of ‘H-H’ passing by West Marina in 1953. “Modern in 1928” is a bit of a misnomer, as the open top bodywork by Dodsons, the chassis by Guy, was unique to Hastings and considered rather dated even then ! I remember my late mother saying as a fifteen year old catching one of these to Bexhill where she used to work from the bottom of London Rd., and how there was a scrum for the covered lower deck in very wet weather.  The Chemist’s shop was Everards – did a part time after school job for a while. ‘H-H’ is a lucky survivor. It was kept in store at the old Bulverhythe depot after the others were scrapped, and then utilised as an overhead wiring maintenance and de-icing vehicle before being decked out with a myriad of coloured lights for the 1953 Coronation. In this guise it became so popular with the public, as those of us of a certain age remember, hence on was kept running as a summer evening novelty. It also kept one of its working functions as a wiring de-icer : I remember David Padgham telling me how it woke him up sometimes when it passed along in the night by where he lived in Sedlescombe Rd. North with vivid blue flashes ! I remember riding on ‘H-H’ with my cousin when it was still electric, and being fascinated by the goings on with the poles on the overhead wires.
Whether if this was running as such today with 500 plus volts DC in relative close proximity would acceptable to modern H & S requirements is a different matter….

Who remembers Sainsbury’s in Wellington Place Hastings? (store photo is Peckham branch)

photo: Sainsbury Archive

Tony Court-holmes… early 50s? Nationwide is there now i wonder if the tiles are covered up behind the new walls

Jacky Mattelaer… I remember it like this in the 60’s, my Gran used to take me in there. I was fascinated by the way they rolled the butter on the marble counters. Great memories

Pauline Sims… Me too Jacky. I can just about remember the smell too when you walked in, mostly bacon – mouthwatering

Judy Atkinson… Not Wellington Place, that was later. This was the original shop in Castle Street where Nationwide is now. Remember going in there with my mum (early 60s) & buying bacon & butter. Beautiful mosaics & marble counters

Patrick Lewis… Remember it well from late 50’s into the60’s. Gala pie and patted butter.

Jackie Hersee… I remember it

Virginia Davis… I remember it from mid to late 60s like this

Gary Benton… I loved going to Sainsburys as a kid, the wonderful smell of cheese and smoked bacon as you walked in, the professional smart looking staff in their uniforms. Why did we ever loose amazing shops like this? I suppose its what they call progress, its very sad.

Claire Hamill… Oh wow! How could anyone get rid of something so glorious? Just think what the centre of Hastings would look like if we could have held on to those beautiful oldshops? And facades? Criminal decisions!

Bernard Goffredo… Definitely agree on that

Dave Boutwood… Yes, I (Wendy) worked there (Hastings branch) with my friend Kate. Must have been 1965-66. We worked Fri evening, after school for late night shopping and all day Sat. That photo brings back memories, we loved it there and had fun. Also, with our white overall, we had to wear a white headscarf (tied like Hilda Ogden’s), which was a bit embarrassing for us teenage girls!!! 😂😂😂 Great photo. Wendy xxx

Lesley Bowles… Dave, Wen, I remember all the lovely tiles and the great smell in there! Xx

Yvonne Cleland… Oh yes, exactly like my memories. My mum used to take me here when I was a toddler. How lovely to see it again!

Roy Marven formely Syrett… remember going with my nan to order her xmas turkey

Martin Richter… and not a self-serve checkout in sight

Peter Bridger… Oh yes, loved the tiles, and smell of raw meat, strangely!

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Anyone remember Roy Carpenter who used to sing at talent competitions on Hastings Pier?

photo: Chris Roberts

Dave Trodd… Does anyone remember Roy Carpenter singing at the talent competitions on Hastings Pier, late 50’s early 60’s? He always got the biggest cheer of anyone. It would be great if anyone has any photos?

Robert Searle… A great photo

Lloyd Johnson… I remember bumping into Roy Carpenter outside of The Fiesta Coffee Bar in the early 60s. He was a real character. I never heard him sing but he was trying to convince me and others that Frank Sinatra had given him the hat he was wearing which seemed quiet eccentric at the time.I remember thinking he was a bit weird…. if only The Pier was still intact like this photo!…

Chris Baker… I remember Dave Trodd!

Jacqui Gibson… Chris, Yes me too….

Conan Howard… Chris Baker, do you remember the basement in George Street? Len, Bass guitarist friend of Allen Watts ? 1970s

 

Who remembers the Coach Park and Uncle Tom’s Cabin – The Stade Hastings early 50’s

supplied by Keith Hayes Facebook Hastings & St Leonards Pictures & Videos 

Peter Houghton… Yes it was nice to see all the coaches down there and Uncle Tom’s Cabin was always busy in the summer

Tony Court-holmes… happy days then the bastards took away the coach park

Virginia Davis… I remember the fair being there during Old Town week every year in the 70s

Wendy Weaver… The usual mismanagement.

Jack Apps… The Wishing Well aaaaah

Merv Kennard… the mine.

Peter Higgs… my nan owned Toms Cabin in the early 70s . Margaret Cook Galloway

Eric Harmer… was a gas apprentice then and put the gas pipes in there with old towner Jimmy Curtis

Glen Aylard… The Day’s When you could park in Hastings Old Town

Mick O’Dowd… The days when the Council used to ENCOURAGE visitors especially in coaches!

Alan Esdaile… look how many coaches!

Mick O’Dowd… What’s the word for a lot of coaches? A cluster maybe?

Stuart Moir… Exactly, the decision to stop coach and bus parking on the Stade was the killer for all the old town businesses.

David Kent… Are you sure all those coaches weren’t there because they had broken down?

Mary Cooke (Tippins)… I served the rock and ice creams 1968.

Peter Ellingworth… Does anybody remember the old 10 & 1/4″ (26 cm gauge ) miniature railway at The Stade run by Jim “JBH” Hughes, on behalf of the owners Ian Allan the well known transport publishers of Shepperton ? There were originally three steamers: ‘Firefly’ which was sold on to Kerr’s miniature railway in Scotland ( recently closed), ‘Hampton Court’ sold on to Lord Gretton’s miniature railway which is open to the public in Northamptonshire, and the ‘Royal Scot’ sold on privately ( now replaced with another new identical). ‘JBH’ lived exactly five miles from the town centre at an aptly named bungalow called “Five Miles”. Myself and a school friend had a look at his extensive workshop once, as we used to help out on the railway school holidays early ‘sixties.

Eric Harmer… I was a gas board apprentice With old towner jimmy ? We put the gas pipes in Uncle Toms Cabin in the early 70s

Reid McDuffie… I mostly remember the reek of diesel fumes