Peter Fairless… Burgers and chips in a polystyrene box, very radical!
Martin Richter… Peter, it was at the time!
Graham Sherrington… was that a toy shop?? or was the toy shop between Rumples and the town Crier? the shop with the awning.
Lloyd Johnson… Hepworth’s on the far left….The PamDor Coffee Bar above Hepworth’s…
Bernard Morphew… What is the building on the right of the photo?
Ralph Town… Wasn’t that Arbers,in another space/time co ordinate
Alan Esdaile… Ralph, Yes I’m pretty sure that was Arbers and think it was a cigar shop next to the Town Crier pub, Bernard.
Chris Meachen… the tobacconist shop used to sell loose tobacco:- there were several different varieties & you could mix them together to create your own blend.
Peter Ellingworth… Note the lamppost, former tram/trolleybus wire traction pole, by the Town Hall. I remember when there was a blitz on removing them, I believe because of an EEC ruling that lamp standards had to be vehicle crash absorbent ( which these old posts most certainly were not), during one of my visits to Hastings watching the guys – with much f-ing and blinding- after trying to oxy flame-cut it down in sections without avail, as it was infilled with concrete with old tram rail inside to strengthen it then jacking it out from the ground in most of its entirety. It was reinforced originally to take the 500 odd volt dc power feeder cables situated at intervals in the system.
Alan Esdaile… Do you remember the football pools? Having to be very quite on a Saturday when your dad was listening to the results.
Paul James… Ahahahahahahaha my stepdad always played the pools, never won anything
Gerry Powell… Forfar 4, Fife 5 . . . . my dad did them in the 60’s and let me do a line. Still do a line “on-line”. Spot the Ball was also introduced by Littlewoods and at work as a syndicate we did it weekly in the early 70’s and I came away with over £400 which went a long way to pay for my first new car, a Ford Escort Mk1 1300E in Daytona Yellow. I had to do 500 “x’s” in a small square template and around 8 others did the same so we did not duplicate. It worked.
Kevin Burchett… my dad was in a syndicate at British Gypsum when i was a teenager i think there was a bout a dozen in the syndicate and they won dad ended it up with £290 it was quite a lot of money in them days and we all got new bikes from Lappys in queens road and we rode them home to netherfield
Yvonne Cleland… Oh yes! Every Saturday. Didn’t dare speak!
Mick O’Dowd… Yep! Always brings to mind the old Spike Milligan sketch( I think) or it might have been Michael Bentine reading the results.
Helen James… Had to check them with my Dad
Alan Esdaile… Michael Bentine, Mick.
Peter Howard… I used to pick a line for my Gran. She won £100 in about 1969 but my Grandad wouldn’t let her cash the cheque because he didn’t want the bank manager to know his wife did the pools
Dave Nattress… Indeed, my parents did it for years and it was a major operation with several companies holding their own draws. Littlewoods in Liverpool? I think was Mega and another was called “Zetters” – I think – only recall this because it was a strange name/word. Parents won a few quid now and again. Spot the ball I recall also.
Lyn Humphrey… I also recall having to be quiet at 4.50 pm. Just after I started my first job, my Dad won first dividend, & we began dreaming….only to find out that the small pools companies paid out far less. His share was two grand, which was still nice, but not life-changing (& I was so looking forward to life-changing).
Mark Eason… Not “quite” a memory of mine being “quiet” back then.
Karen Sweatman… My dad promised to take us to Disney if he won. I was old enough to realise that 37 and a half pence wasn’t enough. My sister wasn’t and cried for hours
Dave Nattress… Hi Lyn old friend, well, we’re about as old as each other are we not! My parents won a few small amounts not life-changing for me either. Still life’s been good enough without riches so far!
Pete Prescott… I remember my dad doing the football pools every week.
Joe Knight… About 1983 i stopped
John Warner… Got 8 draws once received £125, sick.
Lyn Humphrey… Hi Dave — Yes, I too have managed without the riches thus far, but I wouldn’t mind trying some…..though I’m not sure what life-changing would be, now!
Mick O’Dowd… My parents promised me a train set if they won. 10 years of waiting for a train that never arrived (Where’s Sarah Harvey when you need her!) I finally bought my own when I started work.
Pete Prescott… Oh yes. Dad would spend ages on it.
Alan King… but did he let you ‘check the pools; ?
Wendy Weaver… If you listened carefully you could predict the result by the inflections in the announcer’s voice. We use the same numbers we used for the pools on our lottery ticket – not a lot of luck still. I won £30 on the pools and bought a Sega Master System with it. Graham and I used to stay up half the night trying to beat one another at Sonic the Hedgehog
Tony Court-holmes… so would my nan never won a penny
Kevin White… My Mum and Dad used to do the pools every week, Dad used to collect the money from door to door on Wednesday or Thursday night in the Hollington area on behalf of Vernons pools. I used to go with him when I was little. I remember they had, what would have been a massive win one week, i think it was about £125.000 but unfortunately for them, so did half the country, they ended up winning 19/6 when it was shared out between all the other winners, that is Nineteen shillings and sixpence. Or about 97.5 new pence in today’s money.
Andy Guainiere… Yes, always a big night for dad with the pools coupon.
Colin Bell… Having to be quiet after watching Mick McManus and Kendo Nagasaki punch the crap out of the other wrestlers (well pretend to!)
David Francis… I remember waiting for Doctor Who to come on and we couldn’t talk because my dad was reading his pools coupons watching the Scottish third division Forfar 5 Fife 4 etc
Steve Thorpe… I had to get the pink edition of the Evening News which had the results of the football and horse racing in it.
Kev Towner… I was always really disappointed that the scoreline: Forfar 5 – East Fife 4 never came up!!
Yvonne Ellis… Very fond memories of this
Oliver Leonard… I think they still exist do they not?
Mick O’Dowd… Port Vale 1. Coventry lost! Apologies to Spike Milligan!
Chris Pook… I used to do a ‘pools round’ in Ore Village in the eighties. Some people would do one line with the same numbers every week and others would stretch to 4 lines with random numbers. Nice little job once a week for about £3!
Jacqueline Marsh… That was my grand dad’s fish n chip shop back in the 40’s – 50’s. Bill Shirley he went on to have the Duke of Wellington public house known as The Silver Dollar by the old baths and wash house back of the Hastings wall. In those days the fish and chip shop had a third floor where we kids were sent when our mums worked down below. There were 5 girls and 1 son. All the girls worked at one time or other for their mum and dad. They were known as the Shirley girls and they were all very glamorous and very stylish back in the day
Graham Sherrington… Such Memories Jacqueline
Andy James Long… Is that what is now the Blue Dolphin chip shop?
Dudley Mendenhall… yep and still is I do believe, not been home for a few years now. That’s my mum and nan with my uncle Dick with me being held by nan.
Fred Marsh… I wonder why they knocked it down, was there no listing?
Tony Court-holmes… it burnt down
Jeff McCall… My grandmother worked there. Mabel Eldridge.
Peter Ellingworth… Photo from before 1971- note pre decimal money still in use then. Dates from early to mid sixties I would think.
Dudley Mendenhall… that’s about 1971-72. It’s my family
Peter Ellingworth… The UK changed over to decimal currency in mid-Feb. 1971, so I would have thought the photo was no later than that- although if you remember signage in the old currency was still displayed in some places for a time afterwards.
Chris Baker… I remember China inkwells and wooden stick pens that we dipped into the ink. We had Ink Monitors to fill them up!
Sue Bennett… l remember winning a little contest for italic handwriting using these pens, they were lovely.
Kathy Wood… I still prefer ink to cartridges but dont often get chance to use it nowadays
Pete Brazier… Didn’t matter what type you used, you still got ink on your hands, toung, pockets shirt and in your bag!
Alan Esdaile… remember it well.
Leigh Wieland-Boys… Ink everywhere!
Wendy Weaver… Yes, I remember and will admit to being THAT old
Pete Brazier… at least you don’t remember having to use a Quil 😂 Like I Do
Ernest Ballard… Yes
Victoria Diaz-Fernandez… Yep
Nigel Goodman… Yes and windmilling your arm holding the pen splashing ink everywhere
Clifford Rose… No but I remember breaking my ink bottle in my school bag once.
Nigel Goodman… We had a boy who drank blue ink for a dare
Mike Guy… Was his name Stephen?
Lyn Humphrey… I hated using the old inkwells; if you were left-handed, you’d smudge the wet ink all over your work. Eventually we were allowed to use ball-points, so then my writing was merely spidery, instead of being smudged as well.
Terry Hardwick… Quink ink
Den Bray… I have used proper fountain pens in preference to ball- points for
many years … I remember my uncle who was a sucker new gadgets he bought at great expense a “Biro ” auntie was not impressed when she discovered how much it cost
Conan Howard… I used to be an INK monitor at school in the late 50s , we had to mix powdered ink with water ,then pour it into the ink wells that were built into the desks , I was always covered in the stuff after that job.
Tony Davis… We ought to see if we could put something on at the caves now. Of course its so far from the road we’d need hundreds of roadies.
Terry Corder… When Die Laughing played the caves, Lol & I carried all the gear in on our own. We worked out that we each walked 3 1/2 miles each. Don’t want to do that again!
Terry Hardwick… You get the gig I will put the gear in.
Tony Davis… As it’s the caves we ought to make it a rock night (sorry bad gag) so I could organise Hastings Rock Djs
Mick O’Dowd… Good venue but with access problems! At least no neighbours complaining about the noise!
Kevin Burchett… I’m pretty sure they had Acker Bilk judge the town criers competition on the pier many moons ago
Monica Bane… Around 1962, I believe!
Chris Baker… My Mum wrote some lyrics to Stranger on the Shore and it go her into Song Writing. She went up to London to meet the head of Chappells, music publishers, and they tried to persuade her to record it. She turned it down but later recorded many of her own songs. She got me to learn the guitar and provide backing tracks for many of her songs.
James Eccleston… Hello everyone I was putting a new fence up in the garden and while digging I discovered this old enamelled sign in the ground! It’s for the queens hotel Hastings and I believe it was made in the 1800s so I was just wondering if anyone could help me out and find a picture of the sign on the building before it was removed and ending up buried in my garden I’ve try to find pics but I’ve been unsuccessful. I hope this is a interesting discovery for everyone
Lloyd Johnson… This should be in Hastings Museum…
Mike Mitchell… Not sure it’s going to be 1800s – no cars or phones that early
Leigh Mitchell… Oh wow! What a great find!
Doc Racer… Found this on the Historic Hastings website. Wonder if this is it, the dates seem right
Chris Meachen… It was most likely originally mounted on the walls of the railway station, where many such advertisements were displayed. I dug up a huge one for ‘Nestles milk’ in my own garden. It was common practice for people to take such signs home when they became redundant & use them in gardens and allotments for raised beds or compost heaps, as the enamel coating resisted rust.
Andy Qunta… Fabulous!
Mike Vawdrey… I do not have local knowledge but based on the general style and three digit phone number I would make an educated guessstimate at the period soon after the Great War – early 1920 s maybe ? ?
Peter Ellingworth… A clue is the ‘phone number – 201- on the bottom right hand of the sign. There is a section on the ‘Historical Hastings’ site which I can’t seem to access at the moment, of the development of ‘phone numbers in Hastings.
I did, however, read that Hastings became fully automated in 1974, with the now familiar 42 prefixed to numbers. I have a copy of the Hastings Tramways t/bus timetable of 1954-5, and the Silverhill office enquiry number then still used two figures (HASTINGS 90 ) while the White Rock office is listed as HASTINGS 2310. I think it depended on the locality, and even within the locality, when the change over from two to three and then four figures was made prior to STD. I would guess the sign dates from pre, or immediate post WW2. Hastings Museum should be able to narrow it down more.
Mike Mitchell…we still had a three digit phone number in Ore in the mid-60s: Hastings 404 which was changed to 1221 later in the 60s. Why do I still remember all this stuff?
