old town

Buses High Street Hastings 20s/30s

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original photographer: unknown. supplied by Lloyd Johnson

Lloyd Johnson… High Street Hastings Old Town….in the 20s/30s….

Marcus de Mowbray… It looks like if the road had been flat the buses would not have been able to pass each other without damaging their bodywork!

Stuart Moir… Enough room for buses to pass each other but I think it was a bit too close for comfort

Peter Houghton… When I lived in Bexhill the Buses used to Drive up from Sidley to the old Town and that is a very narrow road

Stewart Randell… Remember when the No11 & 2 Trolley Buses used to pass in the same spot 1950s

 

Autumn , Fusion Orchestra, Steve Maxted – Aquarius 27th Oct/3rd Nov 1973

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autumn

supplied by Sarah Harvey

Alan Pepper… Fond memories dancing to the latest sounds in the early seventies on a Thursday night and DJ Steve madman Maxted at the decks . Was a big influence !

Jan Warren… Oh yes, Fusion Orchestra!! – I LOVED that band – I saw them many times, first at the Aquarius in Hastings, then I moved to London and saw them many times at The Marquee Club, Wardor Street, London – I still have my original copy of their (one and only) album “Skeleton in Armour”, plus I still have several posters and newspaper cuttings!! – brilliant band, still play their album!! 🙂

Alan Esdaile… Great band Fusion Orchestra. Saw them loads of times and the album does still sound good.

Talkies HiFi Club High Street Old Town Hastings around 1966

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photos: Sue Colebrook-Gentry supplied by Lloyd Johnson

 

Strand Cafe supplied by Leigh Kennedy – year unknown

Sue Colebrook Gentry… Found this old picture of Lloyd Johnson, Sebastion Keep, Chris & Sid, must be from the sixties outside the old Hi Fi Club, good times.

Lloyd Johnson… I think this was when Alain a French guy had the Hi-Fi in the basement, very early on. he sold the club to Guy a Londoner that moved to Hastings. 1966/67 we’d just finished painting the front of Sid’s Cafe’Talkies’ in the OldTown High St, think the ‘High-Fi’ was in the basement. I think it is 66 as I was in Sweden in 65 and I’m wearing my bottle green corduroy jacket from CUE at Austin Reed where I work at the time. So this was probably a weekend activity, the painting of the Cafe front that is!.. Sadly Sebastian passed away some months back….he was a good friend in my youth . We both moved to London around the same time and Sebastian seemed to know everyone. I remember going to ‘BagOnails’ in Kingly street behind Carnaby st. with him in 67ish to see Jimi Hendrix, Hey! Joe! period…to say we were blown away is an up statement!….

Alan Esdaile… Great photos. Possibly a chemist shop next door?

John Gale… Excellent photos

Linda Day… I remember Sebastian Keep

Mike Waghorne… What was it called in the early 70’s ? I remember going there

Alan Esdaile… It was called Jooks cafe disco

The Lord Nelson Old Town Hastings and baths wash houses in background

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Heather Sidery… Love this!

Brigitte Lee… Any idea of the year?

Alan Esdaile… not sure Brigitte, perhaps someone else can help?

Keith Veness… Remember the bath and wash house

Jacqueline Marsh… My grandad had the Duke of Wellington opposite the wash house behind the old Hastings Wall. He was Bill Shirley

Lynda Whatley… Jacqueline, back in the day I believe it was known as The Silver Dollar locally when gran and grandad ran it .

Pauline Lindsay… Jacqueline, later it was called The Duke of Cornwall.

Cyndy Hogbin… Grandad and grandma, and my mom and dad, all landlords at the Nelson, from about 1947. Grandma was the secretary for the lady licencee association. Henry and Dora Coates and Fred and Peggy Coates. When my mom died they where at the pub, thats when dad met my other mom Barbara.l was 2 then so that was 1952, we had the Queens coronation there.

Lyn Farkley Appleyard… Just imagine having wash and bath houses today! Might become a thing with the looming economic situation!

Dennis Torrance… I reckon before they demolished the houses in old town before they put in the road we have now before 1959

Alan Esdaile… Dennis, I was thinking early 50’s but maybe wrong?

Dennis Torrance… it could be early 50s have you looked to the left of photo a gap between the back of Lord nelson pub it looks to me before they knocked down the houses to put the road there

David Daish… I lived in the flats next to it in the 80s and my parents were great friends with Tony and Tracy Shipley . Dad used to fall asleep in the bar often after a drink and was a moody so n so if he got woken up . So Tony kept a long stick behind the bar specifically to prod dad from a safe distance 😄 . Some fantastic characters back then . I miss that time down there .

David Kent… Hard to tell whether or not they are Horatio’s clothes. Looking closely at the sleeves.

David Martin… I remember going in there with my mum the fella that ran it was Jack Clasper

 

Kings Head The Bourne playlist 23rd August 1978 for Roger Carey and Friends

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supplied by Roger Carey

The band was Steve Demetri, Tony Qunta, Roger Carey, Tich Turner and guest guitarist Andy Smith (From The Roaring 80’s). Put together for one night only by Roger Carey.

Geoff Peckham… I’ll bet that was a good night! x

Pete Fisher… What a great memento – I recognise Roger’s writing. Detailed setlist can be a great help, if you have time to look at it. Remember having around 30 songs/new arrangements at the beginning of a tour once, and sellotaping 3 sheets of A4 together to accomodate them…

Barry French… Last night my good friend Len Benton & myself went to see Tich performing with his band Hi Fi Sneakers, at Sidley Working Men’s Club (Great must see soul band ). Tich remembers the Kings Head Gig, & was amazed that Roger has held onto the set list all this time & that the gig is still being talked about (The Power Of SMART)

Tich Turner… Blimey! Was playing in Sidley last night with HiFi Sneakers and  Barry told me, the last time he saw me performing was at The Kings Head. I thought he was talking about a gig I did there with about 11 of us, we were doing a bunch of new songs I’d written and Ray Fenwick wanted to invite some guys down from London to see it. I think it was leading into The Roaring 8o’s. The Place was packed, [mainly by the band], but a great night. I don’t recall this gig at all. I’m wondering why we did it. Perhaps Roger can recall. And….hello to all of you.

John Wilde… Hi Tich. Best wishes and keep on keeping on!

Pete Davis… Used to see you down the York Bexhill with Steppin Out, I think you was called, with Del McCoogan…..

Pete Prescott… There was a gig at the kings head with Steppin Out that Ray invited some record company guys to. It was Nov/Dec 77. They didn’t show up.

Mike Waghorne… Must be 30+ years since I last saw you Tich hope you are well ?

Wendy Weaver… Fascinating

Hole In The Wall pub Hill Street Old Town Hastings.

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Ray Barry… Remember it well,a Merrydown cider and bottle Brown Ale 2/10d. Circa 1963/4

Patricia Burgess… Ray, OMG haven’t heard the name Merrydown for at least 45 years loved that cider. Is it still made.

Ray Barry… Patricia, No the brewery closed some few years ago and is now a housing estate in Horam

Tony Court-holmes… Ray, my mum june used to drink that in The Anchor back in the 60s

Paul Reed… Is that street still there today or did it disappear if thats st Clements church in photo.Did I hear that area suffered bomb damage as well.?

Lynda Whatley… yes that is St Clements Church and the area was suffered bomb damage – and the church suffered too . My mother and myself posed for the local artist – when the church window over the alter was commissioned .

Ray Barry… The street is still there but the pub has long gone and is now a house. A pub round the corner called The Swan got bombed during the Second World War.

Graham Mccallion… I remember those days

John Wilde… I lived in Hill street during the late 70s and it was long gone

Jacqueline Marsh… I went to school just behind this pub

Monica Bane… My Wedding breakfast there In 1960!

Tony Court-holmes… drank in that pub

Tony Collins… Whether true or not but I did hear that at one side of the top window of the Church is a cannonball fired from an enemy ship and the other one is made or stone to balance it up. If you look carefully one is rusted and the other is grey. Can anyone confirm this?

Roger Simmonds… Tony, Yes there is a cannon ball in the wall!

Roger Simmonds… I also used to drink in there in 1964!

Janet Mournard Russell… Used to go there often.

Mick Barrow… The Kicking Donkey kicked the hole in the wall, i think Ron French was the landlord

WA Guy Ltd High Street Hastings and Disc Jockey Records sign.

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Sid Saunders… So that’s where I left my bike!

Monica Bane… As a Young girl, Use to ask Guys for drawing paper. My, brings back memories!

Claire Lonsdale… I can’t place where in the High St that is

David Edwards… Claire, by the entrance to Sinnock Square, building by Post Office demolished for Philip Cole flats

Ian Johnson… Bought a lot of reggae from the Disc Jockey back in the day

Jackie Hersee… And my old house – 86 High Street

Mick O’Dowd… I worked for W.A. Guy when it became Guy & Jones and they had moved to Sinnock Passage.

Stuart Moir… You won’t it’s such an old photo, even the trolly bus wires show that it’s two way traffic and that bike, well it looks like it belonged to someones great grandad

Hi-Fi Restaurant and Discotheque – High Street Hastings 1970’s

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Alan Esdaile… I can smell Disque Bleu by just looking at the photo! Well I think that’s what I can smell?

Martyn Baker… Owned by Guy?

Peter Thomson… Is that a cheese?

Patricia Wapshott… I remember that place but can’t remember who ran it , think he was called Guy and his flat above was so cool , he had a sunken bed and a vast record collection , my friend Camille was seeing him and that’s how I got to see the flat . We sat and listened to David Bowie albums while he smoked a joint and I must have been about 15 then and didn’t even know what a joint was ! I just remember that it smelt disgusting and politely said no when he offered it to me that was also smelt incense sticks burning . The innocence of my youth !

Gin Genie… Guy still drinks in the Nelson on a Monday night playing shove

Will Hadfield… I think this is where people hung out in a disco downstairs owned by a bloke called guy or max

Pete Brazier… Didn’t it become the cheese emporium? Probably the Swiss blue what you thought you could smell lol

Chris Baker… Played downstairs a few times. Usually with our electrics swimming in the mix of beer and “toilet water” and getting shocks off the Mike’s and my guitar! Health & Safety? What’s that?

Jim Hobbs…. How about old beer and cigarettes.

Angela Frances Gardner… When Chico had the Jamaican restaurant on the ground floor selling ackee and salt fish

Martin Richter… disque bleu ? you crazy beatniks

Andy Qunta…  Fond memories of this place!

John McCallion… I remember it well Alan, .It’s where I auditioned with Steve D, Paul Dove and Paul Wiseman to form Muller

John Busbridge… Disco was downstairs, used to go there!

Jemma Yasmin… What a lovely building I never knew what was here it’s been a building site as long as I can remember …. do you know when and why it burnt down? With the downstairs of Fagins and this what an amazing place the old town would have been at this time?

Read more

Save the Electric Palace Cinema High Street Hastings

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Rebecca Marshall is organising this fundraiser.

Hi wonderful people of Hastings and beyond, We’re here asking for your help to save the Electric Palace from permanent closure. Unfortunately, we’ve had to close our doors at the start of 2022, our twentieth anniversary. At the start of the pandemic we were carried through by funding from the BFI Cultural Support Fund, but it did not cater for such a terrible December in which we made huge losses due to all the booking cancellations. Now we are left in a disastrous situation. Due to the understandable concerns that affect us all regarding the ongoing Covid Omicron variant, January film bookings and venue hire were at an all-time low. It has not proved financially viable for us to open our doors for film screenings. Even standing closed has substantial outgoings, and we are under threat of permanent closure. To screen a film incurs licence fees and staffing costs that only generate further loss if badly attended.We are a not for profit ‘Community Interest Company’ with a small team of part-time staff and 30 dedicated and brilliantly passionate volunteers. Our running costs rely on ticket sales and bar profits.
for further information click on the link…  

https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-the-electric-palace-cinema-hastings?qid=578103820d3ab43f05c740f1b826bc87

Allan Mitchell… Totally agree!!!

Marcus de Mowbray… Great little cinema!

Heather Sidery… Most definitely!

 

Malcolm Mitchell, High Street, Hastings closed photo by Anthony ‘Nan’ Morland

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photo © Anthony ‘Nan’ Morland

Phil Gill… Class outfitters

Martin Richter… all the army boots you could eat

Glenn Piper… veritable Aladdins cave of curiosity’s and lots of boots & great coats

Lucy Pappas… Bought my very wide leg sailor trousers from there! Loved Malcolm Mitchell x

Phil Gill… Lucy, You could have washed them before you turned up at the youth club wearing them though.

Lucy Pappas… Phil, I apologise for the fishy smell. Thinking about it, that would have been when we first become friends, 50+ years ago….

Phil Gill… I didn’t mind fishy, it was the beer stains from some Norwegian sailor’s night out.

Bruce Zebedee… Great shop

Colin Wells… Malcs bootique!!

Pete Blomfield… Datsun 100a or 120y?

Jeff McCall… Great shop, bought a purple parker from there, it had a bullet hole in it!

Gerry Fortsch… I remember that they sold every thing so one day I asked for a torpedo and they came up with one.

Fred Marsh… I wonder what some of our dfls would have made of it

Lloyd Johnson… Fred, Hastings is my home town.I moved to London in 1966 I went Ore youth Club with Patrick Mitchell who’s uncle owned MM .I opened my own shop/stall in 1967 in Kensington market a year later.In 1973 I was buying similar items that we’re sold in Malcolm Mitchell’s the High st,Baldocks and Winters shoe shop in George st.,Cyril Savages in Kings Road and Apps shoe shop in Silverhill by that time the stock I remembered from the early 60s was considered vintage clothing. I remember. buying an amazing W11 leather dispatch riders jacket from MM which I wore during my Art school days at The Brassey Institute above the Library in 1961/62…I guess you could say in some ways all those shops including MM were a great inspiration for me during my time. in the clothing business as was the whole teenage experience of growing up in Hastings with The Pamdor, Fiesta ,the trad jazz at the caves and the groups on The Pier. I think it is nice to see some new small innovative businesses bring some style to the town. The DFLs’ as you seem to call the creatives from London that have chosen Hastings to make their home. Several friends from London have moved to Hastings and St.Leonard’s and I think they contribute extra style and entertainment to the Town…..

Mark Syrett… Top shop

Mike Waghorne… Top clothe’s shop in the late 60’s Malcom’s boutique we used to call it !

John Mcewen… Best work boots ever!

Dave Nattress… Even us Bexhill boys knew Malcolm’s Boutique, always on the tourist may with the Trading Post

Jim Breeds… April 2021 view (Google Streetview)

Alan Esdaile… Jim, hasn’t got the same smell as the original photo!