Gill Smith… Would love to come along! Been down here since 1976!
Alan Esdaile… you are most welcome to join us Gill.
Jim McCarthy… Hi I am Jim, currently writing a book on (the Move) living in Bexhill and talked to Colin Bell recently. I’d like to come along, I better put this in my diary thank you, hope all is well
Alan Esdaile… look forward to seeing you Jim
Alan Esdaile… Pete Prescott will have on display the photos albums of Bexhill Hop 1980’s, for anyone who missed them last time.
The next SMART coffee meet is on Friday 19th January 2024. Hopefully you can make it and please mention it to other like minded people. We usually do one, every other month but due to Christmas, the next one won’t be until January. Thank you as always for your support and would like to wish you a very happy Christmas and healthy new year. Don’t forget if you are seeing any relatives or friends over the Christmas period and think they might have some old photos that are suitable for the website, then this would be very much appreciated. Very best wishes. Alan
Claire Lonsdale… Happy Christmas to you Alan . I hope you enjoy the festive season. Xx
Mick O’Dowd… Remember to make a New Years Resolution if you’ve not been before. Make it in 2024 and see the superman who runs the whole shabang and is known as Alan Esdaile Johnny Mason.
Colin Norton… I really hope that I can make it one day! Would love to meet everyone!
New people most welcome to join us.
Due to the train strikes, a number of regulars that had to travel down, were unable to make it but we still had an excellent turn out for our 68th get together. Among the newbies this time were Brian Scales and Sally King. Brian was chatting about happy memories of gigs he has been to and especially seeing The Sweet when they played The Aquarius Club in George Street. Sally was talking about her brother Julian Anderson and when he was doing discos at The Astral Club in Queens Road. As well as great memories of seeing The Kinks and The Move on Hastings Pier, she is a great supporter of groups and one of her favourites is Big Blue. Philip John arrived with a whole pile of ‘Disco 45’ magazines and Pete Prescott had a Jesus Christ Superstar programme and a table full of group photos and cassettes. Mo Elms came along with a very rare David ‘Kid’ Jensen’s The Original Roll ’n’ Rock pop music questions game. Dave Jenkins arrived with some collectable tour t-shirts of Knebworth ’80, U2 93 Zooropa Tour, a Marquee club sweatshirt and a Rolling Stones tour of Europe 76 Earls Court gig shirt. Colin Tapp has found a cassette recording of his grandad Hastings fisherman ‘Noah Gillette’ and thinks this is the recording that the BBC came to Hastings and did a programme called ‘Down Your Way’ in the 1950’s. Noah used to sing regularly in local pubs. Ian Marketis had with him an impressive box set of Queen Live At The Rainbow 1974 which included cd’s, book, posters, badges, tickets and more. Tim McDonald was talking about the Music Resource Centre that he’s working on and John Busbridge had a photo album of photos, gigs and membership tickets. This is just a small bit of what I remember. If you had anything interesting you were talking about or anything I missed out or got wrong! then please feel free to add or correct.
Bob Searle… I wished i could come
Alan Esdaile… You would be most welcome Bob
Monica Bane… Alan, Again couldn’t make it Will get there sometime
Mick O’Dowd… Another interesting Meet although some regulars missing because of train strike and other reasons. Had a very interesting chat with Tim McDonald ex BBC producer and also with Chris Gentry among others.
Eric Burgess… Sorry couldn’t make it this time. Had unexpected visitors. See u next time!
Cris and Merv Kennard… Thanks Alan, another good afternoon catching up with old friends and meeting new.
Linda Boiling… Sorry I couldn’t make it today. Hope to make the next meeting.
Lucy Pappas… Sounds like a good meet-up. One of these days, I’ll get there again x
Jackie Johnson-Lush… When is the next meet up please? X
Alan Esdaile… Usually every other month Jackie. So the next one should be around the end of October and will be posted nearer the time. You are most welcome to join us.
Lloyd Johnson… I’ll be at the next one Alan…
David Jenkins… Absolutely love it, I’ve met some fantastic people .
SMART coffee meet report number 67
What a Great afternoon! Among the newbies this time were Helena Kingshott, Micky Erends, Neil Cartwright, Jane Hartley, Sue Byrne, and David Martin. Helena was reminiscing about the great dances in Hastings with the regular Friday nights at the caves and Saturdays on the pier. Micky had some great memories of Ore youth club and the pier with Hendrix, Pink Floyd and Johnny Kidd. Neil was catching up with friends and fellow musicians that he has performed with over the years. Jane was chatting about the music that’s happening this summer on the pier. Sue remembers seeing Elvis Costello and always enjoyed seeing The Teenbeats. David was catching up with old school friends and was talking about how good Pete Prescott’s music quiz nights are at The Dolphin. Mick O’Dowd had the hardback book with him called ‘Rock Odyssey A Chronicle of The Sixties’ by Ian Whitcomb whom you may remember had the hit in the sixties with ‘You Turn Me On’. Mick said, it’s surprises what you can find in the charity shop for 50p! Mo Elms turned up with a surprise, Terry’s original 70’s platform shoes! Anthony ‘Nan’ Morland had some interesting photos with him, including The Regal Theatre, The Maanav Star cargo ship when it run aground at Camber, Courts furniture shop at White Rock in 1978, North Seat viewing platform look out tower in Fairlight from 1960 and ‘Ransons’ corner shop, on the corner of Broadway and Fairlight Road. He also had photos from his cousin Roger of Pete Best in Liverpool, George Martin in Harrods and a Yoko Ono photo. Lynn Williams and Jane Moody had some great looking trendy photos of them from their teenage years. Paul Huggett had pages of lists of all the gigs he has seen over the years from 1964 to present. John Busbridge arrive with an amazing collection of LP’s & single records of Buddy Holly and Cliff Wootton had leaflets and information on ITT. Clive Richardson had Steamhammer posters and a large selection of 7” singles and Barry French had a Status Quo programme from Alexandra Park in 2006. This is just a small bit of what I remember and sorry was unable to chat to everyone. If you had anything interesting you were talking about or anything I missed out or got wrong! then please feel free to add or correct.
Stephen Moran… I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get to SMART today.
Jim Breeds… Apologies for my absence. I had some errands to run.
Cris & Merv Kennard… Another good afternoon catching up with lots of people. Thanks Alan for organising
Lucy Pappas… Sorry to miss another one. Hope it was fun! xx
Tony Davis… Sorry to miss another one was scoping out young bands in Brighton
Mick O’Dowd… You missed a good one there Stephen. Nice to see more newbies every time we have a Meet. Well done Alan!
Stephen Moran… I’m sorry I missed it Mick, we’ve got a family wedding otherwise I’d have been there. You are quite right, Alan does a great job.
Dave Martin… Priory Road Trio met up yesterday at SMART Coffee meeting at White Rock Hotel. Myself, Eric Harmer & Jon McCallion
Andy Qunta… Sounds great! As usual I’m sorry I couldn’t be there! Thanks for the plug for the Factory gig! Here’s a link for tickets –
https://dice.fm/event/5rv2y-factory-5th-aug-the-piper-saint-leonards-tickets
Iain Cobby… Sorry to miss another bash Alan, on the school run in Tenterden!
Willie Wicking… Don’t look any different Dave
The sun was shining and a packed turn out for our 66th meet. Among the newbies this time were Dave Reece, Peter Ellingworth, Lynn Williams, Joan Moody and Alan Thwaites. Dave had with him a photo album of the many groups he has played with, including Cyril Stapleton Band, Daybreak and Love Together who hit the front of the newspapers in 1975, about Opportunity Knocks. Peter had a photo of Pulpit Gate house at the bottom of All Saints Street and his father did the woodwork on the building. He was in deep conversation with others on his interest in Hastings transport. Lynn and Joan had happy memories of The Pam Dor and Witch Doctor and had a photo of Chris Upton outside The Clarence pub in the town centre with his car. Alan was remembering seeing The Kinks, Curved Air and others on Hastings Pier. Cris Kennard arrived with an original Fisher Price Music Box record player and it still works! Also a huge collection of Beano and Dandy comics. Mo Elms had a whole array of Capital Radio merchandise, including a tie, bag, sweater, hoodie and a fun book, which her and Terry got when they entered a competition at the studios in London around 1976/77. Laurie Cooksey had photos of his first nursery drum kit, which he used in the group ‘Rael’ and had transfers of teddy bears and pandas on!. The group consisted of him on drums and vocals, Dave Austin on bass and Frank Isted on guitar and vocals. Ian Marketis had with him a very rare David Bowie 7” picture disc singles collection. Colin Tapp had a photo from an early 60’s dance at Ore Secondary School (Hillcrest) and a Humperdinks photo from Maidstone. Phil John had a photo album of him when he was working with Queen, David Bowie and Mott The Hoople and many interesting stories to tell. Anthony ‘Nan’ Morland tried to take a photo of the demolition of Ashdown House but wasn’t allowed. So he went on a double decker bus and took a photo from their! Cliff Wootton was talking about how much his group ‘All Their Kings Fall’ enjoyed playing Beatles Day and have lots more gigs and recordings coming up. Geoff Peckham (Jaffa) was talking about how well the rehearsals of ‘Factory’ are going and looking forward to their gig at The Piper in August. This is just a small bit of what I remember and sorry was unable to chat to everyone. If you had anything interesting you were talking about or anything I missed out or got wrong! then please feel free to add or correct.
Mick O’Dowd… Really enjoyed the Meet. Met up with some very nice people including Jaffa, Lol, Jim, Clair & Andre. Good Meet as usual Alan. Well done!
Merv & Cris Kennard… As always, good to see everyone. Thanks for organising Alan
Stephen Moran… I’m really sorry I wasn’t able to make it yesterday Alan. I look forward to the next one.
David Jenkins… Absolutely brilliant afternoon , as always, Alan
Jaffa Peckham… Another enjoyable afternoon, Alan. Thanks for making it possible again!
Peter Ellingworth… Excellent & enjoyable day yesterday at the White Rock Hotel thanks Alan, hope to make the next one or the one after. I took the 18.46 train from Hastings to London Bridge, this connected nicely with a Horsham to Peterborough service, itself connecting with a King’s Cross to Cambridge train at Finsbury Park, arriving home at 21.30.
Claire Lonsdale… Thank you Alan for another enjoyable afternoon x
Monica Bane… Alan, So very interesting the latest news, Thanks again, Monica x
Jim Breeds… Thanks Alan. Really enjoyed it. If only we all knew what the other tables were talking about or brought with them at the time
Joe Knight… Thank you for sharing this!
Tony Davis… Sorry to have missed it
Paul Huggett… Dammit forgot it was on, again !
Tony Qunta… Shame I couldn’t be at what sounds like a fabulous SMART meeting.
Eric Upton… I’m reliably informed by my wife who went there that Hillcrest was formerly named Hastings Secondary School for Girls.
Dave Reece… Would like to turn up if that’s OK. Cheers!
Alan Esdaile… Your most welcome Dave
Dave Reece… Thank you I’ll bring me old clippings album. Tons of old toot!!
Susan McHugh… What a nice idea, you’ll enjoy that Dave
Peter Ellingworth… Intend to attend from exile in Hertfordshire.
A packed 65th meet . Among the newbies this time were Rita and Colin Allcorn, Ian Mantel, Jackie Ayres, Joan Britcher, Lee Davis, Rose Graven, Vivien Hopgood and Ian Marketis. Rita was talking about her accordion band ‘Sound Accord’, when she was a music teacher and seeing The Move, The Hollies and The Rolling Stones on the pier. Colin has happy memories of seeing Cliff Richard in concert in Brighton. Ian Mantel was talking about his love of rock music with some excellent local live groups especially ‘Freak Flag’. Jackie had happy memories of seeing The Small Faces and Joan was chatting about her relative who plays in the popular country and western duo ‘Cooper Hayes’. Lee, Rose and Vivien were meeting up again for the first time in 40 years and reminiscing about the wonderful times that had in Scalliwags. Ian Marketis was talking about his love of ‘Queen’ and had with him the very rare and collectable large leather-bound photo album of Killer Queen by Mick Rock, which had Mick’s, Roger Taylor and Brian May’s autographs inside. Mo Elms came along with some radio badges of Radio 1, Free Radio, Radio Luxembourg and also Radio Caroline and Legalise CB. The last two I’m pretty sure were made at Masons Music and printed by Kevin Carlyon! Merv Kennard had photos of his Pirate Disco at The Alexandra Hotel and also a photo of Les Harding in Centre Page at the De La Warr Pavilion in 1975. Anthony ‘Nan’ Morland had an autographed photo of ‘Keane’ in Alexandra Park in 2005 and Eric Burdon’s 60th birthday party T Shirt from 2001. Pete Millington had with him, Paul and Linda McCartney’s autograph’s, Rev Stockdale photo, The Hollies first line up autographed photo from 1963 and ‘The Remains’ who supported The Beatles at Shea Stadium, autographed photo. Barry French brought along a copy of Tammy magazine from 1973 featuring Marc Bolan and Elton John with the odd cover price of 3 1/2p. He also had a copy of the ‘Lovers Seat’ Fairlight postcard, a spade scrapper which he made in metalwork and a weaved school basket! Lin Russell had various music magazines including Disco 45, Mickie, Mirabelle, Music Star, Superstar 73, autographed postcard of ‘The Mission’ and autographed photo of ‘The Corrs’ , as well as T Rex posters and Barry White programme. Sorry I didn’t get chance to chat to everyone. If you had anything interesting you were talking about or anything I missed out, then please feel free to add.
Jon McCallion… Great turnout Alan, enjoyed seeing and talking to everyone, nice afternoon
Cris & Merv Kennard… Another good afternoon, catching up with lots of friends. Thanks Alan.
Mick O’Dowd… Started slow and I thought that it might be the cold weather. Then it seemed a coach load of people arrived and is was quite packed. Nice to see some newbies and especially from the female (am I allowed to say that?) of the species! Brings a bit of diversity (I can say that!) to the proceedings! Well done Alan.
David Jenkins… Had a fantastic afternoon , especially meeting a lot of new people and having a good chat about music
