Hastings is a town that exemplifies the tragic story of Britain’s Victorian seaside resorts. A once glamorous spot that attracted royalty, artists like JMW Turner, and wealthy visitors from London. By the late-19th century, it was one of the most up market resorts on the south coast, its charming, centuries-old Old Town complemented by a wealth of villas and hotels. Sadly, from its heyday it had a precipitous decline, but may be on the cusp of a renaissance.
The popularity of British seaside towns declined throughout the 20th century, a process that accelerated in the 1970s and 80s. Hastings, like many others along this same stretch of coast, saw its economy collapse. By the 1980s, businesses had shut down, hotels closed their doors and jobs became scarce. Things have improved since those bleak days, but it still bears the scars of the recent past and remains one of the England’s most deprived towns.
This is an unwanted accolade the town has claimed for decades. In 2021, a government study reported that 20.2% of the population was income deprived and not a single area of the town fell into the category of ‘least deprived’. Out of 316 local authorities, Hastings ranked as the 14th most income deprived town in England. The same report showed that this region of East Sussex was one of the least economically productive areas in the country.
This reality confronts you as you leave the train station and walk through the ‘seen much better days’ shopping area to the beach. The new town is a mix of Victorian buildings in urgent need of repair and modern building horrors in need of a wrecking ball. The glamorous crowds that once thronged the 1930s promenade have been replaced by what Philip Larkin snidely referred to as “a cut-price crowd”.
Hastings has not always helped itself, self harming with dubious development projects in an attempt to breathe some life back into the town’s economy. Few were as short sighted as the fate of Hastings’ cricket ground though. A green haven in the middle of the town, it closed in the 1990s and was then buried under a shopping centre. A truly tragic statue of a batsman marks the spot. It’s called, seemingly without irony, The Spirit of Cricket.
Why come here at all, you might think, but urban decay is not Hastings only story. The local population now rubs shoulders with bohemian middle-class types who have relocated here and now populate the splendid Old Town. Amongst this area’s narrow streets a selection of boutiques, high end bakers, and gastro pubs cater to an influx of tourists and residents looking for something more than arcades, fun fairs and crazy golf.
I have happy memories of Hastings from a 1990s trip. We walked the pretty Old Town, ate fish and chips and saw a basking shark landed on the beach by a fishing boat. That evening shark steaks were on every menu. Despite the struggles the town must have been experiencing then, it felt vibrant and fun, and its history was palpable. It was the reason we recently rented a tiny cottage with ridiculously steep stairs in the Old Town for a few days.
A stone’s throw away, brightly painted boats rest beneath towering cliffs amongst lobster pots and fishing nets on a part of the beach known as the Stade. It’s a rightly famous spot for the simple reason that it’s Europe’s largest beach-launched fishing fleet. There has been a fleet here for over 400 years. Further up the beach are distinctive tarred wooden huts, built to dry and store fishing nets.
Taking its aesthetic from them, the Hastings Contemporary art gallery sits amongst the net huts. Credited with sparking a mini revival in the town, the gallery is the most visible success story of recent efforts at regeneration. Not all investments have been as successful. The Victorian pier burned down in 2010, but with £13m in public funding it reopened to much fanfare in 2017, winning the Stirling Prize for architecture.
A wonderful structure with a brilliant modern design sitting on top of Victorian iron legs, it was also a financial disaster. The company running it collapsed soon after it won the Stirling Prize. Sold off for the miserly sum of £60,000, it soon closed. It’s open again but it feels like a place without purpose. Frankly, Hastings deserves better.
It is depressing to see what has happened to a lot of towns in Britain as a result, particularly, of the policies of the current shower that is our government in terms of austerity and the damage it has done. At least Hastings has some bright spots, but I don’t see many of our most deprived places getting any help any time soon.
Places like Hastings could do with some of those billions wasted on dodgy PPE and backhanders to old school friends. I didn’t mention it because it’s almost too depressing, but there were signs everywhere saying not to swim or let your pets swim in the sea due to raw sewage. It’s infuriating.