January 2026. Hastings.
Hastings ? Again ?!
Although the wonders of the Kent and Sussex coast are on our doorstep in Rye, they’re not much use if you don’t get out the caravan till noon.
It’s still dark by four down here, and Hastings is only 20 minutes by train. And I had unfinished business with the town after that “gentle” birthday.
The Seadog is the gateway to Hastings, but also to Primark, where Mrs RM decided to buy gloves and scarf to delay time in the pub.
My target is the Old Town, but we get to admire Pelham Place under the watch of a castle that we still haven’t taken the stair lift to.
You can see why visitors to Hastings are confused once they reach the New Town from the station.
What is going on at Pelham Place ? Why are there so many chips shops ?
Why is Sooty still singing Slade in January ?
50p that cost me.
George Street is the pedestrianised heart of Old Town, but East Parade gives you ice cream, pies,
and Watney Reid. Never been in The Cutter.
Haven’t been in the Jolly Fisherman for a while, either, Hastings has an embarassment of pastel riches.
Which I will no doubt explore soon.
But, first, leaving the seagulls to the chips, let’s do one of the best streets in England properly.
retiredmartin 
Those shots of the New Town are prettier than I remember it looking.
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We have been to a couple of concerts in the theatre at Pelham Place ( closed now) It was a great venue- old school. We saw Maddy Prior & the carnival band there one Christmas & the setting was just right. Pauline
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Sooty reminds me that his creator Harry Corbett was mistakenly initial offered the OBE intended for Steptoe actor Harry H. Corbett !
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That’s the reason why the actor Harry Corbett, inserted the H in his name.
As a child growing up in the Sixties I was obviously more familiar with the person operating the Sooty glove puppet, than the Steptoe actor.
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Paul, I thought it was years earlier because no two members of Equity could use the same name.
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I was just reading about Steeleye Span this afternoon, oddly.
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I saw Sooty live at a theatre in Ashton under Lyne for my tenth birthday in 1980. I doubt the town has seen entertainment of that standard since.
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What a treat !
I saw Noddy in Liverpool at 38, doesn’t compare.
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Not my wife’s second cousin from Walsall ?
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Possibly Paul. Did he have a friend with Big Ears ?
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No Martin, a different one then.
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No, you can’t beat a custard-bespattered face saying “Bye bye everybody, bye bye…” can you?
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Pelham Place and the surrounding area is an eyesore, but the Old Town proper is still going strong (if you can forget about all the pubs there that have closed over the last 40 years). I spent last Saturday afternoon in the Filo, perched on a stool next to the fireplace.
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A good place to be, Morten. I was in the FILO earlier today, and the porter was drinking well.
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Morden is never a good place to be.
Get off at South Wimbledon and visit the Trafalgar.
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That Porter in the FILO was gorgeous a year ago.
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There might be a lot of pubs closed but there’s still a fair number left ! I would have walked past you in the FILO last Saturday/
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I never really liked Sooty, bit smug, I thought. Much preferred Sweep; if not the Sid Vicious then the Hugh Cornwell of British glove puppetry.
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The expression on that seagull’s face is no more or less than should be.
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Martin spends hours getting them to pose.
No wonder he only gets to one pub per day, and has to fill in with posts about gloves in Primark. He could buy a stuffed seagull out of our annual subscriptions, carry it around with him. Save a lot of time. Visit more pubs. Subscriptions go up. Everybody happy.
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I was going to say it looks like a stuffed seagull but I thought that might cause offence. I suspect it’s not even a seagull. Richard Coldwell would have known.
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I think “seagull” is a non-technical term for any of the mostly white birds seen at the coast, or sometimes further inland. There are herring gulls and lesser black backed gulls, and so on, but for those who don’t know the different types of gulls, I expect they would unknowingly include terns in the general category of seagull.
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“Birds”. Yes, that’s the technical term I was looking for, Will.
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while awaiting the 8pm Free Entry !
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Paul would have long retired for the night.
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If you’re meaning me far from home, yes I would have.
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We are all that seagull.
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