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Exhibition: Michelle Roberts - Red, Blue, Up
Red, Blue, Up is a major new exhibition of paintings and drawings by Bexhill-based artist, Michelle Roberts. It features a wide selection of Roberts’ works from the last 15 years. Through this detailed yet joyful execution, her works are underpinned by her unwavering precision and control, as she dissects shapes, forms and patterns across canvas and paper.
Mel Elliott
Mar 41 min read


TALKING SHOP: Mark Caffrey, Wedding Celebrant
Words by Ruth McLeod In 2015, Mark Caffrey’s close friend asked him, out of the blue, to be the celebrant at her wedding. “I didn’t even...
Ruth McLeod
Feb 266 min read


Ornagh: Much More Than Digital Tinsel
Now, if I wrote down RX to the good people of Hastings, they might very well think-ah yes, the fishing boats, and their Rye registration. But what if we flipped those letters around and it was XR? The Winter edition’s seasonal cover was by tech-artist Ornagh Lynch, convert and champion of all things Extended Reality.
Jon Everall
Feb 76 min read


And Still We Rise
The Dove Café is a shining example of how grass-roots activism can have a profound impact on the lives of refugees, asylum seekers and everyone who lives here.
Gareth Stevens
Feb 56 min read


Fat Tuesday
Mardi-Gras, Carnevale, Pancake-Day… wherever you are or whatever you call it… in the Christian tradition it’s a day to consume all your treats and celebrate before midnight, because from tomorrow (Ash Wednesday) you’ve got to be on your best behaviour until Easter Sunday
Louise Coulthard
Feb 35 min read


Four Walk to the Cove
Myself, Get Hastings designer Laura and photographer Steve were all set to walk to The Cove in Fairlight for our meeting to kick off the next issue, and let me tell you, it’s not easy thinking about springtime when temperatures are low and days are dark and short but as soon as one issue hits the shelves, work starts on the next.
Mel Elliott
Dec 19, 20242 min read


Half Man! Half Burger! Festive Recipe
Half Man Half Burger Head Chef / Magician Sam, has created this burger especially for you Get Hastings readers. The crew down at HMHB have dug deep into their box of puns to present to you… The Cheezus of Nazareth with dipping gravy and mushroom ketchup.
Beth King
Dec 12, 20245 min read


7 Magnificent Shops
I’m forever harping on about how lucky we are here with our abundance of great, interesting and well-curated independent shops. In this feature we celebrate seven of them that we hope, cover some of your Christmas bases for gift buying this year.
Mel Elliott
Dec 12, 20248 min read


Afri-Co-Lab
As my lemon and ginger tea cools on the table beside me and my interviewees get situated, I look around the space. I’d never been inside Afri-Co-Lab before, and it’s so much more than I’d imagined.
Grace Latter
Nov 25, 20246 min read


A Garden in Hastings: a documentary about Glenn Veness’ incredible garden
Glenn Veness and his wife, Kathy, are a couple on a mission. A mission to create peace, love and happiness amidst a suburban council estate in Hollington.Â
I was buzzing earlier this year when I popped my Glennstonbury Festival cherry.
Mel Elliott
Oct 19, 20246 min read


Brook Tate
If you’re local to the Hastings area and you haven’t heard of Brook Tate yet, do you even have ears?
Whether he is painting, writing, teaching maths, singing or dancing, Brook Tate is a force to be reckoned with: an insanely talented creative and proud human being with the courage to be vulnerable in front of audiences, as well as being unapologetically himself
Mel Elliott
Oct 18, 20245 min read


Magick Hastings: So Mote It Be
How our film about the occult side of Hastings told us what it wanted to be about, and we just did what we were told…
Michael Smith
Oct 7, 20248 min read


Clara Mordan: Bexhill's Own Suffragette
Words by Geoff Howard Illustrations by Mel Elliott It’s the Wednesday morning following Jack in the Green and everyone is exhausted due...
Geoff Howard
Aug 8, 20244 min read


Kid Kapichi: Hastings' Royalty
It’s the Wednesday morning following Jack in the Green and everyone is exhausted due to five days without water – and what does any sensible Hastinger drink when there’s no water? Beer!
Mel Elliott
Jul 9, 20247 min read


From Island to Island
A conversation with Richard Mark Rawlins about community on the coast.
As I make the short walk from my house to the home and studio of Richard Mark Rawlins, I am struck by the vibrant creativity that fills our small seaside town.
George Mingozzi-Marsh
Jul 1, 20244 min read


Marina Fountain, Last Orders
No doubt it seemed like a great idea at the time. But the best-laid acid house plans and all that… On May 6, Marky Souter left his home in Cornwall at 5am to catch an early morning flight out of Newquay to Gatwick. From there, he took the train to Hastings
Jim Butler
Jun 24, 20246 min read


Sonny's Mackerel Recipe
Many of you won’t know this, but Sonny’s family originally had a shop in King’s Road and now he’s back with a restaurant to add to their shop in the Old Town, where Sonny regularly smokes mackerel using oak chippings.
Mel Elliott
Jun 23, 20241 min read


Holy Mackerel!
It was a few years ago that I first experienced ‘Mackerel Day’. It was blissfully warm and I’d been on the beach in front of Marine Court with friends and family and some small cans of gin and tonic from the shop. It was late afternoon, the light was soft and the beach was full of people enjoying the good weather, scared it wouldn’t last.
Mel Elliott
Jun 23, 20242 min read


Maria McErlane
‘To keep balance, you must keep moving’. It’s Einstein’s words that Maria McErlane quotes in her recent memoir Bumps in the Road, and which are particularly apt for this woman whizzing about our town.Â
Louise Coulthard
Jun 22, 20245 min read


Jack Your Body: Jack in the Green Festival
Deep-rooted in traditional 18th-century celebrations to ring in the beginning of summer, Hastings’ Jack in the Green is much like any other folk festival held in the UK, of which there are many, and yet so often people appear confused, bemused, and stare at me wide-eyed and agog when I explain a typical May bank holiday weekend in our fair town.
Sophie Harper
Apr 17, 20245 min read
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