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Project Art Works, an inclusive rights-based art organisation in our hometown supports people who have complex support needs in a way that not only helps give them a platform of communication they feel comfortable with, but turns the table on societal norms and is striving to change the generalisation and assumptions around people often invisible from public life.

In a traffic island marooned off the messy 60s junction that guillotines the town centre in two, there is a block of diddy modern granny flats plonked incongruously between the grander remains of the Regency front, with an even more incongruous Blue Plaque hidden behind the wheelie bins that nobody is able to read. Michael Faraday, it tells you in very underwhelming and matter-of-fact language, stayed in a cottage on this site the summer before he presented the Royal Institut

Gianluca Tozzi and Jack Booth opened Galleria seafood bar in 2020 during the small gap between lockdowns. Their aim was to support the localfishermen and women by serving up dishes where seasonal fish and veg is the star, as well as showcasing some of the best English and European wines with their relaxed yet intimate space

Ben Fenton is a Hastings-based artist, known for his abstract paintings of local architecture and coastline landscapes. In this interview, Ben opens up about his long-term mental health struggles, his relationship with the area and the sea — and of course, his art.

The importance of having land designated or communities to grow food on is a long-standing British tradition. In World War II we were digging for victory on allotments, in 1845 the Victorians passed laws compelling local authorities to provide them, in fear of a peasants’ revolt and even the Anglo-Saxons had them.

Meet Ollie Hunter: mushroom fanatic, Masterchef semi-finalist and author of two cookbooks. Ollie and his partner, Laura are on a mission to serve up plant-based dishes that pack an umami punch (something that they both had missed since becoming vegan). You can try Lion’s Den menus from pop-ups in various pubs and restaurants in the area.

‘Never eat shredded wheat!’ a helpful person yelled to aid with the confusion of which side of the pillar was South West and which was North East. It was a sunny Thursday morning in August and an army of volunteers had come together to paint Bottle Alley, an initiative organised by creative collective, ZEROH. Spirits were high and people of all ages were eager and ready, yielding rollers, paint trays and brushes, awaiting their instructions.

Born and bred Hastonian, Steph Warren is one of the United Kingdom’s leading authorities on the graffiti and street art movement, having worked with both Banksy and Ben Eine back in the noughties as a young woman at the forefront of a very male-orientated and secretive world. Owner of Stella Dore Art Gallery (previously based in East London, now in St Leonards). I caught up with the gallerist, curator, art and mural facilitator

Is he a mint with a hole? (No, but he does carry them around in his pocket). Is he a German hatchback or a game for posh people on horseback? No! He’s actually a genius Argentinian composer and pianist living in Hastings and he’s one of the loveliest people I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing.

When you think of the word ‘muse’, several people come to mind: a mid-nineties rock band, obviously Kate Moss in all her forms, the Pre Raphaelite poser, Elizabeth Sidall and last but not least, St Leonard’s based Freudian nudie, Sue Tilley.

Colombo 16 are relatively new kids on the block and add a taste of Sri Lanka to the multi-cultural cuisine offering we already have in the area. Their Marine Court restaurant opened just six months ago with Caleb Joseph at the helm. Caleb is Brighton born but his father is Sri Lankan and he feels a strong sense of Sri Lankan heritage.

Nothing says Hastings like Jack in the Green: clog-dancing maidens, stomping steampunk drummers, Morris dancers a-leaping with their knee bells and handkerchiefs, happy LGBTQ+ samba troupes, beardy blokes with owls perched on their arms, a long procession following the presiding deity of the rite, Jack, the spirit of Spring, making his way up the winding cobbles of the Old Town

There was absolutely no mistaking Lorna Hamilton-Brown for anyone else when I saw her enter Eggtooth’s The Nest at The Old Town Hall for our interview this May. Dressed from head to toe in colourfully printed sports luxe with a matching bucket hat and luminous trainers, donning her trademark Black Girl Magic earrings, she looked every part the craft maverick I’d heard so much about.

When I first began looking into my family ancestry I had no idea of the impact it would have on my life. In January 2022 I was feeling creatively stuck. The post-covid landscape for musicians such as myself was looking pretty bleak and my Dad had just been diagnosed with mixed Dementia and Alzheimer’s. 

When I got into the car the other morning to take my kid to school, the radio defaulted to BBC 6 Music and I immediately heard something I recognised. It was ‘Treasure’ by HotWax and once the song finished, Lauren Laverne was gushing about them being the ones to watch out for in 2023. At this point, I had already interviewed the band for Get Hastings but even in that short period, their potential had grown so much.

Vinyl records are cumbersome. They’re delicate and are susceptible to warping in the heat. They can be annoying to flip over. But they’re also perhaps the only piece of media technology that has remained unchanged in 75 years, when the first mass-produced 33rpm disc was manufactured for Columbia Records in 1948.

“Why!? What’s he done?” Louisa, the landlady of the Tower pub asks when I mention that we’d like to take some photos to go with my interview of James Endeacott, the subject I had left sitting on a sofa in front of a pictorial shrine to the Arsenal football team.

An interview with street photographer JJ Waller.

I don’t know — one minute you’re being chemically castrated for being a homosexual and the next minute they’re sticking your face on money and hailing you as “The Gay Man Who Saved the World” on the front of Attitude Magazine.

Anyone who knows me will know that I’m very much an advocate of gender equality: I’ve written children’s books about it, created animations and made t-shirts and I’m not shy to shout about my feminist agenda and how much inequality angers me. So when a member of the Get Hastings team suggested that we do a feature on Hastings United Girls Under 12s, I jumped at the chance.