In the depths of last winter, musician and sonic artist Isobel Anderson found herself alone at an Abba night in a caravan park in Romney Sands. She’d booked a week-long stay in the flat, featureless coastal landscape near Dungeness, to creatively explore the subject of existential grief for a new project, End Times. And it’s fair to say Abba hadn’t featured in her plans.

Chris Leech and Phil Quarton run The St Leonard Public House 16-18 London Road, St Leonards.

Nestled on the edge of Ore Village lies an unassuming building. It may look like an ordinary workshop from the outside, but inside, the Hastings & St Leonards Men’s Shed is quietly rewriting the narrative of ageing and loneliness in East Sussex. In this corner of Hastings something remarkable is being built – not just beautifully crafted birdboxes and clocks, but friendships, purpose, and hope.

Two years ago, Ibi Meier-Oruitemeka (Studio IMO) was not a painter. In fact, she had never really considered it as an option. But on the morning of her birthday in May 2023, she woke up with the inexplicable urge to buy some paint. She followed that feeling, and since then, painting has become not just an artistic pursuit but a radical shift in the way she sees herself.

‘This is just like any other salon’ I think to myself as I trot through the door… scissors snipping, clippers clipping, background chit chat and the underlying hum of hairdryers… but then I notice a member of staff is wearing ear defenders, and one of the little clients is what I can only describe as ‘butt-scooting’ across the floor with glee. I’ve booked into Tails of St Leonards, a local destination for pampered pets, and which this little Shih Tzu evidently thinks is the h

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.