This summer, I spent a wonderful afternoon at Fairlight Hall, enjoying a picnic in the beautiful gardens and a stunning piano recital performed by previous finalists of the Hastings International Piano Competition. This was my introduction to the Competitionand its year-round programme of concerts, which arepart of a long tradition ofworld-class classical musicin Hastings. (I didn’t know this, but Rachmaninov played at The White Rock Theatre twice in the 1930s!)

Over the last five years, my partner Phil and I have been great fans of Galleria seafood bar on Norman Road in St Leonards. We have celebrated many anniversaries, birthdays and random Saturday nights in their compact and cosy dining room, enjoying Gianluca’s imaginative cooking, Jack’s warm welcome and the impeccable wine list.

Oh no, there isn’t! Pantomime audiences at The White Rock Theatre’s Jack and the Beanstalk are in for a real treat this Christmas. I know this first-hand, as I was lucky to spend a side-splitting day last week with Mark Two, the traditional pantomime dame playing Dame Tilly Trott. Mark Two is appearing as part of a talented panto cast including Richard Blackwood as Jack and Tim McArthur returning as Fleshcreep by popular demand. The whole theatre is being transformed for the panto, it look