what i think of my home town!!

[carol]

[quoted]
sandy wrote:
I lived in London for 30 years, in several different areas, no trouble, friendly people, I love London.
[/quoted]

might i ask why you moved then _ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ _..you are not obliged to reply ,its just that i was thinking of moving myself to hastings and wondered what it is you find so horrendus

[sandy]

After leaving London I moved to Ashford, and because of circumstances which I will not mention, I moved to Hastings as I couldnt afford a property in Ashford. Which part of London are you living in? I lived in Forest Hill,Brockley, South East London. I admit there is a lot of crime in London, but there is also a lot of crime in Hastings, where I am living now in St.Leonards, I can walk to the local shop and back and not see one other person in the street, it makes me feel uneasy, its almost as though others are afraid to walk anywhere!
If you move to Hastings be careful which area you choose.

[carol]

[quoted]
sandy wrote:
After leaving London I moved to Ashford, and because of circumstances which I will not mention, I moved to Hastings as I couldnt afford a property in Ashford. Which part of London are you living in? I lived in Forest Hill,Brockley, South East London. I admit there is a lot of crime in London, but there is also a lot of crime in Hastings, where I am living now in St.Leonards, I can walk to the local shop and back and not see one other person in the street, it makes me feel uneasy, its almost as though others are afraid to walk anywhere!
If you move to Hastings be careful which area you choose.
[/quoted]
Thanks for your advice sandy. I have been to st leonards and take your point. It is not an area i would choose to live in personally but having said that south london has deteriated to the extent that it is equally as bad. I Live in a place where i would love to see no one else when i go shopping but unfortuantly one has to dodge drug dealers gun merchants and all sorts of undesirables. also in london we tend to walk everywhere as we tend to find our vehicles get stolen/clamped regularly perhaps you see no one as they still have a car outside their place when they get up in the morning. p.s Ashford is still nice, sound, friendly people down there .

[david_saunby]

Hastings and St.Leonards is not my home town, but i did live at 16, Warrior Gardens, St.Leonards when i was 7 years old, for a year with my gran in 1957, before moving back to Cornwall, where i live today. I returned for the first time in 1970 for a day trip from Bromley in Kent, and it looked very much the same as i remembered as a child, but when i returned again in 1989, i wish i never came back, because it looked very run down, and spoilt my very fond memories of the place, and never wanted to return again.
Last year i decided to have another look, and i was pleasantly surprised, with the presentation of the town. It is surprising what a tin of paint can do. I retraced my steps what i remembered as a child from Warrior Gardens, Bottle Alley, The Pier, Swimming Baths {no lomger there}, The Boating Lake, i even rode on the miniture railway down to The Stade, up the lifts and The White Rock Gardens where there used to be a Guinnes Clock. Those awful memories of 1989 were erased, and i returned again this summer, and this time visited the castle, something i never did as a child. I do hope that the pier will be repaired as it is such an important part of Hastings. My mum constantly reminds me of the time when i when off with 2 boys from down the bottom of Warrior Gardens. She did not know where we had gone, so she contacted the Police, who found us down the Fish Market. I was quite frendly with those boys, and never saw them again when returing to Cornwall, but always wonder to this day where they are now. See the Looking for lost friends forum. Whether i will ever return again, who knows, but Hastings and St.Leonards does hold fond memories for me.

[Mick]

Oh do return we need all the tourists we can get .

[penny_laine]

We live about 3 miles out of the town. Wouldn't want to live in Hastings, everyone seems so thick and quite frankly, vacant. If I want to shop for clothes etc I go to Tunbridge Wells. >:)

[sue_s]

[quoted]
Penny Laine wrote:
We live about 3 miles out of the town. Wouldn't want to live in Hastings, everyone seems so thick and quite frankly, vacant. If I want to shop for clothes etc I go to Tunbridge Wells. >:)
[/quoted]

Why not try Ashford too it is ok for shopping

[Robert]

I've recently moved down from London and like other people here I find certain aspects of the town frustrating but I am optimistic that these are being overcome. I know the place was run down a few years back but that just isn't true anymore. The council has made huge efforts to improve the infrastructure from what I can see, the station looks great, Alexandra Park is now one of the best parks in the country and the Museum is being completely refurbished.

The town centre could use a few better shops no doubt but I'm sure that will happen soon because of demand generated by the overflow of Londoners selling up to buy larger properties down here and demanding higher standards.

There's a bit of a lack of get up and go evident but that kind of attitude can dissipate very quickly given the right circumstances.

Perhaps all the people moaning about the town are the same people who caused the problems and presumably will be the same people moaning when they miss out on all the regeneration and development that's going on.

[peter_lawson]

We moved down from South East London 9 months ago and I couldn't agree more with everything Robert has said.Too many people seem to want to put this area down,believe me, compared to living in London Hastings is great and is going to get better.

My family settled really quickly,the schools are far better than anything we could find when living in London, my wife is working for Crossroads and has said how welcome everyone has made her feel.

My only winge is why is it every time you go into a shop you are treated as a holidaymaker.
Also with such a great place as the Old Town why are all the shops shut in the evening,we went there and the place was packed and all the shops were shut,if Hastings council want to encourage people to visit the Old Town needs to be open later.

[Anonymous1]

[quoted]
Penny Laine wrote:
We live about 3 miles out of the town. Wouldn't want to live in Hastings, everyone seems so thick and quite frankly, vacant.
[/quoted]

Penny you are mistaken, that expression you see on our faces is boredom because we've seen you comming. Oh and by the way the shopping in Sydney is even better.

Last 2 posts were excellent.
The setting and scenery in Hastings is second to non for this part of the south coast. The views from the North seat on a clear day are panoramic to say the least, Cap Gris Nez in one direction the Downs in the other. The views from the East and West Hill have been painted by artists for centuries.

The old Town has so much character, old and scruffy with cheap tat alongside subtle charm, intimate households and ancient industry. Go into an Old Town pub on a friday night and be assured, from the regulars you could get:-
Good Live local music, legal aid, a divorce lawyer, medical diagnosis, Art, a pound of cod, a university education, the STD of your choice or mind altering substances (not my thing I hasten to add) and then probably arrested. All that and a pint of beer as well!!

The architecture is extremely diverse and interesting as you'd expect from a Town that's been here for over 1500yrs (including the *rap that was biult in the 60s 70s and 80s).

The people of Hastings are just as varied, reflecting a working town. Fishermen, Professionals, Artists, Musicians, Wheeler Dealers, and Down and Outs.
The town is more of a cultural tapestry than it's neighbours who are inhabited with a mono culture of wealthy middle class self contents who all sing the same tune. Preserved in aspic and static.

Hastings, if compared to it's neighbours does at first glance seems scruffier and poorer but that's what actually makes Hastings richer.
It's a real town that works for a living as it has done for centuries. It is diverse. It is socially broad and deep. It is a fantastically interesting and exciting town that is still going somewhere warts and all.