Hastings Forum

There may have been some lights up until late 1960s if memory serves correct. Someone local may look at the roof and find small inlets where lights were. Certainly around the same time people would stroll along in the evenings. There always used to be a lot of deck chairs chairs along there.

I have a postcard showing an evening view of the Bottle Alley and think that I may have previously posted it on this site. Have a look.

I have this card in my collection, might even be the same as yours Gerry?
Clearly shows the original lights dotted along the sea side of bottle alley.

There is a different one, later at night when dark. Hopefully put it up later

There were light strips originally as shown on another of Geoff's photo from '1066 online' here:
or were they something else? (they sit in the same place as more modern strip lighting)

also shown here along the rear top wall strip:

plus the demon skater and his scary ramp of 'do or die' !!

On Richard's postcard added at 12.50 it clearly shows the shutters that were drawn back that day. Quite a few folks sitting on deck chairs. It was still used in a similar way up until the late 60s and early 70s. although by late 70s when I was working nearby the shutters were mostly removed

Attached night photo as promised. It is undated but as it is labelled as the "new parade" it must be around early 1930s. It is a little difficult to see but there are people sitting on the seats half way back

It looks as if the lights on the picture Geoff showed were the 'incandescent bulb' forerunners of those at the rear ceiling / back wall area.
They perhaps were not up to the job.
The later fluorescent strip-lighting would have been very new inventions in the late 1930's in Britain, but I doubt very much they would have been operated during WWII, for obvious reasons.

As for the shutters - i don't understand why they were only in certain areas of the 'alley'

As far as I can remember, the shutters protected only the bays, where people could sit without getting wet at high tide, or on rainy days.

Well, it is now early April 2016 and, apart from a bit of patching and painting white, I see little in Bottle Alley, apart from some of the bottle-glass panels looking a bit cleaner.
No new lighting, just the dire-looking old stuff with corroded metal surrounds, and yet here we are approaching the Pier re-launch in the middle of this month.
I was hoping for better by now, but perhaps plans are afoot to rip out the old lighting and install some LED strips, or is that too expensive?
The whitewash and patching can't have cost £160 000, surely?
It wasn't even done to a high standard, by any measure.