Hastings Forum

Hello,
Been doing some family history reseach and found that my relatives, the Mitchells, lived behind the Star in the East in Rock-a-Nore. According to the census their neighbours lived at 2 Rock-a-Nore which is today the Mermaid Resturant which has a pub right next door_ _ _.but I can't remember it's name, can anyone tell me please?

The pub next to the Mermaid is the Dolphin and this is numbers 11 and 12 Rock-a-Nore

The Mermaid Restaurant was formally the Prince Albert Pub and was where the famous Winkle club was founded. I believe the Star in the East is now called the Fish Hut, although both buildings have been altered substantially since their days as pubs. I can't recall the house numbers off hand, but the Mermaid/Prince Albert is several doors west of the Dolphin pub and the Fish Hut/Star in the East is next door, but one to the Dolphin on the west side.

The Fish Hut/Star in the East is at No.8 or No.9 I think.

The "pub" next to the Mermaid is actually a licenced restaurant rather than a pub and is NOT the Dolphin. This building was formally East Cliff House. It later became Harry's Old Town Bingo/Amusements, then The Arts Workshop, then Capells Restaurant and is now called Webbes Restaurant or something very similar. The Prince Albert ceased trading as a pub in 1954. I'm not sure when the Star in the East stopped being a pub, but photos would suggest in was still trading in the 1950s, but I could be wrong about that.

At one time Rock-A-Nore was a road of twenty houses including three pubs, the Star in the East, the Dolphin and the Prince Albert and an amazing twenty pubs and six beer houses in 400 metres.

I think the Star opened in 1837 and, like the others served the fishing community. When the fishing industry went into decline with the introduction of steam trawlers in Rye Bay and elsewhere after 1890 there was a knock on effect on the pubs and other business.

The Star in the East strugggled on until 1911-12 when it finally closed.

The other 'Star' pubs in Hastings were the Star in the West, Undercliff which was bombed in 1943 and the North Star, Bohemia which is still trading.

And yet another Starr (spelt with two Rs) in the High Street which later became the Roebuck Inn.

Are there any photos on the web of these two pubs ???

There's one of the Star in the East, although it seems to date from the 1950s, long after it was a pub and you'd have to know the area. I can't recall which site I lifted it from and as it might be copywritten, I can't post it. However, the guy in the whelk shop next door has a photo of it as a pub. I don't know of any clear photos of the Prince Albert, but there is a drawing in David's splendid book The Pubs of Hastings and St leonards 1800 - 2000. Photos of the Dolphin are easy enough to find and appear on several websites. Suggest you try http://www.hastingspubhistory.com/

and http://www.flickr.com/groups/1146394@N21/

and http://www.sussex-opc.org/index.php?t=P ... a=andp=518

and http://www.deadpubs.co.uk/SussexPubs/Ha ... ndex.shtml

Photos of the buildings as they are today can be found at

http://www.deadpubs.co.uk/SussexPubs/Ha ... tInn.shtml

and

http://www.deadpubs.co.uk/SussexPubs/Ha ... East.shtml

Found this photo of the Star in the East in Hastings Library.