Visit Hastings

A brilliant local photographer, Chris Johnson, has taken it upon himself to try and inspire and encourage people to visit our hometown through the use of photographs. Perhaps encouraging local people to promote Hastings through the use of photos would be a better way of putting it.

Hastings often gets a raw deal: Local and National press give us the odd kicking and us locals aren’t shy about doing so either.

I am 37 years old and probably sit on the age border where I am old enough to remember Hastings in it’s heyday…but literally only just.

My parents and theirs in turn are able to recall the tourist resort of Hastings much better than I can but I do have very fond memories of the town from my younger years and I know it’s different now.

For the last 10 years or more and probably for a good few years to come, Hastings has been in turnaround. Investment from the government, grants and personal wealth investors have come to the town and given it a much needed boost.

The result: A wealth of boutique B & B’s that now litter the town (Black Rock House and The Swan) and the nationally recognised restaurants and hotels (St. Clements, Pier Nine, Zanzibar) don’t just give people a reason to visit but actually now offer somewhere to stay that’s ACTUALLY worth staying.

The near-destruction of our Victorian Pier was truly awful: It was the last remaining connector to Hastings as it was but, at the same time, it’s allowed a new lease of life to be breathed into it that it may not otherwise have got. But thanks to government grants, local investment, lottery funding and the blood, sweat and tears of many good men and women of this town, the main structure is now safe for another 100 years, thousands of deck boards that have been replaced mean the floor is safe for another 100 years and when it opens it’s doors next Spring, all the heartache for those involved in the years of agony that lead to that moment will pay off when they can sit back and know that they are leaving a marvellous legacy to for this town for generations to come.

And then there’s the music scene, always vibrant, eclectic and a pool of talent that rivals any other part of the country: The Folk nights at the Stag are marvellous. Liane Carroll’s, set your watch by her, 9pm slot at Porter’s every Wednesday is a night that everyone should experience more than once. And Fat Tuesday? Well, if you don’t know, just Google it, come and see for yourself.

I can sit here all night and paint a rosy picture. The reality is though, that there are some parts that camera’s shouldn’t capture. But Hastings is not unique in that sense; every town has those and our positives, now more than in my memorable lifetime, far outweigh the negatives.


Chris’s ‘Visit Hastings’ Instagram and Facebook pages are the creation of someone who clearly loves our town and is taking a slightly different approach to promoting it: Get the locals to do it through a widely accessible and rapidly expending media. And that’s what I and a so-far small handful of people are getting on board with. It’s worked in other towns and cities, why not here.


It’s not perfect but it’s ours. #VisitHastings

www.instagram/com/visithastings

www.facebook.com/visithastings
www.facebook.com/christopherjohnsonphotography