Local History Festival, Hastings Week 2021
Walks, talks and more
Hastings & St. Leonards Society, supported by Burtons’ St. Leonards Society, Hastings Local History Group, Hastings Museum & Art Gallery, and East Sussex Library and Information Service, has arranged a programme of events with a local history theme for Hastings Week this year (Saturday 9th to Sunday 17th October).
All events are free, and subject to any Covid-19 regulations the Government has in force at the time of the event. Places are limited and advance booking is essential. The events are as follows:
Monday 11th October, 2 to 4 pm: Talks ‘double-header’ at Hastings Museum & Art Gallery (John’s Place, Bohemia Road TN34 1ET).
‘Croteslei Manor to Summerfields and White Rock: a Landscape History’. Heather Grief, from Hastings Local History Group, talks about the history of the land use of the area, and the surviving signs of this that can be seen today.
‘Literary St. Leonards’. Dr. Chris Joyce, from Burtons’ St. Leonards Society, talks about St. Leonards-on-Sea’s literary connections from Keats to Sinclair.
Booking via ‘eventbrite’. Use the link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hastings-history-talks-tickets-169086633673
(Due to Track and Trace, bookings are restricted to one per person, so we can collect contact information for everyone who is attending.)
Tuesday 12th October, 2.30 pm start: Hastings Town Centre Heritage Walk.
Join Alan Jeffries, from Hastings & St. Leonards Society, for a walk through Hastings Town Centre, looking at the fine examples of Victorian architecture and other points of interest. Visits to the United Reformed Church (now ‘His Place’) and Holy Trinity Church are included in the walk. Duration, approx. 90 minutes.
To book, email hstlsoc@gmail.com
Meeting place for the start of the walk will be provided with confirmation of your booking.
Wednesday 13th October, 10.30 am to 3.30 pm: ‘The Story of Your Home’ at Hastings Museum & Art Gallery (Local Studies Room), John’s Place, Bohemia Road TN34 1ET.
Visit HMAG to find out about the available Local Studies resources to research the history of your home. Volunteers at the local studies room will introduce the sources and the approach they use, before helping you to identify and explore the ones relevant to your home.
One-hour sessions starting at 10.30 am, 11.30 am, 1.30 pm, 2.30 pm (maximum 3 persons per session). Booking essential via ‘eventbrite’. Use the following links:
10.30-11.30 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/167600287973
11.30-12.30 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/167600815551
13.30-14.30 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/167601172619
14.30-15.30 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/167603090355
This is a Hastings Museum & Art Gallery event, specially arranged for Hastings Week and the Local History Festival.
Wednesday 13th October, 11 am start: Alexandra Park history walk.
Join a guide from Hastings & St. Leonards Society for a walk in Hastings’ glorious Alexandra Park to learn the history of the Park. Duration approx. 1 hour (finishing at the café).
To book, email hstlsoc@gmail.com
Meeting place for the start of the walk will be provided with confirmation of your booking.
Thursday 14th October, 11 am start: Guided walk in Burtons’ St. Leonards. (There is a pre-walk talk over tea/coffee in the bar of the Royal Victoria Hotel at 10.15 am, as optional for persons booked on the walk.)
Join a guide from Burtons’ St. Leonards Society for a walk through the Burtons’ St. Leonards area, looking at the late-Georgian and early-Victorian architecture and other points of interest.
To book, email hstlsoc@gmail.com
Meeting place for the start of the walk will be provided with confirmation of your booking.
Friday 15th October, 10.30 am to 12.30 pm: Local History Research workshop at Hastings Public Library (13 Claremont, TN34 1HE).
Would you like to do some local history research, but don’t know how to go about it? In association with Hastings & St. Leonards Society, Hastings Library is providing a workshop to outline what research sources are available from East Sussex Library and Information Service.
There are two sessions, 10.30 am to 11.30 am, and 11.30 am to 12.30 pm. To book for one of the sessions e-mail hstlsoc@gmail.com
Saturday 16th October: National Town Criers Championship at Butlers Gap, George Street, Hastings Old Town. Starts at 11 am.
In addition to the above events, Hastings & St. Leonards Society is providing £200 in prize money for the annual National Town Criers Championship, which has been held in Hastings or St. Leonards since 1952, and since 1998 has been a feature of ‘Hastings Week’ in October. This is one of the town’s great heritage events.
The booklet, ‘A Bellow of Criers’, giving the history of the contest and the town crier tradition in Hastings, is available from the Society. Cost is £4. To order a copy e-mail hstlsoc@gmail.com
For updates on the Local History Festival and details of any events that may be added, please see the website:
www.hastingsandstleonardssociety.org.uk
Hastings & St. Leonards Society committee
