I took advantage of a Tuesday dog walker’s day to do a final train trip out of Tunbridge Wells. This time I went all the way to the coast (about a 35-40 minute ride depending on the number of stops) to the town of Hastings (as in the Battle of Hastings, which as we all now know happened in the current town of Battle).
Hastings has a current population of about 91,000, and Wikipedia tells me that it remains a popular seaside resort and fishing port, with the UK’s largest beach-based fishing fleet. I definitely saw a number of fresh fish vendors in my 2.5 hour walkabout.
My first walk was down to the beach to see the Hastings Pier, which I sadly deleted photos of when I was editing my photos on the train ride back to Tunbridge Wells. Lesson learned (hopefully) about multi-tasking on a moving vehicle.
the pretty beach, and the pier in the distance.
There is a shipwreck museum further along the coast.
I was walking along the coast towards the East Hill. Hastings has two hills — East Hill and West Hill — both of which you can ascend via funicular (when they are not closed for necessary maintenance). I wanted to go up to the top of the East Hill, as there is a country park there and the views (when not raining or foggy) are supposed to be good. As I learned through some posted signs, neither funicular was running, but I was still able to get to the top of the East Hill.
Some discoveries before I got to East Hill —
only open for tours to groups of 20 or more
Winkles are a small mollusks with a spiral shell.
an arts charity located on the historic fishing beach
At the top of the stairs, I saw a sign for East Hill, so I went up.
The paved path led to a large green space
which I didn’t opt to walk on due to the wetness.
The rain had returned, so I made my way back down to continue walking east along the coast.
I briefly went into the Shipwreck Museum, but both this and the Fisherman’s Museum were being used for lessons for a school class. I did get to see the world’s earliest archaeological evidence of a ship’s steering wheel which was recovered on the Goodwin Sands in Kent. I also learned about Samuel Pepys role as Secretary to the Admirality during the reign of Charles II and James II. Prior to this trip, I only knew Pepys for his diary, but we saw a show on tv the other day about the Great Fire of London, in which Pepys played an important role. Both of these efforts (naval and fire) were likely detailed in his diary, but I don’t remember the contents of what we read in school.
when operating
I then walked back into Old Town to do more exploring there.
dedicated to the making of artificial flowers, but not open
first recorded in 1523 during the reign of Henry VIII.
It survived fires by the French during the 100 Years War
and was completely rebuilt in 1889.
However, it was completely destroyed
by a low-flying enemy bomber on May23, 1943,
with considerable loss of life.
Peckish Travels 
2 replies on “A Hasty Trip to Hastings (2/10/26)”
I am pleasantly pleased with how clean and tidy the town and area look, We passed through the outskirts of Glasgow today so so disappointed with the state of the place ,reminded me of a few third world countries that I visited in my past 😳😳
S.J.B
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Oh no, sorry to hear that. There was a bit of graffiti on some buildings near the waterfront, but I thought the Old Town area looked pretty good.
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