A Visit To HASTINGS - I Was SHOCKED!
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- Опубликовано: 4 ноя 2023
- It is the return of the 4K walking tours of British seaside destinations as this week I venture to the beautiful town of Hastings in East Sussex. But is it worth a visit in the Autumn?
Most famous for the Battle of Hastings in 1066, this place really is swimming in history, however today I’m looking for answers as to why it’s such a popular seaside resort - I explore the dramatic cliffs, the landmark ruins of Hastings Castle, the quirky backstreets, the plethora of museums and galleries, the Old Town (which is rich with coffee shops, antiques and vintage outlets), the seafront amusement park and attractions, the sandy beaches, the high street and finally the famous pier. I really was shocked at just how much there is to see and do. So come along and walk with me as we explore another coastal tourist destination!
My name is Jack and I’m exploring the UK, making travel vlogs as I go. I’d be so grateful for your support, so please do like the video, leave a comment and subscribe to my channel here - youtube.com/@jackryanmiller?s...
#travelvlog #walkingtour #battleofhastings #1066country #seaside #touristdestinations #virtualwalk
Guys while you’re here, please do give the subscribe button above a hit! Thanks very much
Hello from Suffolk. I'm Swedish and I went to Hastings with EF language schools in a one year English Academic year in 1996-1997 and I'm still living in England. Hastings will always be my 2nd home and I'm trying to go down to Hastings with my kids 13 and 20 for Bonfire night, Jack in the Green and the Pirate weekend. I love all of Hastings and St Leonard's on sea. I used to live in Bexhill with an ex bf as well in 1998
*on
Hey thanks so much for your comment, it’s great to hear from someone who lived there! It really is an amazing town, I hope you make it down there for Bonfire night 😁
Hastings makes a great day trip from London. I only discovered Hastings after staying with friends in nearby Battle, sight of the Battle of Hastings.
I remember the old Pier before it got destroyed then rebuilt, and then turned into a minimalist artwork.
Love the Old Town area and the walk up the East Hill. Although when we last did the coastal walk to Fairlight Glen we had to turn back due to signs saying 'Danger, Falling Rocks.'
Thanks a lot. I would’ve loved to see the old pier before it got destroyed. That reminds me I need to check out Battle soon I’ve never been
@@jackryanmiller 😀😀😀
Hastings was my nearest town for all my life (30ish years). Moved to Scotland in 2020. Hastings isn't the best place in the world but I genuinely miss it. So much nostalgia for me!
That’s amazing I’m glad this video could bring back some nostalgia for you 😁
I moved from Canada and lived in Hastings for 3 years. I love the quirkiness of the town and the history, but the best part was the people. Everyone is so welcoming, and there is always something going on!
That’s amazing, I’m so envious you lived there! Definitely somewhere I can see myself to moving to in the future
nah you’ve gotta be joking. i live in hastings. hastings is a shithole and you know it
The old town is amazing I live in all saints st what the posh st 5 star rating pub and restaurant every title i ser some one i all ways tell.tham the history hsd a lode of Chinese people out side tell. Thsm.whst it was we have a much better cheese garter than London
@ julieling1212
Do you speak English?
@@UpinsmokeXVIyes
Its been two months that i left Hastings for US and i am already missing it. Too much emotional connection with that city idk.
You can imagine by thinking that i came to write Hastings in youtube because i miss those streets and that community.
Love to Hastings all over from California❤❤
Thanks so much for your comment. I bet California has a completely different feel to Hastings 😯
We are from Kent but have a static caravan up on the east hill above the cliffs. There some amazing walks across towards fairlight and the old fern glens and lighthouse . Shame the east hill lift was closed. Hastings is quirky and never dull.
That’s great, I am sad I didn’t visit the east hill but I will be sure to do so when I’m next there!
😮 Wow... You've only been to Hastings about twice before ?! Wow !! I feel I've lived a lot of my life there (but sadly not for many years now since I became disabled) Shingle aside, I have always enjoyed Hastings. (I used to work in nearby Battle, and love it there, too.)
Thank you for sharing your views / opinions of Hastings with us. It's really good to see the old place again.😊❤🖖
Ah thanks so much for your comment, I really appreciate it! I can’t believe I haven’t been there more often either, but I’m aiming to visit again when it warms up again 😄
Hastings is lovely ❤
It really is!
You really did not mention that Hastings has the largest beach launched fishing fleet in Europe. This is an important part of our town.
Ah I didn’t know that but thanks!
I used to work on a fishing boat off of Hastings beach, and yes we did have the biggest beach launched fleet in Europe. But sadly that was years ago, and now there are less than 15 working boats on our beach. It is still a great town though.
We often travel from Dover and go to Hastings for the day.I love everything about the town,sometimes stay down the road at the Haven holiday park which is a great place to go out exploring all the surrounding areas and towns.Hastings is an interesting town and the people are real friendly.I would highly recommend a trip there.
Yep same here definitely one of my favourite places I went last year! Then again I do love Dover too
Hi, I used to go to Hastings for day trips in the 80s when we were staying in Sussex, and I loved the charmingly crumbling feel of the place; the Aquarium - as it was then, the tall sheds for smoking fish, the once elegant charmingly crumbling balconied houses, the shops set back into the high walled street to name but a few, but my favourite was the recreation of the inside of a ship of the 17th century, complete with figures of the crew, the chests of wine and gold coins, but most impressive of all, the canon, firing with an ear splitting boom accompanied by the replica smell of a real fired canon. It stank but I was enthralled, especially when I learned the boy firing it could have been as young as twelve. Sadly, the aquarium has been modernised, losing all its charm, the replica ship has long gone, and the seafront is now lined with ugly modern buildings. But I did notice a bit of the decaying old world charm of the streets and shops is still there.
Hey thanks so much for your comment, I find that really interesting and surprising that it’s actually changed that drastically in 30 years
Nice video, glad you enjoyed Hastings, I was actually there today making the most of the sunny weather after the persistant rain of late - nothing new to me as I live in Bexhill, but it's good to know what others think of the place. I agree, steer clear of the town centre and head to the old town (George Street) and up past the free museum to the quiet stony beach. Nice walks up East Hill which leads on to the Country Park. You should explore there next time. Subscribed, as I love walking videos!
Ah thanks so much for your comment and subscribing. East hill sounds great and the Cliff lift up there certainly looked epic so that’s definitely one for next time. I’ll probably come back on a hotter day though I bet it’s rammed in the summer!
I was once fiddled with down an alleyway in Hastings… rather pleasant experience
You're welcome
😂😂
Love Hastings so glad you appreciated it and fun to join you on your walk
Thanks so much for watching Jude
Thank you Jack another great place to visit can’t wait to have fresh fish and chips 👏👏👏👏🙏
Thank you Barbara! I could do with some fish and chips now 🤪
Just watched your Broadstair’s video and now here you are traipsing around another holiday destination of ours. Saw my mother in law’s favourite pub...5:30.
Love it! It sounds like you have a good taste in holiday destinations 😀
What a lovely place!! I had expected to it to look a little forlorn for some reason. A gem! Thanks for sharing.
Same here! It probably helps the weather was really good on the day I filmed this despite being October 😁cheers for watching
Thanks for the video. My son lives in Hastings. He rings me when he’s walking his dog along the beach. I’ve not been, but now I have a better idea of where he walks his dog, thank you.
Thanks so much, I wouldn’t mind walking my dog along here every day 😁
amazing video; I went to Hastings for first time at the age of 10 and and still remember very well
Hey thanks so much, I hope the video brought back some memories 😁
Thank you for bringing me back to this wonderful place I used to visit well over 20 years ago! It looks like Hastings hasn’t changed much - maybe a bit more there now? I used to stay in an a beautiful B and B in old town called The Swan Hotel (since closed) and I would always go up on the hill to see the castle and for fun go into the caves to enjoy the smugglers adventure!🙂
Ah thank you very much and that’s exactly why I make these videos for people like yourself who want to relive memories of a place they used to visit 😄
@@jackryanmiller Thank you 🥰In fact it got me thinking, after watching your video, I contacted my friends who live nearby and am in the process of arranging a meet up in Hastings with these friends and my family! I can’t wait to go back! 😀
I love that pink vase
So glad you enjoyed your visit to our wonderful town, Jack, and thanks for the brilliant video. I note you visited Roberts Rummage in the Old Town, the best antiques/junk shop in the town, and you are right, going in there is anadventure in itself. Was the pub you went to the Dolphin, by any chance? Looked like it, the best boozer in the Old Town. Many thanks for uploading the video. Consider me subscribed!
Thanks so much for your comment, honestly really appreciate it! Unfortunately I didn’t go to the Dolphin as it was too busy and I wanted to sit outside ha ha but it looked great. That pub I went to was the Royal Standard on the corner 🤪
Thanks Jack. Wasn’t planning to visit Hastings on my trip from Aus through that part of England. But now will. As someone who just likes to wander around, and take in the sights, it was very instructive. Keep going and best wishes.
Thanks so much for your comment Michael, I’m glad the video was helpful and hope you have a great trip to England!
You must go to Rye.
@@drew699 Thanks planning to.
On your walk through the town centre you missed the jewel that is Wellington Square opposite Sports Direct! Great Hastings promo though.
Ah that’s so unfortunate but thanks for letting me know - I’ll be sure to check it out next time 😁
It was great seeing my home town on here loved it
That’s great , thanks so much for watching
Bottle Alley!
New subscriber I live in Kent. Thanks for every useful video xx
Thanks very much for subscribing! 👋
Looks nice.
I moved to Hastings (well, St Leonards on Sea) from London 25 years ago and would not want to live anywhere else now. I've seen some changes (like it has become more gentrified) but it certainly has a lot going for it. It's sad that National Express no longer run through the town. I don't drive and used to take the coach up to London at least four times a year. Now we have to go to Brighton if we want to use that service. Glad you enjoyed your visit!
Thanks for your comment 🙏 that is icy a shame about national express not running anymore. I plan to do a video on St Leonards in the next few months as I’ve had a few recommendations after doing this Hastings one
I looooove the old town. I love the weirdness of this place. Will be there for Jack in the Green Festival.
Wow I just looked up the festival that looks so cool 😁
@@jackryanmiller yepp
Nice snappy video that took in a lot of the major landmarks & captured the vibe of Hastings. I grew up there in the 80s & 90s but moved away around 2000. In recent years I've grown very nostalgic about the place & have a weeks holiday booked there end of April/Start of May, staying in the Old Town. I don't think I really appreciated what an interesting place it is when I lived there. Having a bit of sunshine (& spending money) helps when I go back! I was toying with the idea of retiring there one day but if it keeps on improving, I may not be able to afford a house eek..
Thanks very much for your comment. I hope you have a great break there when you go, and fingers crossed you can retire there one day (I’m going to try to do the same 🤪)
When you come back Jack Pop to St Leonard It is lovely there too i live here been here 22 years i love every day here. We got our may day coming soon and that is a fab day. Great video.
Thank you so much, I had actually planned this year to do St Leonards as I’ve had a few recommendations for there now 😁
Very good - you should have gone further down to Goats Ledge in St Leonards and onwards towards West St Leonards and on to Bexhill...next time!
Thanks so much for watching (and subscribing!) I’m making a list of places to go in the first half of next year and both Bexhill and St Leonards are on there 😁
Hello I was born in Hastings miss it so much jack I left Hastings at the Age of seven i,m now 52 a full time wheelchair user
Hi Melanie thanks so much for your comment, I really hope the video brought back some early memories for you !
my mother came from here in the 1920s and had uncles on the fishing boats
That is so cool, thanks for checking the video out Ian
I used to live just outside Hastings (in St Leonards. It’s a truly fab place to live. There used to be an AMAZING jacket potato shop in the old town. I don’t think it’s there anymore.
That’s great you know I’m planning to do a video on St Leonards in the next few months. Thanks for watching
That first beach - great apart from one of the main sewage pipes is discharged directly into the water there as far as I recall.
Oooh I didn’t know that. You’re seeing it more and more at different seasides now 😔
The weirdest haha yeah I loved it for that reason too
Ha ha yeh and there’s some real characters around there 🤣
@@jackryanmiller and Slugworth 😂😂
The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England.
My dream trip to Hastings. My grandmother was born there. Her grandfather had changed his name to John Bull when he emigrated from Germany in the 1800's. He built a beautiful home called "the Breakers" which my gran remembered visiting. It was bombed and destroyed during WWII buy which time his grandchildren were in Canada on Salvation Army Missions, although his two g-grandchildren where teens and back fighting for England. Bucket list I hope.
Wow thanks so much for sharing, I certainly hope you can visit one day
the old town has always been plenty of antiques and tattoo stores, and It is still right now
Thanks video
Thanks mate
Great channel 🤠 You have a new sub 🎧
Thanks so much, and welcome! 🤗
Great video. Is the beach good enough for swimming in May ? Thanks
Thanks very much, I’d definitely say it’s suitable for swimming
@@jackryanmiller awesome, thank you so much 😊
Absolutely gorgeous. I'd move there tomorrow if I could....
Subscribed and Liked.
Ahh thank you, that’s very much appreciated!
Your more than welcome buddy 👍🏻
Bird under the pier was a Turnstone
Thanks!
I lived in Hastings1964-68. Great place then. Not so sure now 60 years later. I lived in the old town. George st.
Lovely, I bet in the 60s it was very different to now
@@jackryanmiller I remember we first lived in High Wycombe on the east hill. When we moved only 2 cars on the road. We used to play football in the road. Visit rock a nore. Go camping by ourselves so all in all was great as a young kid .
I want to visit for those odds n sods! I hope that undefined can of something is still there
Maintenance solution expired in 1988
@@jackryanmiller of course!
I live in Hastings and the Old Town is the most interesting, did you see St Saints church, with the piece of cheese house. Also St Clements church, it has a cannon bomb in it. We have lovely parks and we have St Helens Wood.
Thanks very much for your comment. This was a bit of a flying visit but I’ll make a note of those places to check out next time 😁
The bird, a bit distant to be sure but think it was a Ringed Plover.
That’s great, I just looked it up and I think you’re right !
Pity you didn't get a bit further along the coast to the West. Down bottle alley from the pier end to Warrior Square and goat ledge. Kings Road and Norman Road and the places by the painted alcoves towards Marine court, the building that looks like a cruise liner. Lots of characters in Hastings and St. Leonards, sometimes seedy and sometimes amazing but mostly entertaining...
Ah thanks very much and I actually plan to do a video at St Leonards very soon so I’ll probably start by Bottle Alley and make my way there!
@@jackryanmiller Excellent news! ❤
It's a good ghost town :D, the castle a lady has been seen jumping off the hill, The Stag In is haunted, Jenny Lind is, Pump House they claim to have seen a young spirit but I have not seen it. The Bingo across the road from the golf was a snooker club, no longer there :(
And John logie baird 1923 rented a workshop in the Queen's arcade in Hastings where he built - from components including an old hatbox, bicycle lamp lenses and sealing wax - the world's first working television set.
That’s so cool I had no idea it was known for its ghosts too. I’m very interested in paranormal stuff so will have to come back and check out some of those places properly! Cheers 😁
@@jackryanmiller Yes everywhere has ghost sightings but Battle Abbey where I work is more haunted than Hastings I see countless stuff there, shadow figures vanish into walls, monks who used to live at the Abbey and my boss knows of a monk who walks up and down the high street and go to the church and back over to the Abbey, in the school I've seen monks, full body appreciations, poltergeist activity, full body shadow spirits not flat, orbs list goes on but I've seen it so many times I just accept it and count myself lucky I can see and hear these things. You should get the app Haunted Maps got a green mansion logo, so simple but has locations wherever you are and you can add your own places with details if you want to just gotta log into Google if you want to do that otherwise you can use it as a guest. But I don't need maps at Battle as I see the spirits all the time even during the day. The school has lower floor visits during longer half term when the kids brake up.
you reminded me of something. When I used to stay in a B and B called The Swan Hotel (since closed down) in old town, I remember waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of several horses outside the hotel…well I look out the window…and there was nothing there…
@@chez9831 Music has been heard from the castle also when there wasn't anyone around, if it's spiritual then it's a residual haunting which is sounds and spirits repeating themselves or with audio, it doesn't happen often as a normal haunting but really cool when it happens. Of course there were a lot of horses and carts back in the day. Don't know if you believe in this stuff but I see spirits at work I'm so used to it it's not scary but even I can't explain stuff sometimes 👻 there's a house in the old town that had connections with The Pump House I always feel cold when I walk past it then soon as I passed it back to normal temperature even on a hot day. I wouldn't be surprised if it was haunted
Bird was definitely a turnstone. Very common at seaside resorts
Ah yes very good
Bird was a Turnstone, Jack, normally there are a few of them together.
Ah thanks very much!
Lived in Hastings from 1983-86, It was a great place then meeting up on the memorial and drinking at the Crypt. Revisited in 2012 but the town had kind of lost it's character and wasn't the same. Shame they pedestrianized the memorial and lost the Cricket ground.
Love it, I would’ve been intrigued to see what Hastings looked like in the 80s
My favorite part of Hastings is the pubs 😂
That’s definitely one thing I wish I could’ve checked out more 😁
What an Anchor ⚓ 😅
Ha ha I hear that a lot 🤪
You missed Alexandra Park and I am from Hastings and I live right next to it
Ooh I did miss that but I do remember driving past! Next time 😁
7:50 for anyone wondering was a folded and packed up ferris wheel whilst its not in use! :)
Ah of course, it all makes sense now! 😁
I'm from Hastings
Few years ago, Steve Cardenas(RED RANGER from the TV show Mighty Morphing Power Rangers) with his wife went to Hastings. They visited The CRIME Museum in White Rock St before going to LONDON´s COMIC CON
That’s so cool!
And my fav is Hastings contemporary cus Quentin Blake roux art and he live here
Oh yes what an amazing place
I live in Hastings
It looks like a great place to live
Truly is
All saints st is is the posh st in Hastings old town it as old school poor place could have now house work house lot.of shop some of the house do have think.in.the window the stage as 5 handed cat and its the best pub in Sussex last one in the last one out. Is nice to the old court and police station which hanging people 5 star pubs in all saints st
I have had the opportunity to witness Hastings from both sides of the spectrum. I went to Hastings college of Art and Technology as a teenager and then I spent just under a year as a Police Officer in my 30's WHAT AN EYE OPENER!!!! They used to joke in the force, one years probation in Hastings was the equivalent of two years anywhere else in the county. Lovely place to look at and wonder around, during the day, but it has its problems when the sun goes down. One reason was, Sussex is known as the forgotten county. As a result the road links into Hastings are poor. Businesses do not want to set up there. So last I knew unemployment was high. And what comes hand in hand with that? DRINK, DRUGS and Violence. It just spirals down and down into a black abyss unfortunately. Don't get me wrong there are some lovely people in Hastings, just let down by a minority.
Wow thanks very much for this insight, that really is interesting and I can totally imagine it. Not sure I’d want to experience it at night 😱
@@jackryanmiller What a load of nonsense. It is great at night.
@@josephwaghorne ha ha ok maybe I will check it out at night 😁
Hastings has a certain character but there are some rough areas. No different to most towns.
Yep I can imagine!
You didn't talk a tiny bit further and come to St Leonards - next time!
Funny you say that, St Leonards is on my list of vlogs for the next few months 😁
Narrated by Noel Fielding.
Ha ha sadly without the humour
@jackryanmiller great work, by the way - thoroughly enjoyed it.
@@jaymondo ah thanks so much!
I was born there and moved away in my twenties
That’s great, I hope this brought back some memories
Yes it did, the sea front never looked like that I lived there. It’s all changed over the years, old town looks the same.
I lived in a little village called Ore.
I lived in Hastings for 12 years from 1988 to 2000. In those days it was an awful place, full of care in the community patients sent there by the London Boroughs. It was rough, had a high level of crime and poor educational attainment. The town centre was over run with drunks & druggies and it was not a safe place to go out at night.
I’ve heard that from a few people now, hopefully it has improved in recent years
Hasn’t changed
@ 2:39 “not often you can go to the toilet for free”… I’m 48, and I’ve never paid to go to the toilet… You’ve been doing something wrong, my man 😂
Ha ha ha I’ve lived in London for too long 🤪
Hastings is a drinking town with a fishing problem.
😂😂
Alot of focus on the old town, which always seems to happen, mostly owned by londerners now sadly, there is alot more to Hastings, alot of poverty, low wages, not alot of jobs, the parts that are doing well, are owned by gues who' mostly londerners '
Yes indeed if I could’ve spent longer here and explored more I would have
Don,t say Guys you have ladies watch too
A fair point but my analytics tell me my viewers are in fact almost 100 percent male 🤔
My all time favourite part of Hastings is the road out towards Rye, now that is a nice place, unlike Hastings. "Let's get out of here" is the best sentence he said.
smooth the cuts out a bit - odd to cut from one move to another - editing is key, castle is too expensive, but maybe you should have stumped up and shown us, and not getting a clear idea of what area is linked to what so more of a sense of the geography- oh and old pump house pub is "fake old" so do some research on what you are showing
😅 oh well a Tory sunny uplands that resembles a third world dump 😅😅
As someone who has lived in Hastings for over 26 years, and also has visited quite a number of so called "third world" countries, I can say with some authority that you have NOT got a clue what you are talking about.