The Hastings-Bexhill Link Road - Route to regeneration, or road to the white elephants’ graveyard?

Too late to turn back now. The new Link Road is carving its way across the Combe Haven Valley. What are we getting for our £113 million? Is it worth the damage to the countryside? I’ve been searching for the truth.

Countless enquiries, reports, meetings, a Public Enquiry in 2009, a Department of Transport (DfT) study, a request for a judicial review, and a grass-roots protest on the site in 2012 have failed to produce any clarity or consensus.

What are we talking about?

A single lane road taking a 3 mile looping route across open country from a new junction with the A259 in Bexhill to join up with the Queensway north of St Leonard’s.

     The East Sussex County Council (ESCC) website tells us: ‘The road represents excellent value for money. It will bring much needed regeneration to our economically deprived area, including 2000 new homes and a 50,000 square metre business park in North East Bexhill, 3000 jobs, and economic benefits valued at £1bn. It will improve traffic congestion, particularly on the A259 at Glyne Gap’.

Opposition campaigners deplore the damage to the Combe Haven Valley and its wildlife. They challenge  

projected economic benefits, say that the road will increase traffic congestion, not reduce it, and that overall, the project is poor value for money.

Historically, congestion reduction was top of the agenda, with plans for an ambitious dual-carriageway bypass from Pevensey to Icklesham finally rejected in 2001, largely on environmental grounds. The Link Road, a partial bypass, is that scheme’s legacy.

Well-respected planning consultant Professor Alan Wenban Smith wrote in 2011: ‘while the main objective of the BHLR is stated to be regeneration of the Hastings Bexhill area, the ‘side-effect’ of relief of congestion on the A259 has in fact dominated the consideration of options’.

Worse, arguments about minute reductions in journey times have taken attention away from reasoned consideration of the economic benefits.

The only formal public consultation about the scheme was back in 2004.

‘80% of respondents in favour of the road’ still appears in ESCC publicity. But only 2558 out of 65,000 survey questionnaires were ever completed, and the questions were mostly about traffic management.

People still think the main issue is traffic. If asked about the Link Road, Hastings residents are sure to mention its impact on congestion on the A259 and the seafront.

The truth about traffic

According to Wenban-Smith and the DfT, traffic reduction on the A259 will be minimal. Most journeys along that road are local, and the Link Road presents too long a detour.

     Original plans for another  new piece of road, the Baldslow link, to funnel traffic off the Queensway onto the A21, were dropped for cost reasons. Now, Link Road traffic will either rejoin the A259 or access the A21 via already congested minor roads. In 2011, the DfT estimated that traffic congestion on one such road, the Ridge, could increase by 24%, and this was without the current spate of new housing developments in that area.

Opponents of the road say that alternatives to the Link Road were not properly considered, and public transport was not prioritised.

However, as the report of the 2009 Public Enquiry makes clear, there are no realistic road alternatives, and ultimately, successful regeneration of this area requires a massive upgrade of the A21.

Improvements in public transport would make a contribution to local congestion reduction, but no resources have been set aside to improve it.

So, the Link Road will provide access to the new North East Bexhill development areas and a limited improvement in journey times between Hastings and Bexhill, but lead to increased congestion elsewhere.

Unsurprisingly, ESCC have recently watered down their traffic management aims, and give a higher emphasis to regeneration.

The economic benefits

According to economists, building new homes adds no wealth to an area – it depends who lives in them. Will new residents be skilled, productive workers, or will they be people priced out of more expensive areas of the country and forced to move here? Who can say? 

owever, the Will the new Business Park take off? Given the many vacant commercial and industrial sites, both in the towns and, for example, along the Queensway, there is no certainty that the new site will be attractive. The DfT concluded: ‘We have reviewed the material the promoter (ESCC) provided which indicated that the scheme would unlock £1 billion in additional GVA (Gross Value added). Our view is that this significantly overstates the benefits of the scheme as it makes optimistic assumptions including the number of jobs dependent on the scheme, the extent to which economic activity will relocate from elsewhere and local wage rates. We think the number of additional jobs may be in the order of a third of the levels claimed (i.e. only around 1000).’

     Overall, the DfT graded the Link Road medium/low value for money.

This does not look good….

Are ESCC guilty of reckless optimism, as opponents claim? But is doing nothing really an option? Should ESCC not do all it can to facilitate the much needed regeneration of this area, even if attempts are limited in scope and uncertain of outcome?

All agree that the North Bexhill area is our only possible large-scale development site.  It needs opening up, and it needs access from both Hastings and Bexhill.

The same applies to congestion reduction.  While, undoubtedly, more resources should be allocated to public transport, it is probably better to do something rather than nothing. At least the new road will provide another route between Hastings and Bexhill, and hospital patients will have a quicker journey between the Hastings Conquest and Eastbourne hospitals – important as services are increasingly shared across the two sites.

But is it worth damaging the beautiful Combe Haven Valley? Who knows……Only time will tell.

Louis Turpin - a local star painter

For many years we have admired the work of Louis Turpin, who lives and works near Rye.
     We initially came across him because our old friend Karol, who we met in Turkey many years ago, has several of his paintings in her house.
     When we first came down to this area we saw a wonderful big painting by Louis, in the permanent collection of Rye Art Gallery, of a field of cabbages. I can't reproduce it here - it just looks like a green mass in the photograph, but we were so struck we have looked out for his work ever since.
      He paints mostly gardens and English landscapes, in a very characteristic colourful, sunny style. I am not into art critic speak - I suppose you'd say the work is representational, yet impressionistic, with a bold, rich

Teasels at Great Dixter - Louis Turpin

palette of colour and very clear light.  Anyway, we find his work immensely cheering to look at.  He has done many paintings of Great Dixter, which Hastings Battleaxe readers will know is one of our favourite places.
      There are usually works of his for sale in Rye, and we have often admired, but never bought.
      However, just before we went on holiday we saw a painting in the Rye Society of Arts Exhibition. It was of the allotments on the West Hill in Hastings, looking across the valley to High Wickham on the East Hill. We knew exactly where it was painted - a view very familiar to us from our first days in Hastings, and still familiar now.  We bought the painting there and then.
      Here it is together with a photo of the view taken by Philosopher.
       The blokes who keep the allotments kindly let us have a good poke round, and as you can see, we found the actual plot with the yellow hoops.
     

Our painting - Allotments on the West Hill

Philosopher's photo of the same scene.

The photo is taken later in the year - the buddlea bush has grown up, and the runner beans have grown over their framework     
      We ended up having a total cock-up pantomime to pay for the painting - the curse of Santander service struck us big time - but it turned out well because Louis eventually brought the painting round to us himself. It was nice to meet him and his wife Davida.

Allotments by the sea

       Interestingly, we had a visit from Philosopher's sister Hilary and her husband Mike this week, and it turns out that Mike worked with Louis' father, Digby Turpin, who was a filmmaker.  Mike mentioned an article on Louis he'd seen recently in the Daily Telegraph.
       I see he is very into music - we will have to go and see him strut his stuff at some point.
       There are other paintings of allotments, including this other one of the West Hill, in a new exhibition at the Bohun Gallery in Henley.
       I've neglected Bombastic Battleaxe a bit lately - Hastings Battleaxe has become quite labour intensive. Once you start building up a blog audience you have to keep the posts coming.  I had started the first in a series of no-holds-barred posts on the shocking truth behind social housing, but I showed it to Philosopher who said it was too inflammatory and I needed to research my facts. Research? Facts? Moi? So I left it.
To finish up with, here are three more nice Louis Turpin paintings - I like the winter scenes with sheep.

Morning Frost

Apple Orchard with ewe

Winter sheep

Trans-seasonal dressing for Battleaxes

Weather has gone a bit mad, hasn't it?  Are you wearing summer clothes? No? Me neither.  The shops are full of lovely things, but I already have a wardrobe full of hardly worn garments.  So, the answer has to be clothes that can layer, mix and match to wear throughout several seasons - whatever the weather.
In a previous post on buying stylish clothes for Battleaxes, I've listed the brands Battleaxe favours, so let's see what they have to offer....
      Let's start with skirts. Most cotton skirts can be worn with opaque tights, leggings, even boots. You can wear a jumper or cardigan on top when it's cold, bare legs, sandals or sneakers and thin top when its hot. I've bought two skirts this year, one from Seasalt and one from Adini. Both have had plenty of wear already. Fuller skirts need a drop waist or sewn in pleats if you are bigger than tiny.  Try and choose a skirt with at least one darker colour in the pattern - these look better with darker opaques and leggings. Try other colours than black for tights - navy, plum, petrol blue etc. They look more spring-like.

Seasalt skirt - I have this

 

Adini skirt - I have this too

     Battleaxes need skirts on or just below the knee for wear with bare legs. Avoid maxi skirts - too much fabric, unless you are tall and skinny enough to get away with a simple jersey tube.
     Denim skirts are good too - can be layered up or down indefinitely.
     Next, dresses or tunic tops.  Choose styles without sleeves, or short sleeves, so you can layer a longer sleeved T-shirt underneath comfortably for when it is cooler.  Again, choose styles that can be worn with tights, leggings, skinny jeans when it is cold, bare legs or crop leggings when hotter. Avoid tunic tops that cut right across the middle of the thighs - these are unflattering. Longer is better. Slightly more fitted styles work well, so you can wear a jacket or cardigan on top without looking too huge and voluminous. Talking of huge, fashion websites always show models wearing wide leg trousers under tunics or dresses. I still stick to the maxim volume on top, skinny on the bottom, and vice versa. Otherwise, barrage balloon ahoy. For good shapes and pretty fabrics, try Masai, and again, Adini and Seasalt. White Stuff do a good range too.

     Unless you are planning a long summer holiday somewhere reliably hot, cut down on long floaty maxi dresses in vibrant prints.  Of course, you can layer these up, but mad cat lady/pagan goddess beckons. Also, avoid buying too much voluminous linen - I have two lovely long strange shaped linen skirts from EllaModa - have worn one once, and the other not at all. In fact none of my linen garments get worn that much....
      Tops.  Lots of layering basic cotton T shirts, obviously.  Surprisingly hard to find these days. Oddly enough, I tend to favour Tu at Sainsburys.
      Try shirts or blouses that can be worn over a T shirt or on their own. Try not to get too much volume, or material that is too stiff - one tends to look on the verge of giving birth. Nice Things do soft cotton blouses with elasticated backs so they are more fitted. Or go vibrant with Desigual. I got a good top in Germany the other week, because it was far hotter than we anticipated. Philosopher said the fabric looked like the 'bandanas dachshunds wear', but I liked it. It has a drawstring waist band that can be pulled in to reduce volume.

Nice Things blouse

Desigual 'dachshund bandana' Jenifer top

Hastings local issues round-up

Back to serious matters.  I fancy a rant on some local issues.....
     Number One:  the Bexhill/Hastings Link Road is going ahead. Work will commence any time. This is very sad. I assume the decision was entirely driven by the money on offer. Still it is a done deal now, and one can only worry about what happens next. Massive improvements will be needed to manage the traffic at some junctions, e.g at Baldslow, and I don't see any real commitment to doing this. And what about the Ridge?
     I do feel fed up with the environmental protesters.  Why leave it until it is too late to protest? The row about this road has been going on for years. Why couldn't they get themselves together earlier?
     As Battleaxe said over a year ago (see Hastings Battleaxe), little different will happen to regenerate the fortunes of Hastings unless the A21 is improved. The trouble is, many people have been led to believe faulty nonsense. Was talking to a woman the other day who still thought the traffic problem on the sea-front road would be solved by the 'relief' road.

Dormouse snoozing in business park?

Nor will the boggy bulldozed acres of mud beside the new road be suddenly filled with thriving new enterprises - and, incidentally,  if they were, what would have happened to the dormice for whom they are apparently going to build tunnels?  Dormice don't live in business parks. (That is quite a nice title for a story).
    Number Two: the plans for the new Tesco in Ore have been approved. This is an unimaginative decision which is not taking the views of the local community into account, or doing the best for the survival of the local shops. I have read that the planners' hands were tied due to the nature of planning legislation, but why do they just sit back and accept it?. Battleaxe has rehearsed the arguments against Tesco on here before.  See also this article in Hastings On-Line Times.  How feeble can that Planning Committee be? Going on from that, I also gather that Aldi is moving into the B & Q store in Ore. Wow, talk about hammering the nails into the coffins of those poor Ore shops. Mind you, I hate Aldi less than Tesco. One senses that Tesco are moving into Ore out of plain competitive selfishness - simply to grind the Co-op into the dirt. Aldi are at least saying they will provide free parking for Ore shoppers, and I do think their range of goods provides a viable alternative to the stock sold by the mainstream supermarkets.
    Number Three: the quality of the sea water off the Hastings and St Leonard's beaches. This does not seem to be given sufficient priority, and we are told that the water will not meet new EU cleanliness regulations. I understand that many homes have illegal plumbing. Who is sorting that out? I also remember about the Bulverhythe drain outlet 'turning septic' or something weird. Certainly the water flowing into the sea looks horrible, and given how near to the land-fill site that stream flows, I am not surprised it is polluted. I wouldn't fancy swimming down there. Talking of land-fill and the tip, we went to the tip the other day after a gap of several months. I know this is a small point compared with the others, but:
    Number Four: no sign of a charity store at the Freshfields tip. The tip seems to be working well but there is no evidence of any salvage of reuseable goods.  Many months ago Battleaxe wrote a blog post about this. I did say I would start a campaign for a tip store, and I didn't, so presumably I only have myself to blame.
And finally:
    Number Five: Parking at Rock-A-Nore. It was a lovely sunny day on Sunday, and the entire road was jammed with stationary cars, either trying to get into the car park or leaving it. A sign right down the end said 'No Spaces', but at the railway station end of the car park, there was lots of room.  It is clearly a shambles, and I pity the poor sods in their cars. What is needed is this. Firstly, the whole car park needs to be properly surfaced and marked out, with direction arrows to guide cars round.  Secondly, an electronic sign at the Winkle Island end of the road advertising the number of spaces, so cars would know whether or not to start queuing (and that junction needs improving). Then, another electronic sign at the entrance to the car park, indicating  the approximate location of spaces. Thirdly, one vehicle entrance to the car park, where cars are counted in, and one exit.  How can this be so difficult?  It is not as though car park management technology has yet to be invented.....

Spaghetti poodles and cats

Anything to get away from this terrible cold weather and all the jobs I am supposed to be doing.... a nice distracting post about my spaghetti poodle (and cat) collection.
     I know I have mentioned these before, but here they are again. Made in Italy in the 1950's, they are surprisingly hard to come by - I think they were manufactured for the tourist trade, are roughly made, and break easily.
     I got my first one from Snoopers' Paradise in the North Laine, in Brighton around 2005. We used to love that place when we first went to Brighton, but when we have revisited recently, it is but a shadow of its former self - full of tat. I can't now remember which poodle was the first, or what appealed to me about it, but next time when we went back, they had another, and the grumpy bloke on the till, surprisingly, produced a third one from out the back. That was it. I now have 40.
     I started getting them off Ebay - most quite cheap, under £20.00, from the UK, but others, at vast cost, from America. The most expensive were the three joined together, pictured here. I am not saying how much, in case Philosopher sees it. Many poodle collectors seem to be American, living in small town places you have never heard of...
     Very few come from shops or antique fairs - one enormous (26 inch high) floral one with a detachable hat ashtray from Malvern, one from Rye, and two from the scabby junk yard in Courthouse Street in Hastings. That is surprising, considering the vast acreage of junk and antiques we have picked through over the years.
     I don't really know why I like them. Often their thickly applied spaghetti curls are broken, or chipped. Some have repaired breaks. They are hand painted, so each has a different facial expression - usually degrees of cheerful gormlessness, and their spaghetti whiskers bristle with hopeful doggy enthusiasm.
     I like the long-necked seated ones best - they are so classically 1950s, but they also come sitting, standing, begging, in a 'play-bow', holding baskets of flowers and pulling little posy vase carts. 

     Our friend Alan from Birmingham, who attends even more antique fairs than us, also looks out for poodles for me, and he found my first spaghetti cat - even rarer than poodles.
     The cats were clearly made by the same people - the style of spaghetti is the same, they have the same black ink writing on the bases, and they have the same collars, but their face are very bizarre, with huge, heavily made-up eyes and bouffant curls they look more like effeminate nineteenth century dandies than cats.

Cat family

     This horrendously kitsch cat family came from the Rye Auction Rooms - only cost me £40.00. You see sets like it on Ebay (in America) and they are hundreds of dollars.
      Anyway, here is one of my latest acquisitions.
This is actually a different sort of poodle - heavier, with different style floral painting, and a very different face. If possible, he looks even more gormless than the normal ones.
      Not surprisingly, I have never met anyone else who collects these things!
     I would also like to know more about them - where in Italy they come from, who manufactured them, but searching on the internet gets me nowhere.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
 

Struggling to lose weight? It's not surprising...

Time to take a look at diet and weight.... neigh, not horse stuff again, I've nagged on enough about that on Hastings Battleaxe.
     Lets appeal for some truth, clarity and honesty.
     Since New Year, I have been trying to lose weight - with some success. I've reduced my food intake, cut out most rubbish and taken more exercise. I've lost around eight pounds, which can't be bad. I have excellent will-power when I set my mind to it, but can flag if I don't get the necessary results - like most people, I guess. I'm a bit overweight, but not massively so - I like to catch myself in good time.
     I have been faithfully entering the food I consume and the exercise I take on the Myfitness Pal app - which I must say, is absolutely fantastic - it lists just about every sort of food and every form of exercise known to humanity.  According to my totals, I should be losing over a pound a week, but I am not - so what is going wrong?
     The other week I was reading an article in the Guardian about the deceptive nature of the calorie values of the recommended portion sizes printed on food packets. They give you a misleading idea of what you are eating, because the suggested portions are so tiny. I thought pooh pooh, am too sensible to be caught out like that, but then decided to weigh my portion of breakfast muesli. I am a creature of habit, and eat the same breakfast for around a whole year, before suddenly tiring of the brand in question, and changing.  This year, it is Dorset Really Nutty. The recommended portion size is 45 grams. Unhelpfully, the packet only gives the calorie value of this size serving lumped together with semi-skimmed milk, as 229 calories.

     Today, I weighed out a 45 gram portion in my usual cereal bowl. Here it is in the photograph - a measly disc of muesli barely covering the bottom of the bowl. Of course my usual portion is not this small. I weighed my usual amount - a whopping 75 grams, with a calorie value of  342 calories with milk.
      Many food packets are incredibly unhelpful.
      Lets take Pringles as an example - one of my favourite naughty treats. A tube weighs 175 grams. We are told the calorific value of 100 grams, and of 30 grams, which apparently is a 'portion'.
     However they don't say how many chips are in an average tube, or in 30g. I limit myself to only five chips. To work out the calorie value of this amount, I either have to weigh my portion, or count the number of Pringles in the tube, followed by some long division sums, for which I need a calculator. Is the average person in the street going to bother with any of this? I don't think so.
     Here's a packet of pasta shapes.  On the packet (500g) it states that an uncooked 90 gram serving has 321 calories, while 100 grams has 357 calories.  I need a small serving of 50 grams, which corresponds to two tablespoons of cooked pasta..... and off we go again. Bring on the scales and the calculator, yawn, bore.
     Let's have a glass of wine. Now, am I thinking ml or fluid ounces? How much does this glass hold? How full is it? Is this variety of wine more or less fattening?
     Then we have the well-known low-fat but high sugar business....the so-called 'diet' foods that have more calories than normal stuff....
     Look at low rent women's magazines - the Bella, Closer, variety.  Z list celebrity women apparently come in 3 sizes: 'worryingly thin', 'celebrating her ample curves' with an occasional 'healthy size 10' thrown in for good measure. The pictured 'healthy size 10' woman varies in size depending on the nature of the article. If it is about 'worryingly thin' getting bigger, the woman will be a scraggy size 8. If the direction of travel is 'ample curves' to slimmer, the apparently size 10 woman will clearly be size 12 to 14.
    Given all this, is it any wonder that most woman are thoroughly confused about the relationship between what they eat and their size? That we aren't clear about what we are actually eating? That we don't know what a 'healthy weight' actually looks like? That many people just give up?
     

Tesco in Ore - no, no - and other hot Hastings catch-ups

The issue of the Tesco store moving into the old Oddfellows pub  in Ore is still rumbling on - the Council planners are due to meet on 26 February. I do sincerely hope they can bring themselves to resist this - it would be such a bad thing for Ore, as Bombastic battleaxe set out in an earlier post. There is clearly plenty of opposition.
     I have sent an objection to the planning application - you can do this quite easily on-line, I discover.
Problem is, what to do with the building, given that there is no parking.
     Re-opening as a pub is the obvious thing, but presumably no-one wants to take it on. I wonder how hard it is to get funding for a community pub/cafe-bar. My next best idea would be a new home for Ore Library, which is in a very cramped little building.
     Some better news about other Battleaxe gripe areas:
     A very early post on this blog was about the lack of brown garden waste recycling bins. Well, we have now got one! It is sitting outside - already half full -  as I write. Great!
     Next, I read today that the Council have secured funding from the Coastal Communities Fund to match the funding already secured from the Lottery to build a new pier. That is very good news. Looking back, I see it is a whole year ago that Hastings Battleaxe incurred the wrath of Simon Opie, CEO of the Pier Trust,  with a post highlighting lack of progress and, above all, lack of publicity. I still think the publicity issue is a concern. Philosopher is a member of the HPWRT, and he gets very little information, never mind the general public. Still, hopefully, we will now see the first signs of progress. The pier worries me - will it ever really happen?
     I also read that the Council is considering an electric tram to carry visitors along the sea-front.  This will become very necessary when - or if - the pier ever opens.  However, I still think we would do better with a Dotto train - cheaper than trams I am sure, and more fun - people do like them. The one in Eastbourne always seems popular.
     Finally - Battleaxe is concerned about shops etc. closing down. Very sad indeed to lose the Post Office Tearooms in St Leonard's - such a well-loved place, but just not making enough money to survive.  Today, I noticed that the Weekend Gallery in Old Town High Street has closed, as has the little Room52 clothes shop in George Street (in that case, too little stock, and too expensive). Worrying.
    

Buying clothes for stylish Battleaxes - a High Street nightmare

Phew, sanity is restored, snow is gone. Back to buying clothes...
Battleaxe tackles the difficult challenges of buying mid-range clothes for funky, slightly bohemian and fashion-conscious women d'uncertain age.
     Women who:
- do not want to look like frumps
- do not want to look like mutton
- or old slappers
- or Pagan Priestesses(avoid shops that smell of patchouli and promote 'Magik')
- or Mad Cat Ladies
- shy away from anything  'classically elegant', or even 'age appropriate'.
- don't need plus size clothes
     I like clothes to be comfortable but not obviously elasticated. Fitted, but not sausage skin tight. Droopy, baggy, shapeless things are right out. I follow the maxim: loose top, tight bottom, or  fitted top, loose bottom.
     Watch out for frills, fringes, plunging necklines, shiny tacky fabrics, clothes with writing on.
     I am no skinny twig, but not seriously overweight either. Like many older women, this Battleaxe has thickened up across the shoulders and round the middle - not much waist. Need to avoid tight tops that show tyres, back fat etc. Need to avoid tops and jackets too tight in the upper arm, blouses that gape.
     Some are self-conscious about showing their arms - for myself, I don't care about that.
     Others make a big fuss about skirt length. Personally, I think both maxi and mid-upper calf lengths look frumpy.  Ankle, lower calf is fine. Around the knee is fine. Above the knee is fine if you have the legs for it and wear opaque tights, but not too short.  Skirts gathered at the waist - no. Even stretchy lycra skirts with a longer top - fine.
     Quick note on trousers - many say older women should not wear skinny jeans. I say they look fine with maybe a slightly longer top. Stretchy jeggings? I love them. Make sure trousers fit round the waist. Baggy leg trousers can look frumpy, unless they are summer linens.
     So, where can we find our clothes?
     Urgh - where to start.....Looking on the web, it is interesting that even for the brands I like, all the clothes are modelled by tall, skinny young women....
     Right now, I think High Street shops are going through a very bad patch. Garish colours, fussy floral or 'tribal' prints, unflattering designs, too much glitter, horrible cheap fabrics. Marks and Spencer - what can I say? I no longer shop there.
     I just walked round Debenhams - racks of unsold horrors still left over from their sale - purple and jade green floral tents in shiny nylon, stretch sequin body-con mini-dresses, baggy lurex animal print tee shirts, acrylic electric blue studded cardigans. What were they thinking? Who on earth wears the Star by Julian Macdonald clothes - hookers?
     I used to like some of the Jasper Conran, John Rocha and Betty Jackson designs for Debenhams, but no more.

White Stuff

     I can only recommend one brand in Debenhams: - Mantaray.  Fabrics are usually soft, nice colours, patterns and styles are flattering and comfortable. Nice pull-on jersey dresses, tunics, skirts a good length.
     Mantaray is a bit like White Stuff, which has similar styles but a bit more expensive. - I like their clothes, but their knitwear goes a bit bobbly, and tee-shirts can lose their shape.
     Most high street shops are totally hopeless. Too skimpy, too girly, too cheap-looking. River Island, Top Shop, Warehouse, Oasis, H & M, Miss Selfridge and these days, Next - all out. What else? Hobbs, Jigsaw and Whistles - occasional nice things but expense. East, Phase Eight, Wallis and Laura Ashley - frumpy. Coast, Karen Millen, L K Bennett, Monsoon - too dressy, Reiss and Mango - small sizes. I'm not wearing something marked XL.

Noa Noa

Desigual

     So, what do I like?  In terms of stand-alone shops, I always look in Noa Noa. Their clothes are a bit expensive, but they have some flattering styles in good colour ranges. Jigsaw, worth a look but expensive.
     Most of the brands I prefer are available in better department stores, for example Fenwicks, or John Lewis, House of Frazer, but ideally, I like a good independent shop.

Seasalt

     I recommend the following: Great Plains - very reliable, Desigual (Spanish) sometimes a little too wild, a bit skimpy, and quite pricey, but funky. Bohemia - this Scandinavian brand is quite hard to find, but highly recommended. Masai (Danish) - a bit pricey, Sandwich (Dutch), Seasalt (Cornwall) - I love the seaside feel of this brand. Nice Things (Spanish) - great vintage-inspired fabric designs, lovely colours - no English website.
     Anway, you get the idea.
     I still very much like vintage, but not top to toe, and nothing that I wore the first time round!
     I never tire of a good mooch in TK Maxx......
     Basics? Am currently a fan of Tu at Sainsburys for plain cotton tops and jeggings. Step well away from Gok's lines though - enough static electricity to power the National Grid.

The Church of England should be disestablished - now.

Sorry guys - this was going to be a fun post about fashion but now it is going to get all furious and ranting about the the need to disestablish the Church of England.
     I have just been watching the news and apparently the Church is now saying that gay men can now become bishops if they agree to remain celibate and 'repent' of their homosexuality.  Wow, that is really big of it. Add this to the nonsense about women bishops and gay marriage and this is getting ridiculous.
      Have just been watching 'conservative' church persons frothing and foaming about the appalling possibility of any sort of gay man becoming a bishop. But never mind those insane attitudes, why does the church think it is making any concession to liberality by expecting gay men to remain celibate, and what exactly are they supposed to be repenting of?
     All this would be very unpleasant, but merely a passingly disagreeable business affecting a small minority of the faithful if the Church of England was an independent - and increasingly irrelevant - sect.  As an openly sexist and homophobic organisation it would probably get done for flouting anti-discrimination legislation, and rightly so.
      However, as things are now, as the established church it is part of the governing structure of our nation. Our monarch is the head of the Church. Bishops are still entitled to sit in the House of Lords and participate in the legislative process. Us lot are supposed to look to the Church for moral leadership.
      Why are we giving continued support to this institution with attitudes from the Dark Ages?
       Why are we giving this stuff prime coverage on the national news?
     Not good enough, says the Bombastic Battleaxe.

What would improve this country in 2013? Let's have a rant...

Bombastic Battleaxe has a good old rant:.This is just a brief list of things that I'd like to see happen... Some are big things, some small, some possible, some very difficult:

1. For us in this country, both government and people, to have a realistic understanding of our current place in the world.  We are no longer an internationally significant power, and it is time we gave up posturing on the world stage, and in particular, supporting the world view of the USA.  I acknowledge the manifold virtues of our Brave Troops, (one would get vilified beyond belief if one didn't) but they should not be risking their lives for so little.
     Likewise, we are never going to be a wealthy country again. Our time is past.  It is no use our government telling us that we have to go through short, or even medium-term austerity in order to 'recover'. We need to be taking a hard look at what needs to be done to preserve the fabric of our society into the future, safeguard the vulnerable etc.
2.  No more Page 3 girls in the Sun. For goodness sake, have we not yet got past that?  When did 'feminist' become a dirty word?  It was hard enough being a young girl back in the 60s and 70s. These days, there is even more pressure to have the right shape, the right hair, the right clothes, the right phone - and never a single wisp of body hair.... Sexism is still rife in government, the media, in industry - throughout society - and embraced by the major religions.
3.  Get rid of these incompetent, money-grabbing private companies who are making millions out of pretending to get work for the jobless. There are not enough jobs available, and the number of low-skilled jobs is falling, and will continue to fall. We choose - rightly - to have a basic welfare safety-net that does not permit our fellow citizens to starve to death on the streets before our eyes, meaning that our menial, low-paid jobs will inevitably be taken by people from other countries who do not have such a safety-net. It would help if people trying to get back into work were not dealt with so stupidly by the benefits system. We need a more flexible system of tapering down benefits for low earners, and it is far too easy to employ people on insecure, short-term, no guaranteed hours contracts. We can't expect people with families to support to put up with conditions like that - of course they will stay on benefits.
     What to do?  Give the work creation money to small enterprises to encourage them to employ more people, restructure the benefits system as above, and above all, do everything possible to skill up the population.
     At the very least, we must ensure that as many people as possible are literate and numerate. It is estimated that around 20% of UK schoolchildren are functionally illiterate and innumerate when they leave school. Despite constant tinkering with the education system, these figures have apparently not changed much in 20 years. I don't know whose fault it is, but it is utterly disgraceful.
4. Stop building on flood plains, stop people paving over their frontages.  Apparently wet weather is here to stay - well, until it gets dry again. I never again want to see some suit from a water company standing in a dried-up reservoir telling us there will have to be a hose-pipe ban, when they have invested absolutely none of their obscene profits into improving water storage, infrastructure, or stopping leaks.
5. Stop hitting on the poor and vulnerable with ill-thought out benefit cuts. Get a fairer tax system. If we do want decent education, an NHS, and to look after the old and vulnerable etc etc. then the money has to come from somewhere, and the better-off have to cough up their share.  We have all been deluded by successive governments into believing that we can have everything we want without paying more tax.  Well, we will have to pay.
     Universal benefits are unsustainable.  No free stuff for better-off pensioners, no child-benefit for better-off mothers etc. Sure, we won't like it, but the good times are over. While we are at it, we need to ensure that the young are saving for their pensions, or society really will collapse.
6. Get the government some decent advisers.  Who on earth are they employing these days? I dislike the Coalition intensely, but it does no-ones credibility any good to utter a load of nonsense one day, and have to change it or retract it the next. Fuel panic and 'jerry-cans in the garage', pasties, grannies, selling off forests, the mess-up around gay marriage - the list goes on. And those are all small things. What about big strategic decisions? Or probable lack of strategy - most 'policy' seems to be addressed to the short-term.
7. Do something about packaging! It is just after Christmas, so my fingers are smarting from wrestling with shrink-wrapped, bubble-packed, heat sealed stuff. There is altogether too much nasty plastic and unnecessary cardboard. It is a waste of resources, and far too much of it is impossible to get into.  How do old people manage? I know this is a small beef compared with the others, but it is so annoying.  Don't get me started on light bulbs...
8. Let something horrible happen to our red-faced, arrogant toff of a Prime Minister, and his nasty, smirking little side-kick, the Chancellor.  I know that won't happen, but one can hope.......

Let's say No to Tesco in Ore

Tesco has applied to open an Express Store in the empty Oddfellows pub in Ore Village. This is a bad business.
Last night we went to the well attended public meeting.  Two people were there from Tesco - one a 'Communications Consultant', and the other a young woman who had been working for Tesco for only six months.  Neither of them put up a remotely convincing performance, and clearly neither had done their homework about the local area.
I have seen places where the addition of a new national chain 'local' store can enhance the quality of shopping and hence the footfall.  Ore is not such a place, for the reasons listed below.
The objections to a Tesco in Ore are clear:
1.  The site is not physically suitable. The old pub is jammed into the 'V' of the junction of the A259 and Fairlight Road, surrounded by double yellow lines, bus stops etc. Deliveries would increase congestion on already very busy roads, and there is no parking provision. Tesco clearly do not expect customers for the new store to arrive by car, but they will try - and park illegally, causing yet more congestion and safety hazards.
2. The community is already very well-served by the existing Ore shops, and by the Co-op. Tesco would sell nothing different or extra.  The Tesco representative said that most Express customers come from within a 500 metre radius of the store - i.e they walk there.  There is only a finite population within 500 metres of Ore Village, and presumably they already use the Ore shops. Logically, then, any trade for the new store will be taken away from existing shops.
3. The 'get out of jail' card of 'creating 20 jobs' has already been played by Tesco. In fact, given that existing stores would either have to lay off staff or close altogether, the net jobs gain would probably be nil.
4. It was conceded that the principal competition for the new store would be the Co-op. However, the Co-op is part of a trusted national chain with high standards of ethics.  Over the years it has built good links with the local community, and above all, it is a good store with an excellent range of goods for its size. It even has a car park, on its flat roof. There is no good reason for allowing Tesco to attack the Co-op through meaningless, cut-throat competition. Also, as a national chain, Tesco is known to have lost its 'edge', and to have taken some poor strategic decisions.  It is not easy to trust what they say.
5. The Tesco representatives were asked what the new store would bring to the community.  All they could come up with was some general flannel about food banks in other stores (using goods donated by customers, I assume), and giving £500.00 to local charities. Even if they had done a shred of research about their proposed catchment area, they would know, for example, that it includes pockets of high social and economic deprivation. It should not have been hard to tailor their flannel accordingly, and showed that for Tesco, commitment to community regeneration does not run deep.
6. Clearly, the local community does not want Tesco. A  petition with nearly 2,000 signatures was handed to the Tesco representative.  It would be interesting to know the population of the stores proposed catchment area.....

However, Tesco does not have to apply for planning permission to use the pub premises, only for minor alterations to the building.  It will be easy for the Planning Committee to accede to Tesco and nod this through.
     Clearly, something has to happen to the empty building, which is now becoming run-down. In the ideal world, it should be a pub again - a community owned cafe-bar?  Or maybe the Library could move into the building?  I know these things cost money, which people do not have....However, Tesco is probably the worst use possible.  It would be better to knock the whole building down and make a car park.

Golden Rules for running a successful small shop

When it comes to shopping, Battleaxe knows her stuff.  In addition to life-long shopping, she also ran a vintage clothes shop in Birmingham, Retro Bizarre.

     This list underpins the choice of the top shops in Hastings and St Leonard's, which appears on Hastings Battleaxe.

1. Advertise opening hours clearly, and stick to them consistently

Make sure opening hours are clearly listed outside the shop, and are consistent with those listed on websites, in local guides etc.  Once hours are listed, stick to them. If staff have to leave the shop unattended during opening hours, avoid the 'Back in five minutes' notice on the door. Instead, the notice should show the time the shop will re-open. If you have changed hours for holiday periods, make sure these changes are advertised clearly and well in advance.

2. Have a sensible pricing strategy

Unless you sell something very necessary and specific, you want to attract browsers into your shop, and to convert browsers into buyers. Enough items in the shop must be at a price that an average browser in the area will readily pay for an impulse buy.. People enjoy buying things, they will feel good about the shop if they do buy something - then they will get to know you and return for more expensive items. We are not talking about running Poundland here, but too much overpriced/expensive stock is a recipe for failure. On the other hand, don't have too much reduced/sale stock constantly on display - people do like a bargain, but it also looks a bit tired and desperate. Make sales infrequent, and special.

3. Control stock

Shops with too little stock on display are daunting, and unappealing to the browser. Too much stock is just as bad.  Too much money is tied up in it, you can't display it properly, and it is confusing for the shopper.  Given too much choice, they often leave with nothing. Vintage shops are often bad at this. If shoppers have to struggle to look through tightly packed rails, clothes get damaged, and people lose heart. Make sure stock on display is renewed/changed round sufficiently often to keep customers interested.

4. Make the shop, and the stock, pleasant and easy for customers to navigate.

If you have a clothes shop, make sure it is warm enough for shoppers to want to try things on.  Have enough mirrors and a comfortable changing space. Display stock so customers can access it.  Make sure everything has a clearly marked price, and for clothes, the size.  Have a seat or two available - and definitely have a 'man creche' if you sell women's clothes. Give people space to browse - for example, don't display cards right by the shop door, or in a narrow passage. Make sure shop, stock and staff are clean, and all smell nice.

5. Ensure staff are 'customer aware'

All customers should be greeted when they enter the shop, and staff should then ascertain if they want something specific, or would prefer to be left to browse. Staff should be knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the stock, friendly, accessible, but not intrusive. Staff should not chat to their colleagues, friends, or on the phone to such an extent that customers feel ignored, or as if they are intruding. Customers like it when staff remember them from previous visits - they will often choose small shops over big chains because of the personal factor.

These things sound simple, and don't cost money. Very often, small shops don't do them. Such shops come and go quickly in areas like Hastings and St Leonard's - the margin between success and failure is small.

Hastings Recycling falls short

What can be so difficult about providing a brown recycling bin?

In Birmingham, where we lived until recently, fortnightly garden waste collections were part of the standard Council service. When we moved to Hastings earlier this year, we called the Council and asked for a brown bin. It would apparently cost £40 per year on top of our council tax, and we were put on a waiting list for a bin to become available.

As, after several months, no bin appeared, I called again. A nice young man said that there were 60 households in front of us on the waiting list, and that 'If we are very lucky' we might get a bin in March 2013, when ‘a few people might give them up’. It appears that there is only limited capacity to collect and process the contents of brown bins.  Realistically, then, it will take years to get through that waiting list - getting a council house would probably be easier.  I was astonished - what kind of service is this? 

In 2010/11, Hastings recycled or composted 26% of its household refuse. This percentage is low when compared with neighbouring Rother, at 44%, and Wealden, at 42%.  The Council website explains these figures are partly due to differing levels of composting household garden waste. As the other areas are less urban with more gardens, they produce more garden waste for recycling, which increases their overall figures.  However, the website does not mention that Brighton and Hove, a much larger and far more densely populated urban area than Hastings, still has an overall higher recycling rate of 28%. 

In July this year the Observer reported that Hastings had the worst fly-tipping record of any authority area in East Sussex.  It is not so bad here where we live in Clive Vale (and where there are many brown bins), but in other parts of town it is common to see unsightly and smelly heaps of garden rubbish just chucked over people's fences on to verges, or open ground.

If people do not have access to a brown bin, the only way of disposing of garden waste is to take it to the tip. That’s all very well for able-bodied people with their own transport, but impossible otherwise.

Thinking about the tip leads me on to my second recycling gripe.

Earlier this year a new household waste recycling tip opened at Freshfields, in St Leonard’s, replacing the interesting but somewhat third world set-up we had before. In the publicity, much is made of the fact that the new facility is cleaner and more modern, there is no queuing, there is no need to climb steps to dump things in skips and so on.  All this is very true and very commendable.  A visit to the new tip is indeed much easier, there is no smell, no tottering mountains of refuse to negotiate, no huge lorries reversing alarmingly across the site.

But there is a problem - no provision for members of the public to access recoverable goods, either via a charity store or, as at the old site, an informal buying-point run by the crusty old tip geezers.  There are plenty of desirable items and, given the range of disposal opportunities around, it always surprises me that people still dump perfectly good stuff at the tip – but they do.

There used to be an old metal container hut full of exciting things – garden items, furniture, kids toys – all sorts.  I couldn’t resist it. Over our first few months in Hastings I acquired: a brand new two-drawer filing cabinet, a set of wooden shelves, a Victorian plant pot stand, three old terracotta chimney pots, a half-barrel planter, other assorted garden containers, a pair of long-handled shears, a dustbin and a big pile of Beano comics for my grand daughter. 

The metal hut disappeared back in May this year.  I asked the blokes why it had gone, and after much grumbling and sucking their teeth, they said that the tip was moving across the road, but that there would be a new charity store, which pleased me.  However, at the new site there is nothing, and I can't even see any facility for buying the bags of soil improver made from our garden waste.

The site is run by Veolia for East Sussex County Council.  I called them up.  Another nice young man told me that there are no plans for a charity store at that tip, even though 'most other facilities have them'.  Why not us?

For me, picking through the items on offer always provided an incentive to go to the tip, and if I found something – a little reward. I am sure that was true for many others also - a good thing in itself.  Most important, though, all the good reusable stuff is now vanishing out of reach into the shiny new skips, just to increase the volume of landfill. Moreover, the stuff could be raising money, either for the Council, or better still, for a charity.  Even a few quid going straight into the pockets of the staff would be better than nothing. 

Finally, enabling things to be recovered, recycled and reused would mean that people could acquire items that they might otherwise struggle to buy.

I am going to start a campaign to get us a tip store.

Visit Hastings Battleaxe for more stories.
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The Good Scone Guide to Hastings

                               

What can beat a fragrant, warm, fresh scone, thickly spread with butter and tangy jam?  A scone to be eaten, of course, in a cosy, welcoming cafe with a good cuppa on the side. 

A home-made scone strikes me as very Hastings – slightly old-fashioned, very English, individual, unpredictable, crumbly and irregular, a bit crusty, definitely a bit fruity. What better excuse to visit the local cafes and tea-shops?

Talking of fruity, I started my Scone Survey along the Old Town sea-front, and the first thing I saw was a huge glittery silver winkle, standing proudly on a traffic island. It’s the emblem of the Hastings Winkle Club, an old-established fishermen’s benevolent society. Apparently members are required to stand and ‘Winkle Up’ when challenged.  Must be quite a sight.....

This wasn’t getting the scones buttered. The sea-front road is usually jam-packed with folk come to see the sights, visit the pubs and eat Hastings fish and chips.  It is not good scone territory here – too fishy. 

The handsome, bronze-tiled Jerwood Gallery has a glass-balconied gastro-cafe with a great sea view. Possibly it sells hand-created, directional scones along with foodie things like gravadlax and gourmet fishcakes served on little wooden planks. You can call me mean, but I wasn’t paying another entrance fee just to check on their provision of bakery goods. The paintings are well worth a visit, though.

Beside the Jerwood is our first real cafe - Eat @theStade, with big sliding windows opening onto a sunny outdoor seating area.  They do good tea and coffee, nice cakes and home-made biscuits, but when I looked in – no scones on sale.

I headed inland, along the picturesque Old Town High Street, where one of my favourite cafes, The Land of Green Ginger, is tucked away between the half-timbered buildings. It has a little sheltered garden out the back, where green tables are surrounded by plants (and gurgling drainpipes).  I like to look up at the Old Town ‘behind the scenes’ jumble of crooked roofs, old chimneys, tiny windows, balconies and staircases.  Inside, the cafe is popular with Hastings mums, who cram their huge 4 x 4 baby buggies between the tables, making the place a bit hard to negotiate.  The lunchtime food is excellent.  I particularly recommend the twice-baked cheese souffle – but, tragically, on my survey visit – scones were sold out.

I was now getting anxious, and hurried round the corner to George Street.  In good weather this quaint street is full of people sitting outside the waist-line busting selection of cafes, pubs and restaurants. 

A board outside the Green Cafe: ‘We specialise in scones,’ caught my eye, as did another beside it, advertising a genuine Italian Gaggia coffee machine.  I expected a huge shiny hissing monster with ‘Gaggia’ in huge chrome letters across the front, but the discreet modern version just sighed elegantly, while producing excellent coffee. The cafe owner proudly listed four kinds of scone: plain, cheese, sultana, and the variety I chose - cranberry with blueberry.  It was fabulous – warm from the oven, crusty on the top yet soft inside, with a good fruity tang.  While the decor in the cafe is a bit strange – it must have been a butcher’s shop or something, because it is all covered in white tiles - it is friendly, warm and welcoming. High marks here.

I was now too full to visit ‘Cafe Unwind’ across the road, which sells tea with two home-made scones, cream and jam, all for £3.30 per person.  This looked delicious and is excellent value, but I reluctantly had to leave it for another time.

No scone hunting expedition would be complete without a trip up in the lift to the West Hill Cafe.  I never tire of the lifts – the little Victorian cars, the scary view down to the bottom as you rattle slowly up, passing the other car on its way down. Just be careful to avoid queuing behind a huge party of French school-children. 

The terrace of the West Hill Cafe has easily the best views in Hastings, and probably, the best for miles around.  Looking across the lichen-covered roofs of the Old Town you can see the open greenery of the East Hill and the Country Park.  Far below, the boats sit in a row along the fishing beach, and you can watch the ant-size people in the amusement park, on the miniature railway, the go-karts, and bouncing on the trampolines.  Mostly, of course, you can survey a vast expanse of sea, with distant ships processing slowly past.

Despite its unrivalled location, the cafe itself is wonderfully ramshackle – I am astonished it has not been taken over by Jamie Oliver to be turned into a foodie destination.  The plastic tables on the terrace are cracked and rickety, and hopeful seagulls wait on the battered iron railing, clattering their beaks expectantly.  Milk and tea come in those classic English cafe metal jugs and pots that pour their contents all over you and the table.  The tea and coffee is good – if you can get any into the cup. On the day I visited with my husband, scones were on sale, but unfortunately they looked stale, so we shared a very tasty date slice instead.

In Hastings new town, we chose the popular Cafe des Arts in Robertson Street as our scone sampling destination.  It is a social enterprise, staffed by people on the Autistic Spectrum, and sells a variety of interesting pottery and art-work as well as food and drink.  When we arrived, the scones were not quite out of the oven, so we settled down to wait, in big leather armchairs. The coffee was nicely served on fancy white china with a little biscuit on the side.. In a few minutes, a fabulous smell drifted across the room, and a cook emerged from the kitchen with scones on a wire tray. We watched eagerly as two were carefully arranged on a plate with butter and s little pot of jam.  The lady in charge gestured towards us... our mouths watered.  The grave-faced waiter, concentrating hard, picked up the plate and marched straight past us, with never a glance in our direction. He deposited the plate on a table at the farthest end of the cafe and disappeared from view.  When our squawks of distress brought two more scones, the wait was worth it – they were fantastic. Very high marks here, even with the eccentric service.

A brisk walk along the sea-front brings us to St. Leonard’s, and Smith’s Cafe, along Grand Parade just past Warrior Square.  They have a couple of tables outside, but you have to look across the busy main road to see the sea.  A big blackboard on the wall advertises a selection of meals. The cafe has an excellent atmosphere, and I enjoy the eclectic mix of reading matter, including, for example, high-end design magazines, in Italian, dating from the 1990s. Coffee is excellent. When we tried the scones they were fresh, but a little crumbly. It was hard to spread butter and jam without them falling apart.  High marks for the cafe, and good food generally, but only average scones.

Strolling along the front from Smith’s, you pass the fabulous 1930s Art Deco ocean- liner building, Marine Court, and then the shops and art galleries under the Regency colonnades.  These colonnades are part of what is known as Burton St. Leonard’s – Britain’s first planned sea-side town - designed by James and then Decimus Burton in the 1830s.  The Post Office Tearooms cafe is tucked away beside an old Victorian pillar-box, and the fine display of knitted cakes in the window gives a good indication of the quirkiness inside.  Philip and David, who keep the cafe, pride themselves on producing home-cooked, fresh food using local produce.  A fresh scone appeared from the kitchen, fresh, warm, but plain.  “They only produce plain scones at the Ritz”, Philip told me firmly. “If it’s good enough for the Ritz, it’s good enough for us.”  The scone was indeed Ritz standard, but I do like a bit of fruitiness....

So, room for one last scone destination  – a surprise here – the cafe at the Hastings Garden Centre on the Bexhill Road.  Yes, I know it’s a bit out of the area, but it is very handy for a visit to the tip….The cafe itself is not inspiring, and fills up with the most senior of Hastings’ senior citizens, enjoying their cut-price pensioners’ meals.  However, the scones, made fresh every morning, are so exceptionally and outstandingly good that they gave me the original idea for the Scone Guide.  In warm weather, you can sit outside among the plants, and enjoy the company of the friendly tortoiseshell Garden Centre cat.

I know I have left out many excellent places, and that new cafes keep appearing all the time. This piece can only give a flavour of Hastings through a sample of its cafes – and the scones they sell.

What is the final verdict for best scones?  In first place, it must be Hastings Garden Centre.  Joint second, Café des Arts and the Green Café in George Street.