After breakfast, we walked to Hastings by meandering through Alexandra Park, a 109-acre green sprawl of ancient trees, a cafe, tennis courts and ponds, which took us almost all the way. Like many coastal towns, rows of colourfully painted houses charm before you spot the inevitable, but useful, pound shops. Parallel to the seafront, George Street is a pedestrianised part of Hastings Old Town, lined with independent book shops, tattoo parlours, vintage clothes shops and bars. Just past it, Hastings Contemporary is a low-level new build with a gallery space currently devoted to Ethiopian artist Elias Sime, whose pieces include delicate mosaics which turn out to be ingeniously repurposed computer keyboards. There’s a glass-walled cafe with views over the fishermen’s huts and pebbled beach, but we’d booked lunch back in St Leonard’s.
