Hastings diaries : Hastings museum & Summerfields Wood walk

When we were visiting the grandparents in Hastings over the summer, one of the places we decided to go for a visit (mainly because it is free !) was the Hastings Museum.

We started off looking around the local history part, which gives you everything from the keys to Hastings Castle to the head of a Guy Fawkes' guy.

I can remember from when I was a child visiting, there used to be a tiger whose eyes would follow you all round the room. This room is now shut to the public, but they do have a wooden stork who does pretty much the same thing !

From here, we headed into the Seaside part and watched a video of the Old Town Carnival from back in the eighties, which we happened to pop up in on the end !

Next we visited the dinosaur exhibition and the kids had great fun dressing up in the costumes and hats !

Well, OK ... I guess I may have got slightly involved too !

From here, we followed on and ended up in the American and Native Indian history section.

Judging by the dates (1890-1990), this commemorative window must have been on display before, but it's the first time I remember ever seeing it.

Sophie soon found the kids' boxes and had great fun trying everything on !

After a quick visit to the museum shop, we decided to go for a walk round the back, in Summerfields Wood Nature Reserve.

You can wander down after visiting the museum but, even though you're still very close to the main roads, it seems like you're in the middle of nowhere.

Our first discovery was something that looked like a little temple or Roman baths. 

It was the first time we had done this walk so we didn't really have any idea where we were going.

But it's very difficult to get lost. We soon discovered the Bohemia Walled Garden, but it was shut so we had to just walk around it.

As far as I can see, it's just like an allotment.

I did manage to pick up a geocache on the way - bonus !

There was plenty to see and we didn't see anybody else at all while we were exploring, which is always a good thing !

There's so much to discover on a fairly short walk just outside of the town centre.

It was the perfect way to while away an afternoon without spending a penny !

Madhouse diaries : A windy walk on Hastings pier

On our recent trip back in Hastings last month, we headed down to the newly relaunched pier, to see what they'd been getting up to. We wandered along from the town to the pier, taking in the views along the prom.

Looking left, in the top photo, all seemed calm, but just turning around and looking along towards the pier, we could see a more threatening weather front coming in. Hmmm would we have time to complete our stroll down to the end of the pier?!

Arriving at the beginning of the pier, I couldn't help but notice how the colours of the sky were imitating the colours of the pier.

While Pierre went up and down on his new scooter, Sophie honed in on the ... what shall we say ? ... slightly dodgy-looking chip-man ! What I want to know is who tied his bootlaces together ?!

We started off our exploration by looking at the wildlife statues.

Since being bought by Eastbourne Pier owner Sheikh Abid Gulzar, all eyes are on Hastings pier now, to see what he has planned. 

There's been lots of criticism, but I'm waiting to see what else he has in store before making my decision. He'd only been involved for about a month when I took the photos, so it's a bit too soon to tell.

Ahhhh a lovely group photo of my oh-so-happy-looking kids !

We moved over to the row of brightly painted beach huts.

The wind was definitely starting to pick up, even if the seagulls didn't seem the slightest bit bothered ! 

 Now, I'd just like to point out that we were all being silly trying on the hats at the photo booth but I was the only one willing to be photographed.

Just a bit further along was a display of old postcards - Sophie soon gave up and took photos of herself with the bunting instead !

You can see from the LGBT Pride flags (blowing all weekend to mark some special occasion, but I can't remember what now !) just how windy it was getting by now, but I was far too busy looking at the different grains of wood on the walls to pay attention. They are all recovered from the old pier boardwalk, from before the fire back in 2010.

At the end of the pier, we glanced to the right and noticed a huge bank of cloud (and probably rain) on the way. We were just about to head for home when I heard a noise and, after some investigation, we spotted a seal in the water - I didn't manage to get a photo of it though.

The end of the pier has several of these signs, with things to spot and read. The kids weren't interested though - they could feel the rain on the way !

Turning back round, we headed back towards the safety (and warmth) of the car, just making it before the heavens opened !