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Category Archives: Seaside
Thoughts about Hastings Pier 10 years after the fire
Today is my daughter’s 20th birthday. A decade ago she spent her 10th birthday in the shadow of the still-smouldering Hastings Pier fire. I had been up all night, watching from the White Rock Hotel while our beloved pier was … Continue reading
Posted in Hastings, Hastings Pier, JRS website, Piers, Seaside
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How the money works
I’m going to try to explain the financial package that Friends of Hastings Pier put together as simply as I can. This is both an exercise in extreme transparency and a practice run for some workshops I’m planning about how … Continue reading
Posted in Hastings, Hastings Pier, Jericho Road Solutions, Piers, Seaside
8 Comments
Friends Again!
Friends of Hastings Pier reestablished 2018 Continue reading
Posted in Hastings, Hastings Pier, JRS website, Piers, Seaside
2 Comments
Two Piers and a Lesson for Local Government
Spot the difference. The real difference between the circumstances – which were almost exactly four years apart – is very simple. The attitude of the council. In Hastings it took a long time and a lot of effort to persuade … Continue reading
Posted in Hastings Pier, Piers, Seaside
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Colwyn Bay Pier – next in line and it needs your help
Victoria Pier, Colwyn Bay is *the* important pier to save next. The Pier needs your help, and fast! Continue reading
Posted in Hastings Pier, Jericho Road Solutions, Seaside
Tagged Colwyn Bay, Victoria Pier
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Roller-coaster week
It’s been a roller-coaster week here in Hastings. Since handing over the pier project to Hastings Pier Charity, the White Rock Trust has been focusing on the wider neighbourhood and on the second most challenging building in town – the … Continue reading
Sitting in a ditch watching stars
After a good start with weekly blogs I seem to have fallen into Abeyance. It feels like a ditch I want to climb out of. It’s been a stunning couple of months – which is probably why I feel like … Continue reading
The People’s Piers
I was taken aback by the level of interest in the Bank Holiday launch of my Coops UK Fresh Ideas pamphlet ‘The People’s Piers’. Given the coverage – Guardian, Times, Mirror, Daily Mail, BBC News, ITN, etc – I should … Continue reading
Posted in Hastings Pier, Policy, Seaside
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No resting place but a challenge constantly renewed
“The Great Society is not a resting place… a finished work. It is a challenge constantly renewed, beckoning us towards a destiny where the meaning of our lives matches the marvellous products of our labor.” – Lindon Johnson Not a … Continue reading
A month on the Jericho Road
So it’s been a month since launching Jericho Road Solutions and I’m in reflective mood. I chose to leave a good job at Locality and start out on my own because I want to be directly involved in local transformations … Continue reading
Pier-to-Pier peer learning
I think we just won a competition on the basis of a good pun. But my co-conspirators say it’s because what we’re doing is really important and worthwhile and brilliant. Could be both?! I’ve always been a believer in peer … Continue reading
Posted in Hastings Pier, Jericho Road Solutions, Locality, Seaside
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Ba-Ba-Boom! Huzzah! Wow! OMG! Thank the Gods!
Sometimes when things work out well we can hardly believe it’s because of us. We want to feel the thunderbolt and praise Thor! I’m really pleased that tonight Hastings Pier was saved. This is how I felt when I knew: … Continue reading
Posted in Hastings Pier, Seaside
2 Comments
Compulsory Purchase
Today Greg Clark announced an exciting new piece of guidance but you won’t find it without dogged persistence, or a bit of help. The guidance is designed to help local communities deal with abandoned buildings and irresponsible private ownership of … Continue reading
Back to the Seaside
Getting my fix of seaside towns to re-energise after a hard winter of #communityorganisers and the birth of Locality. Last summer’s Seaside Tour (see earlier blogs) took in Southend, Southwold, Yarmouth, Cromer, Scarborough, Southport, Blackpool and St Anne’s, before returning … Continue reading
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More on #thepeoplespier
Just found these nice pics (30th January 2011) and wanted to share… Have a good look round http://www.hpwrt.co.uk to find out more. This is my daughter. The pier burned on the night before her birthday. Having watched it all … Continue reading
Posted in Seaside
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JUST SAY YES TO THE PEOPLE’S PIER
(as you can tell) I just sent this out by email to a load of people, and now I’m going to infiltrate the Community Organisers blog (just to prove I’m not only a Programme Manager…). If you support local people … Continue reading
STEP up
I’m delighted to be able to say that there has been a great deal of interest in the emerging idea of a Seaside Towns Enterprise Partnership (STEP). An initial draft letter to government has been circulated to some senior figures … Continue reading
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Seasider
Eddie Bridgeman, director of both Meanwhile Space and Seasider, got all shy this week about being featured on the Regen and Renewal website this week talking about the Seasider pop-up shop in Camden. He actually did a great job and … Continue reading
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Seaside Enterprise Partnership
The #seasider tour was amazing. I’m going to try to do it twice a year – there’s still plenty of seaside to talk to. I did some great North Welsh coast trips a few years ago and I’ve had some … Continue reading
Posted in Seaside
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King of the Seaside
“Blackpool is different”. This is the message coming through from all sectors. I’m fascinated by the hostility to Brighton, precocious little sister with an irritating habit of fluking it and marrying a millionaire. Hastings has more right to be angsty … Continue reading
Posted in Seaside
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Spinning Plates 