1066 and some of that

We went to Hastings and whenever you mention Hastings most people think of the mighty battle of 1066; it actually wasn’t fought in Hastings, and the Normans didn’t even land there but at Pevensey Beach further along the coast. Hastings itself seems a pleasant seaside town on our brief visit there one evening. We parked in a car park at the east end and walked along by the sea into the town. Then we found a rather splendid pub called the Dolphin, which is a coincidence because our local at home is the Dolphin!

Hastings was on of the Cinque Ports, those important towns defending our shores which faced the continent; the Confederation of Cinque ports was established for military and trade reasons and comprised New  Romney, Hythe, Dover,Sandwich as well as Hastings. There were seven other towns, and many other villages along the coast which formed this chain of defence, but Hastings and the Cinque Ports were the main ones.

Hastings is an old town, stretching back as a named place to Saxon times, Hæstingas, but there must have people living here before then, however they named their village or settlement. We had such a brief time there, and really only saw the seafront, but I’d certainly like to visit again! Oh, and if you’re wondering about the title of this, it is a glancing reference to the book “1066 and All That”, which if you haven’t read you might be amused to do so. it is by  W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman  and subtitled, ‘A Memorable History of England, comprising all the parts you can remember, including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates’