Hastings Old Town Seafront - a photo on Flickriver

Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex, on the south coast of England. The town is located 24 mi (39 km) east of the county town of Lewes and 53 mi (85 km) south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900.

In historical terms, Hastings can claim fame through its connection with the Norman conquest of England; and also because it became one of the medieval Cinque Ports. Hastings was, for centuries, an important fishing port; although nowadays less important, it still has the largest beach-based fishing fleet in England. The town became a watering place in the 1760s, and then, with the coming of the railway, a seaside resort.

The attraction of Hastings as a tourist destination continues; although the number of hotels has decreased, it caters for wider tastes, being home to internationally-based cultural and sporting events, such as chess and running. It has set out to become "a modern European town" and seeks to attract commercial business in the many industrial sites round the borough.

Hastings is situated where the sandstone beds, at the heart of the Weald, known geologically as the Hastings Sands, meet the English Channel, forming tall cliffs to the east of the town (on the left of the picture). Hastings Old Town is in this sheltered valley between the East Hill and here on the West Hill (on which the remains of the Castle stand). In Victorian times and later the town has spread westwards and northwards, and now forms a single urban centre with the more suburban area of St Leonards-on-Sea to the west. Roads from the Old Town valley lead towards the Victorian area of Clive Vale and the former village of Ore, from which "The Ridge", marking the effective boundary of Hastings, extends north-westwards towards Battle. Beyond Bulverhythe, the western end of Hastings is marked by low-lying land known as Glyne Gap, separating it from Bexhill-on-Sea.

The sandstone cliffs have been the subject of considerable erosion in relatively recent times (There was a large rockfall on 04 January 2014): much of the Castle was lost to the sea before the present sea defences and promenade were built, and a number of cliff-top houses are in danger of disappearing around the nearby village of Fairlight.

The context of the January 2014 Hastings Rockfall is that over the previous few weeks the UK has been suffering the effects of a series of exceptional low pressure systems that have swept in from the Atlantic, bringing heavy rainfall and very strong winds. Unfortunately, the onslaught continues today. The consequence has been high levels of damage (and a political fuss about funding for flood defences), and (unsurprisingly) many landslides.

Perhaps the most spectacular event captured on video to date occurred at Rock-A-Nore in Hastings in East Sussex. Most of the coverage (e.g. the Metro and the BBC) has featured the Youtube video.

The beach is mainly shingle, although wide areas of sand are uncovered at low tide. The town is generally built upon a series of low hills rising to 500 ft (150 m) above sea level at "The Ridge" before falling back in the river valley further to the north.

There are three Sites of Special Scientific Interest within the borough; Marline Valley Woods, Combe Haven and Hastings Cliffs To Pett Beach. Marline Valley Woods lies within the Ashdown ward of Hastings. It is an ancient woodland of Pedunculate oak—hornbeam which is uncommon nationally. Sussex Wildlife Trust own part of the site. Combe Haven is another site of biological interest, with alluvial meadows, and the largest reed bed in the county, providing habitat for breeding birds. It is in the West St Leonards ward, stretching into the parish of Crowhurst. The final SSSI, Hastings Cliffs to Pett Beach, is within the Ore ward of Hastings, extending into the neighbouring Fairlight and Pett parishes. The site runs along the coast and is of both biological and geological interest. The cliffs hold many fossils and the site has many habitats, including ancient woodland and shingle beaches.

As with the rest of the British Isles and Southern England, Hastings experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. In terms of the local climate, Hastings is on the eastern edge of what is, on average, the sunniest part of the UK, the stretch of coast from the Isle of Wight to the Hastings area. Hastings, tied with Eastbourne, recorded the highest duration of Sunshine of any month anywhere in the United Kingdom - 384 hours - in 1911. Temperature extremes since 1960 at Hastings have ranged from 33.2 °C (91.8 °F) in July 2006, down to −9.8 °C (14.4 °F) in January 1987. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings

blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/2014/01/04/hastings-rockfall/

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Hastings (show map)

Taken on: July 21, 2008

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Camera: Kodak EasyShare C743 Zoom, f/4.8, 1/561 sec, 6mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Kodak EasyShare C743 Zoom
Aperture:	f/4.8
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/561)
Focal Length:	6mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Landscape
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Center-weighted average
White Balance:	Auto
Scene Capture Type:	Landscape
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0
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