* * 1066.net's 35,000 images and 5000+ pages created and curated over 20 years remain open and largely unchanged as a tribute to its webmaster Ion Castro, who passed away Aug 30th 2018 from cancer. Linking to content is fine but PLEASE get permission if you want to re use anything from here, and thank you. * Ion's obituaries are (Link:) Here
Looking Back with Ion Castro
Looking Back
Historic Hastings
This article first appeared in the Hastings & St Leonards Observer 12th June 2015  Hastings & St Leonards Observer

Pike’s Views and Reviews.

W.T.Pike & Co of 19 Grand Parade, Brighton were better known as the publishers of ‘Pike's Directories’ of Hastings & St Leonards, Brighton & Hove, Lewes and numerous other places, mainly in Sussex but they later expanded into Kent. These directories with their trademark blue covers were often referred to as ‘The Blue Book’ and the Hastings & St.Leonards edition was produced more or less annually from 1877 until it became a casualty of the second World War after which it seems to have been absorbed by the better-known “Kelly’s” which, in the 1970’s, was itself to succumb to the competition, the free ‘Post Office Telephone Directory’. More importantly for our purposes, they were the publishers of ‘Pike's Views and Reviews’ which was part of a series covering towns as far afield as Oxford, Folkestone and Pike publishing’s home town of Brighton & Hove. In Hastings at least there was only ever the one edition, produced in 1897. The book was roughly equivalent to modern day A4 size, and had 64 pages and a card cover.

The information for Pike’s directories was usually collected by door-to-door canvassing and/or by leaving forms for residents to complete and in Hastings at least Pike had local offices, in 1872-74 in Warden Buildings, 1876-77 in Waldegrave Street, and in 1886-88 at 62 Queen’s Road. Pike must have used the information obtained face-to-face to produce what we would nowadays call the “advertorial” content of which the publication is mostly composed and it’s difficult with some pages to know whether it is paid-for advertising or general information. As a source of insight into aspects of the social history of the late 1890’s it is probably unequalled.

Views and Reviews

Views and Reviews
27 Havelock Road, note the top hat being used as a shop sign.

The first 20 pages are of general interest, describing facilities in Hastings and nearby places worth visiting with most of the photographs having been taken by J H Blomfield & Co. Later on nearly 2 whole pages are devoted to Messrs. Blomfield and co’s photographic studios in Robertson Street, complete with illustrations of the reception room and studio. By 1896 a harbour had been planned in the old town and its incomplete remains can still be seen today - Pike optimistically included a view of the harbour as it would appear when operational including the tunnel, shown on the right of the picture that would have carried the harbour railway around the back of Hastings to meet up with LBSC railway near Bulverhythe. As we know complications were encountered on the seabed and the harbour was never completed.

Colleges and schools, boarding houses etc are discussed and illustrated with three pages devoted to Highbury House School in Bohemia road where Bayeux Court is today. Manor House College on the West Hill also merits three pages and Arnold House preparatory school for boys in Holmesdale Gardens merit a page and a half as does Park Mansion, a girls’ school in Chapel Park Road – the large square building near to the station that collapsed a few years ago and has now been completely rebuilt. Details of other schools were also included.

The first 20 pages are of general interest, describing facilities in Hastings and nearby places worth visiting with most of the photographs having been taken by J H Blomfield & Co. Later on nearly 2 whole pages are devoted to Messrs. Blomfield and co’s photographic studios in Robertson Street, complete with illustrations of the reception room and studio. By 1896 a harbour had been planned in the old town and its incomplete remains can still be seen today - Pike optimistically included a view of the harbour as it would appear when operational including the tunnel, shown on the right of the picture that would have carried the harbour railway around the back of Hastings to meet up with LBSC railway near Bulverhythe. As we know complications were encountered on the seabed and the harbour was never completed.

50 Queens Road, D Farroll’s shop dressed for Christmas.

 

The first 20 pages are of general interest, describing facilities in Hastings and nearby places worth visiting with most of the photographs having been taken by J H Blomfield & Co. Later on nearly 2 whole pages are devoted to Messrs. Blomfield and co’s photographic studios in Robertson Street, complete with illustrations of the reception room and studio. By 1896 a harbour had been planned in the old town and its incomplete remains can still be seen today - Pike optimistically included a view of the harbour as it would appear when operational including the tunnel, shown on the right of the picture that would have carried the harbour railway around the back of Hastings to meet up with LBSC railway near Bulverhythe. As we know complications were encountered on the seabed and the harbour was never completed.

Nearly half of the book is devoted to “general trade” with descriptions and in many cases pictures of the trades operating in Hastings at the time. John Bray & Sons, Estate agents, are noted having offices at White Rock, South Colonnade and St John’s Road and it is recorded that Mr John Bray was an alderman for the Borough. The firm is still in existence today. Mr Dick Russell, riding and job master and livery stable keeper etc was operating from St Andrews Mews, today known as St Andrews Market as well as Wellington Mews on the other side of Queens Rroad and Kings Road Mews in St Leonards. Dick moved with the times and a dozen or so years later was operating motor charabancs. At the top of Queens Road part of the building now occupied by the bathroom shop was used by Messrs. Jacob Elliott and sons, manufacturers of artificial stone and of ‘a new patents stone composition’. The whole of that block was a later addition to Queens Road and, to maintain the sequence is numbered 130a, 130b, 130c and 130d unfortunately there isn’t a picture but there is an illustration of number 130, the other side of Stonefield Road, a wine merchants at that time.

Nearly half of the book is devoted to “general trade” with descriptions and in many cases pictures of the trades operating in Hastings at the time. John Bray & Sons, Estate agents, are noted having offices at White Rock, South Colonnade and St John’s Road and it is recorded that Mr John Bray was an alderman for the Borough. The firm is still in existence today. Mr Dick Russell, riding and job master and livery stable keeper etc was operating from St Andrews Mews, today known as St Andrews Market as well as Wellington Mews on the other side of Queens Rroad and Kings Road Mews in St Leonards. Dick moved with the times and a dozen or so years later was operating motor charabancs. At the top of Queens Road part of the building now occupied by the bathroom shop was used by Messrs. Jacob Elliott and sons, manufacturers of artificial stone and of ‘a new patents stone composition’. The whole of that block was a later addition to Queens Road and, to maintain the sequence is numbered 130a, 130b, 130c and 130d unfortunately there isn’t a picture but there is an illustration of number 130, the other side of Stonefield Road, a wine merchants at that time.

Nearly half of the book is devoted to “general trade” with descriptions and in many cases pictures of the trades operating in Hastings at the time. John Bray & Sons, Estate agents, are noted having offices at White Rock, South Colonnade and St John’s Road and it is recorded that Mr John Bray was an alderman for the Borough. The firm is still in existence today. Mr Dick Russell, riding and job master and livery stable keeper etc was operating from St Andrews Mews, today known as St Andrews Market as well as Wellington Mews on the other side of Queens Rroad and Kings Road Mews in St Leonards. Dick moved with the times and a dozen or so years later was operating motor charabancs. At the top of Queens Road part of the building now occupied by the bathroom shop was used by Messrs. Jacob Elliott and sons, manufacturers of artificial stone and of ‘a new patents stone composition’. The whole of that block was a later addition to Queens Road and, to maintain the sequence is numbered 130a, 130b, 130c and 130d unfortunately there isn’t a picture but there is an illustration of number 130, the other side of Stonefield Road, a wine merchants at that time.
Above: One of Dick Russell’s carriages outside St Andrews Mews, now at St Andrews Market

Left: Criterion Dining Rooms, opposite Priory Meadow, and, according to the sign on the window, good beds too.

Businesses in St Leonards are also featured, GS Cruttenden’s dairy at 241 London Road features a photograph and is a significant building, it was in the top flat over the shop, in late 1907 or early 1908 that Robert Tressell (as Robert Noonan) lived with his daughter Kathleen and whilst there probably wrote a large part of his book “The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists” the premises below had become cycle shop at that time.

Ion has a small number of reproductions of this guide, for sale at £12.99 + P&P. They are A4 size, card cover.
email

Nearly half of the book is devoted to “general trade” with descriptions and in many cases pictures of the trades operating in Hastings at the time. John Bray & Sons, Estate agents, are noted having offices at White Rock, South Colonnade and St John’s Road and it is recorded that Mr John Bray was an alderman for the Borough. The firm is still in existence today. Mr Dick Russell, riding and job master and livery stable keeper etc was operating from St Andrews Mews, today known as St Andrews Market as well as Wellington Mews on the other side of Queens Rroad and Kings Road Mews in St Leonards. Dick moved with the times and a dozen or so years later was operating motor charabancs. At the top of Queens Road part of the building now occupied by the bathroom shop was used by Messrs. Jacob Elliott and sons, manufacturers of artificial stone and of ‘a new patents stone composition’. The whole of that block was a later addition to Queens Road and, to maintain the sequence is numbered 130a, 130b, 130c and 130d unfortunately there isn’t a picture but there is an illustration of number 130, the other side of Stonefield Road, a wine merchants at that time.
Interior of the corridor train, - a far cry from today’s packed carriages. This was part of a feature on the new South Eastern Railway corridor train.

Nearly half of the book is devoted to “general trade” with descriptions and in many cases pictures of the trades operating in Hastings at the time. John Bray & Sons, Estate agents, are noted having offices at White Rock, South Colonnade and St John’s Road and it is recorded that Mr John Bray was an alderman for the Borough. The firm is still in existence today. Mr Dick Russell, riding and job master and livery stable keeper etc was operating from St Andrews Mews, today known as St Andrews Market as well as Wellington Mews on the other side of Queens Rroad and Kings Road Mews in St Leonards. Dick moved with the times and a dozen or so years later was operating motor charabancs. At the top of Queens Road part of the building now occupied by the bathroom shop was used by Messrs. Jacob Elliott and sons, manufacturers of artificial stone and of ‘a new patents stone composition’. The whole of that block was a later addition to Queens Road and, to maintain the sequence is numbered 130a, 130b, 130c and 130d unfortunately there isn’t a picture but there is an illustration of number 130, the other side of Stonefield Road, a wine merchants at that time.
Harbour works, September 1, 1896 showing work in progress building the harbour. Narrow gauge railway trains were the “dumper trucks” of their day.

High quality prints of these images can be obtained from Ion - use email address below
Click for top of this page
Click for 1066.net - the 1066 networkPowered by 1066 Country LtdClick for Braybrooke Road Guest BookClick for XL(2000)LtdHistoric Hastings

email