In December 2025, the podcast team at Hex interviewed local powerhouse Dawn Dublin at Hatton’s Yard, a community space in St Leonards currently trying to remain open despite financial and arguably political pressures. Dawn Dublin set up Black Butterfly as an afro-centric mutual aid organisation in the 2020 lockdown. It was among many other mutual…
Words: Lizzie Beck. Pictures: Tatenda Mikey and Hatton’s Yard. Where I live in St Leonards it is well established that there are as many art galleries as there are coffee shops. Which is actually pretty impressive for a small town. But why is this worth mentioning? Because in six years I’ve been in every one…
Words: Grace Lally. Pic: protests outside East Sussex County Council last year. Elections are being cancelled and opposition groups have been forced to resort to the courts to defend the democratic right to vote. In Putin’s Russia? In Trump’s America? No, this particular anti-democratic stunt is being pulled by our own local councillors here in Hastings and…
Just before Christmas it hit the headlines: we’ve stolen a Native American chief’s headdress. We, as in England generally, but also Hastings and its Museum specifically. Now, I know a Hastings boy did once stain his skin with tea and head out for Canada to pretend to be ‘one of them Red Injuns’. That happened,…