Orbit

Archery Gardens: When Hastings Got an Arrow in the Eye

Posted on 7 July 20259 July 2025 by Hex News Team

Hex News Team Archery Gardens is an almost-completed housing development in St Leonards. It used to have Hastings College on the site, and before that it was Victorian landscaping with some fancy houses. The 117 homes we see now on the site were built by local Battle-based developer Gemselect, in partnership with one of the…

Orbit: emptying and destroying homes during a housing crisis

Posted on 18 April 202524 April 2025 by Merlin Betts

Merlin Betts Hey reader. I’ve gone a bit rogue here and written you a 4,000 word article. I realise in this day and age that makes it less appealing to read. I’ll probably break down parts of it into other shorter articles, but in the meantime this is my best attempt at a proper overview…

Hastings Examiner (Hex for short) is a community news source for Hastings, East Sussex.

We aim to take a deeper look at issues affecting the town, and are more than happy to support community-led initiatives trying to make Hastings a better place.

Have a look around. If you like what you read, check out our mission statement or get in touch via info@hastings-examiner.uk. We’re a voluntary organisation and welcome anyone who wants to get involved.

Everything still under development.

We’re a largely text-based outfit here, so you’re going to find a few poets lurking.

Beginnings

Out of the primordial gooo
A beginning
Birth red and writhe like maggot
On the untrod surface of its earth
Gasp the first untainted breath
Flush lung from liquid’s grasp
And writhe toward your unknown future
All was written from scratched beginnings
Fragments scraped from disparate corners
No truths true but paradox
All logic mere invention
All walls built with nothing but
Bricks and mortar / sand and water
And all sand slips away in time
Structures crumble
Empires fall
And life begins again
Of a new primordial rubble

Oli Spleen, 2000

This section is meant for local poets. Submit your poems to info@hastings-examiner.uk. They’ll be added to our archive and eventually featured here.