Bottle Alley
Does anyone else have any memories of 'Bottle Alley'? I think it was on the Promenade and it was a covered walk (built in Victorian times, I believe) of concrete encrusted with bottles, mainly the bottoms, in all sorts of patterns. Some of my family lived in Ore and I used to visit as a child. My other lasting memory is of the beach with the old fishmarket and 'the old man in the tub'. He was something of an eccentric (must have been!) who used to paddle along the front of the Esplanade in a tub or barrel.
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Comments
RE: RE: Bottle Alley
Yes, you're right about Bottle Alley, it ran under the main promenade between Warrior Square and, I think, the Tapestry. It was rumoured that the glass bottles had been collected from the beach but I am not too sure when it was built.
Comment from Tony Gorton on Friday, 28th August 2009.
RE: RE: Bottle Alley
I used to walk along Bottle Alley as a kid, giving my Nan kittens by walking the walls between the pillars on the beach side, there were alcoves too and steps up to the prom, and the odd ice cream seller there too. The chap in the tub in the tub was Biddy Stoneham, and he used to do acrobatics afloat.
I was born in the Buchanan, frequented the Eversfield Chest Hospital, trained as a nurse at the RESH, St Helens and Bexhill, sadly most are no longer there as they are all combined at The Conquest.
I also grew up two miles from where Spike Milligan wrote T'he Dreaded Batter Pudding Thrower of Bexhill On Sea', having lived in Bexhill Road all my life untill 24 when I married.
Happy Days, now getting homesick again...
Comment from Sarah Jones on Monday, 14th September 2009.
RE: RE: Bottle Alley
Thanks Tony and Sarah for your interesting comments regarding Bottle Alley and the old man in the tub. I'm glad to confirm that I had not imagined either of these things.
Sarah, I wondered if you knew my second cousing Vi Fitsell as she worked at the Buchanan hospital and later I believe as a nurse at St Helen(was it a fever hospital?). She is now in a care home in St Leonards on Sea and is aged about 86. Her sister, Marjorie Constable was a Ward Sister and midwife (maybe she delivered you!) It may be that you are a lot younger and were at the hospitals at a much later date. Regards
Diane Dwyer
Comment from Diane Dwyer on Wednesday, 7th October 2009.
RE: RE: Bottle Alley
I had a pleasant surprise whilst listening to 'Live on Saturday' on Sat 20 November 2010 to hear a poem read our by a young woman poet called Selena Godden called 'Under the Pier'. It refers to the Hastings pier (circa 1987) but it mentions Bottle Alley. Does anyone know if any part of Bottle Alley still exists?
Diane Dwyer
Comment from Diane Dwyer on Wednesday, 24th November 2010.
RE: RE: Bottle Alley
I live in St. Leonards, and I am happy to inform you that although the pier has been burnt down, Bottle Alley is still there, in it's entirety! Of course, when it was originally built, there were little shops to buy ice-cream etc and screens could be put up to keep off the worst of the weather and salt spray. Nowadays, sadly, these are no more, and you find yourself side-stepping the drunks and inevitable piles of dog pooh - but the Marina Pavilion, at the other end of the alley from the pier, has been done up and turned into a nice restaurant - worth visiting if you come back! I'll try to get some recent photos up soon, but the weather is currently the usually grotty January in England so I'll wait for a sunny day to take some!
Comment from Sandra Francis on Wednesday, 5th January 2011.
RE: RE: Bottle Alley
I remember being told as a child my grandfather worked for the council and helped with the decoration of Bottle Alley, unfortunately I cannot give you a date on that.
Comment from Kim Burt on Tuesday, 31st May 2011.