Me with “Priscilla Mac Bean”

The Lifting of “Priscilla Mac Bean”

Me In One Of Anne’s 1940s Jumpers!

1930s Hat Flicks from Antiques and Art!

Shopping for Fabrics at Wayward in St Leonards!

Tea with Paul in Bexhill!

Hello every-one I’m so sorry I’m a bit behind with my blogs this week but I’ve had a very full week one way and another working down in the Hastings area. In fact I’ve done so much this week I have decided to split my blog into two parts so I can keep you up to date with my news. For those of you who follow me on face book I expect you have already seen many of my photos. It has been all go – and stated last Friday with me driving down to Hastings after my show in Milton Keynes. As you might imagine the traffic was dreadful on the M25 especially going over the Queen Elizabeth bridge. I didn’t arrive in Hastings until 9.15pm having set off at 4.30pm from Milton Keynes!

My reason for being in Hastings was all down to my friend Dee-Day who had engaged me to sing for the “Priscilla Mac Bean” Ceremony and Parade which took place in Hastings Old Town on Saturday 15th November in front of the RNLI station. The Priscilla Mac Bean life boat had been renovated for the occasion by volunteers as a memorial tribute to the Rye lifeboat “Mary Stanford” which capsized in 1928 on the 15th November losing all 17 crew members. I was engaged to sing two hymns at the service “Eternal Father Strong to Save” and “Amazing Grace” after which a minute’s silence was held before the life boat was pulled through the old town by the Blue Watch and the Hastings Bonfire Boys Society. For those of you who live in the South Coast area you might have caught the story on the regional news as it was covered by both the BBC and ITV news teams. The whole town came out to see the Priscilla MacBean as she was lifted and laid to rest just outside the Stables Theatre in Hastings Old Town. A theatre I know very well having played there some years ago. I felt very proud to be invited to take part in the event and afterwards I sang  songs at the reception from the 1920s and 30s for all the people who had taken part in the ceremony.

Of-course I’m no stranger to Hastings Old Town and I first started coming down to Hastings in the late 90s. Most of the shop owners know me really very well. Hastings is full of retro fashion and antique shops and I often like to visit my friend Anne Finch of “Blitz Knitz” who knits all my 1940s jumpers. Anne knits a lot for TV and film and while I was in town I made an appointment to see her and yes you guessed it, couldn’t resist! When it comes to buying vintage clothes the south coast is great for sourcing the best in fashion. While I was in Rye I picked up some wonderful hat flicks at Antiques and Art on the corner of Ferry Road and the lady there told me about a wonderful shop in St Leonards, Norman Road  which is just along from Hastings called “Wayward”. Wayward sell vintage fabrics, buttons and haberdashery a 7th heaven for me and after two hours in the shop (which was far too short) I came out with a large bag of must have fabrics and trimmings for my next project – A Victorian cape!

Perhaps it was just as well I had a show to get to as I could have spent all day at “Waywards” but then I do love the South coast and on this occasion I was able to share my love of all things Vintage with my friend Paul as we enjoyed tea in Rye and “Yesterday’s World” in Battle. On this occasion I stayed at a wonderful B&B called Muffins in Hastings and travelled back on Wednesday night after my show in Bexhill. On Thursday I was singing at Leighton Middle School as I took the children back in time with the music of WW2, but I shall tell you more about that in my next blog

Part two to follow tomorrow – Keep Watching and Toodle Pip!