It’s now been three years since I decided to call St Leonards on Sea home. This small town perched on the East Sussex coast tempted me away from London and, after only a few visits, I made the leap and became a fully-fledged ‘DFL’er (that’s ‘down from London’) - or, as the locals teasingly dub us, ‘FILTH’; failed in London, trying Hastings.
In truth, we are three places in one; in the West, the fashionable Victorian seaside retreat of St Leonards on Sea, in the East the medieval Hastings ‘Old Town’, and sandwiched in the middle, Hastings ‘New Town’.
St Leonards was built as a model town in the 19th Century (Queen Victoria even visited on at least one occasion). After it went through significant decline in the latter part of the 20th Century, like many British seaside settlements, it has been reborn as a cultural hub, filled with bars, microbreweries, restaurants and galleries. It’s like London Fields with a beach, with a community packed full of artists, musicians, sommeliers and every other kind of creatives. I tell everyone that they should come for at least a whole weekend break - there’s just so much to experience.
The ultimate weekend itinerary for getting to know St Leonards
Starting off with wine bars, my two favourites - in the whole world - are here: Collected Fictions, which specialises in natural wines, and - just a stone’s throw away - Graze on Grand, which always has an excellent selection of local English fizz.