The Big Pathwatch is the biggest ever on-the-ground survey of English and Welsh rights of way. This ambitious campaign aims to build a national overview of the state of our path network. The Ramblers wants to gather reliable, consistent data about frequently encountered path problems and the severity of these problems.

While rapid undergrowth in summer and mud in winter can be addressed relatively easily with a pair of secateurs and sturdy boots, other issues are not so simple to overcome. Lionel Pringle, Treasurer of the Rother Ramblers, said, “Broken and difficult to negotiate stiles and footbridges, excessive use of barbed wire and blocking of paths with farm machinery and various forms of detritus can deter the average walker. The Big Pathwatch should help pinpoint any of these problems in our area and bring them to the attention of East Sussex County Council, who have a legal responsibility to ensure that our public rights of way are accessible.”

The Ramblers hopes the survey data will highlight patterns of footpath problems within and across different highway authorities. This is particularly important as continued central government cuts to county council funding have seen many areas direct resources away from rights of way maintenance.

Volunteers spread out along the beach from the Stade to the Pier, armed with litter pickers, rubbish bags and gloves. By the end of the morning, Clean Seas Please reported that 10 full and several part-filled bags had been returned, while people continued clearing the beach well into the afternoon, all the way through St Leonards to Grosvenor Gardens.

Clean Seas Please volunteers were pleasantly surprised by the state of the beach, not finding as much litter as they expected.  Volunteers reminded each other that each piece of plastic or rusty metal was one less risk to birds, fish, animals and other beach users.

But participants did have a bone to pick with dog owners, as canine faeces featured rather heavily along the shore.  Jessica Fay, from Clean Seas Please, said, “Dog poo is a tragic sight to spoil any location, whether it's on the pavement, in the local park or on the beach. It's not hard to simply put it in a bag and in one of the bins along the beach.” Dog faeces contains a large amount of Escherichia coli (E. coli), one of the things tested when measuring water quality.

Last year, when the Environment Agency warned that Hastings beach might fail the new water quality tests, Hastings Borough Council and community groups including Clean Seas Please sprang to action. As well as the movement to clean visible litter from the seafront, Southern Water has undertaken an extensive programme of sewer investigations and improvement work, while Hastings Borough Council has focussed their efforts on cleaning up the stream that flows into the sea at Hastings beach.

The stream, which runs through Alexandra Park, was one of the sources of pollution in previous water quality tests. “We found that some houses were wrongly discharging waste water into this stream because of bad plumbing, and this has now been corrected,” explained Council spokesperson Kevin Boorman. “And we are taking action to enhance the quality of the water by improving its natural filtration, through the use of reed beds.” Hastings Borough Council is now “optimistic” that Hastings will meet the new bathing water quality standards in 2016.

Clean Seas Please thanked the volunteers who attended the beach clean, as well as more than 300 people who shared the event on social media. Jessica Fay noted, “Raising awareness is the first milestone for our campaign and support like that makes it all worth it.”

For Pauline, this adventure includes time painting in the little studio at the bottom of her garden. She cites Helen Oxenbury, Michael Foreman, Inga Moore and Barbara Firth as influences, and she hangs Quentin Blake illustrations on her walls. Pauline is also inspired by the natural landscape, getting out for long walks around Hastings and the “truly wild” places of the Peak District and Yorkshire when she can.  Her pencil and watercolour illustrations appear in Glenda Quinnell’s The Tooth Recycler, as well as Pauline’s own Find and Seek Trails, a series of Hastings walks with clues and puzzles for children to solve. She is typically modest about her publications, but they have been popular among customers. Her sweet pictures of mice are also much-loved by her friends and colleagues, who hope she can find a publisher for them. Pauline also has plans for art shows, craft projects and charity events.

But the Hastings Children’s Library will always hold a special place in her heart. Pauline still remembers the shiver of excitement she felt when she first picked up The Snowman by Raymond Briggs back in 1978. “At that moment I just knew that sharing the love of stories and illustrations with children, being able to encourage them to read for pleasure and introducing them to new authors and illustrators was what I wanted to do. Imagination fuels discovery, invention and creativity. That’s why the library service is so vital. It’s not just about the books, but the expertise, the encouragement, the enthusiasm you find there.” Indeed, I think. These are qualities Pauline has in abundance.

I ask Pauline if she has a message for all the people she’s inspired over the years. “Where did all the time go and how can I possibly be old enough to even contemplate it?” she says. “Thank you to everyone, staff and customers, who have made my almost forty years at the Children’s Library so wonderful. I hope I have instilled a passion for stories in several generations of children. Keep reading, everyone!”

A new adventure challenge takes Hastings Castle as its starting point and ends at Cape Wrath Lighthouse on the northwest tip of Scotland. It’s a distance of over 700 miles as the crow flies, or around 800 miles by the most direct road route.

But the North by Northwest 800 Challenge (NNW800) is not a race and there is no prescribed route. Nor is it focused on endurance, strength or Bear Grylls-style wilderness survival - in fact, it is open to walkers, motorcyclists, vintage car enthusiasts, mountain or road bikers, horse riders, skaters and anyone in between.

Instead, the challenge encourages participants to use the experience to document their journey in a short film or photo essay and create a unique, cross-section portrait of England and Scotland.

Forthcoming taster sessions will be held in Hastings (Tilekiln Rec) from 10am on Sunday 18 January and Battle (Battle Sports Centre) from 11am on Sunday 25 January. Anyone keen to take part needs to wear suitable footwear for grass or 3G (artificial turf), appropriate clothing (tracksuit bottom and a top) and bring a bottle of water and a positive attitude. There will also be a sign-up evening from 7pm on Saturday 31 January at Riley’s Sports Bar in Hastings.

Its not just on the pitch that the club is looking for new members. “We need people to help on the sidelines on the chain crew, coaching assistants, camera operators, statisticians and so on,” said Mr Boorer. “Without these people, teams wouldn't be able to run. We are also on the lookout for new shareholders.”

The Conquerors is a fan-owned, co-operative club, which means all supporters can purchase shares. Each shareholder owns one share and thus has one vote when it comes to decision making time. “It's our shareholders who make us the fantastic club that we are,” said Mr Boorer. “They are a great bunch of people who really are keen to see the club grow and flourish. We have shareholders from the UK to Norway and Hong Kong too, which just shows you don't have to be a local to get involved!”

A share costs £30 initially, but the club recently made the decision to drop annual renewal costs to £10. The club hopes this will encourage more fans to continue their membership. Shareholder Liaison Officer, Clive Raines, said, “The club wants to keep its supporters engaged for years to come and build on its current strong standing.”

For more information about playing with the club, email [email protected]. To find out more about shares contact [email protected].

ESCC’s factsheet about the consultation says the council is "not proposing any changes at the moment" to countryside management. "As with all services provided by the county council, we are constantly reviewing how they are managed," said Cllr Carl Maynard, lead member for transport and environment.

However, Mr Pringle argued that the council’s current maintenance of public rights of way is inadequate. "A meagre staff and even more meagre budget" designated by ESCC to rights of way has meant paths are becoming "increasingly difficult" to use, said Mr Pringle. 

"The upkeep of these footpaths is right at the bottom of the heap when it comes to county council priorities," he said. "2,000 miles of rights of way in our county are under serious threat."

Public rights of way include public footpaths, bridleways and byways. These are subject to the same legal protection as all other highways, including trunk roads. As our local highway authority, ESCC has a duty to protect the rights of the public to the use and enjoyment of paths in the Hastings area. The council is legally responsible for maintaining the surface of paths, including bridges, and keeping them free of overgrowth. Public rights of way around Hastings can be found on the ESCC website and on Ordnance Survey’s Explorer Map 124.

The survey can be accessed here and a paper copy is available from local libraries. The survey is available in large print, Braille and languages other than English by calling 03456 080 193 or emailing [email protected].

Is there anything cosier than sitting by a log fire, maybe after a brisk winter walk, sipping a mug of piping hot mulled wine? Possibly. Nevertheless, it is one of my favourite things about winter in the UK!

You can get mulled wine pre-mixed in a bottle or you can get sachets/bags of spice to add to your own wine, but making it from scratch is easy.  For a non-alcoholic tipple, use fruit juice like orange, apple or grape instead of wine. The following recipe produces an exceptionally fiery brew, so adjust according to your tastes.

I discovered while researching different mulled wine recipes that there is a large contingent of people who don't like mulled wine at all. Are you one of them? Explain yourself!

Youth groups, schools, charities and community organisations were nominated for awards by members of the public, and winners included Respond Academy, aGender and Pestalozzi. Individual award recipients included two members of South East Movement, for victory in the Hastings Got Talent contest.

Tenzin Dophen, a Tibetan student who attends Sussex Coast College Hastings and is sponsored by Pestalozzi, was recognised for his work with the Students for a Free Tibet campaign. "It is very encouraging and motivational to be recognised in Hastings for our work to spread awareness about the plight of Tibetans living in Tibet,” he said. “I was really glad to see the support from the Hastings locals and also lots of cultures and talents represented. Together, we strive to create a better world through mutual understanding and respect amongst people from different backgrounds and cultures.” 

Exciting performances kept the audience entertained, with cheerleaders from South East Stars and poets from the Bangladeshi Association both enjoying the spotlight. Local band Watertight played during the intermission and closing acts.

Lauren Fry from HYA partner Sussex Coast College Hastings, said, “The Hastings Youth Awards is a great opportunity to celebrate the success, bravery and determination of the young people in our county and we are proud to be linked to such a prestigious awards evening.” Other partners for this year’s awards included Hastings and District Interfaith Forum, SPARK and Many Voices One Hastings.

I’m sitting in the window at the front of Hastings Library, staring at the rain, headphones on, deep in a good book. I’m not reading, but listening to a young man who, in 2012, got a call at work.

“I said, ‘No, it’s fine, you can tell me over the phone’ . . . I just wanted to crack on with my day . . . There was a pause and they said, ‘You are positive, you do have HIV.’ And I’m sat there at my desk thinking, You need to control this, there are people all around you, they’re your colleagues . . . For a split second you almost don’t think it’s actually happening, this phone call isn’t quite real.”

I am there with him on the precipice, imagining myself at my own desk, in my own workplace. How would I react? His narration makes me feel it in my gut, in my heart. This is not the strange word I vaguely misunderstood when I was a child in the 1980s, it’s not the academic papers I read at university, it’s not a poster in my doctor’s waiting room. This is someone just a few years younger than me, living and working somewhere in Sussex. His HIV+ diagnosis feels urgent, immediate.

Speaking Volumes is a project that aims to combat misconceptions and ignorance about living with HIV. Project participants attended creative art and storytelling workshops, then recorded their stories. These fifteen recordings are inserted into hollowed-out books and illustrated with participants’ artworks, each book displayed on the Speaking Volumes shelf. The volumes are broken into chapters, or audio tracks, based on themes such as diagnosis, treatments and side effects, sex and relationships, work, spirituality, isolation and support.

Visitors to Hastings Library in October could take a book from the shelf, a set of headphones from the box beside it, and listen to diverse life stories of Sussex-based men and women living with HIV - aged from their 20s to their 80s, parents, people with disabilities, hailing from the UK and around the world. “The project was particularly relevant to Sussex,” says Speaking Volumes Project Manager and Director Alice Booth. “It's an area where there is higher prevalence of HIV than the national average - especially in Brighton and Hove, but also in Hastings.”

The project was inspired by human libraries, where people who have encountered stigma or oppression can be “borrowed” to talk to a member of the public about their experience. “I thought this was a great idea and would be a brilliant thing for HIV positive people to do,” says Alice Booth. “But I was aware that the stigma associated with the condition meant that lots of people who would like to share their story would be reluctant to appear in public.”

Sitting in the library under a sign saying “HIV stories”, amidst posters encouraging me to get tested for HIV and booklets with numbers to call for HIV support, I get a tiny hint of what that stigma could be like. There’s nowhere private to turn and wipe my eyes when I hear from people who saw almost all their friends dying around them in the 1980s, about people disowned by family members, from someone who was deported from Taiwan for being HIV+ and has been living apart from his partner ever since. I feel exposed.

However, for every negative experience in Speaking Volumes, there seems to be a positive. While the deeply personal stories resist neat narratives about progress, one of the overarching themes to emerge is the extraordinary change in attitudes towards and treatments of HIV in the UK over the last three decades.  “The general public, I feel, still do not realise that HIV is no longer a death sentence,” says a participant named Scott. “They need to be educated . . . people need to know.”

The installation at Hastings Library marked the project’s first East Sussex exhibition location. Abigail Luthmann, Equal Access Manager for ESCC libraries, says, “For libraries, stories are what we are about - factual or fictional. Listening directly to someone’s own story is a very powerful way to understand a different perspective and experience of life. As some of the participants are East Sussex residents we are particularly pleased to be able to host it.”

Hastings Conquerors American Football Club was established in April 2013 to take local interest in the sport to the next level. As newcomers, the team has just undertaken what is known as an associate season to prove it is financially viable and capable of fulfilling fixtures and hosting games. Now, with the 2014 season almost over, the club’s plans and financial records have been submitted to the national governing body and the team hopes to enter national competition in 2015.

As well as trying for the national spotlight, Hastings Conquerors wants to expand local interest and participation through its community and youth programmes.

The club recently teamed up with Bexhill College to bring 10 free American football training sessions to students. Hastings Conquerors Chairman Chris Chillingworth hopes the Sport England funded sessions are the beginning of something bigger. “We would absolutely love for Hastings to become an American Football town here in the UK,” said Mr Chillingworth.

The Bexhill sessions are giving coaches a chance to warm up for the Conquerors’ youth programme, set to kick off in January. The programme will be open to boys and girls aged between 16 and 19, offering teenagers a chance to attend regular training and possibly entering into a league. Luke Boorer, the club’s Commercial Manager, noted, “This is just the first step. We want to make the sport of American Football a complete family affair.”

Hastings Conquerors was the first co-operatively run American football club in the UK (the Aberdeen Roughnecks have recently followed suit). Mr Boorer explained, “This means we are owned by our fans, for the fans, by the fans.”

A share in the club can be purchased for £30 per year, and shares are limited to one per person. “One owner, one share, one vote,” said Mr Boorer. “No one person can ever own the club.” Shareholders choose a committee to see to the day-to-day administration of the club, with bigger decisions voted on by shareholders themselves. “We’re very proud of the way we operate,” said Mr Boorer. “I think our club is run in the best possible way.”

American Football is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK, due to the NFL’s investment in the sport in this country. Hastings Conquerors and Sussex Thunder represent the South East along with three teams from Kent and five in the London area. There is also a national universities competition, won last year by Brighton Tsunami.

Hastings Conquerors would like to hear from locals interested in volunteering, playing or coaching – regardless of their level of expertise. “Most of our players, when they started, knew very little about American Football,” noted Mr Boorer. The club also want so set up a discount card to help connect shareholders with local businesses, and would like to hear from interested businesses.

Get in touch (down)!

• Find Hastings Conquerors online: Website / Facebook / Twitter
  
• Volunteer, play or coach: [email protected]
  
• Business links: [email protected] or 07946 449 378