Hastings Pier opening delayed

This Daily Mail article tells the story of what's going on with our pier

(Sea)gulls

There used to be several kinds of (sea)gulls in Hastings, but these days I only see (and hear) herring gulls. I reckon they've chased away the beautiful little black-headed gulls and the striking-looking black-backed gulls.
I give a safety and orientation talk to new students on their first day at English for You. You know, advice like: keep your valuables in a safe place; don't gather in a group that blocks the pavement; use plenty of the free suntan cream on the Lifeguard Beach; think of interesting topics to discuss with your hosts; cross roads carefully, remembering that English people drive on the wrong side of the road, and so on. But now I add something new to the talk:
DON'T FEED THE (SEA)GULLS.
If you break off a piece of your sandwich and throw it on the ground for the gulls, you will immediately see gulls swooping down around you from all directions. And the mother gulls will squawk and scream at you if you go near their beloved enormous babies (the gulls with the brown and white feathers).
Don't even walk along eating a hamburger or an apple. If you do, a gull will swoop down and lift it from your hands.
Yes, these birds should be out fishing. But instead of paddling along in the sea and grabbing tasty fresh fish, they join the human queues at the local fish and chip shops.
The other horrible thing they do is to nest on roofs of Hastings buildings. Their nests block the gutters and cause the rain to travel down the inside walls, causing the walls to be damp.
And guess what: gulls are protected. 
Anyway, never throw a stone at a gull. Not only is it illegal, but also they can scream for their friends and family to take revenge on you.  

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists and Robert Tressell

It's now just over 100 years since  'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists', written by Hastings resident, Robert Tressell was published.

Tressell, whose father's name was Croker and whose mother's surname was Noonan, was from Dublin. He was illegitimate, and his Protestant father, who was sixty years older than his young Catholic mother, and who already had a family, provided for him. But when Robert Croker was 16, he changed his surname to Noonan and left his family because he refused to live on money gained by charging starving Irish Catholic tenants rents they couldn't afford after their families had been driven out of their homes.

He moved to Cape Town, where he worked as a decorator and married. But after the birth of his beloved daughter, Kathleen, Robert Noonan's wife had many affairs. So Robert divorced her and  after the Boer War, he travelled with Kathleen to England and ended up in Hastings.

He was shoced at the low wages and poor working conditions in Hastings. He had to do several jobs in order to survive. The suffering of the decorators he worked with led him to write The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.

The book (originally called The Ragged Arsed Philanthropists) was rejected by three publishers, so Tressell, feeling depressed, wanted to burn it, but Kathleen put the manuscript under a bed. After his death, a publisher paid Kathleen £25 for it. He died of tuberculosis when he was only 40 years old.

The University of Hastings has recently been given the Tressell family papers and is the first dedicated Robert Tressell research centre in the world.

Here's a list from Wikipedia of Hastings places and events connected with Robert Tressell:

• The Robert Tressell Workshop — a publishing concern based in Hastings.
• Robert Tressell Close — a small residential street in Hastings named after the writer.
• Tressell Ward — a political ward in Hastings.
• The Robert Tressell Lectures — a series of annual lectures concerning not only The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, but also other aspects of left-wing politics and sociology.
• Tressell Publications — a small politically based publishing house.
• Robert Tressell Halls of Residence — accommodation for students studying at University of Brighton, Hastings Campus.
• Noonan's Steps - name of a stepped passageway running alongside the author's former home at 115 Milward Road.
• Tressell Ward - a Medical ward in the Conquest Hospital, St. Leonard's-on-Sea