‘Staying alert’ in Hastings: Are the government’s latest lockdown rules being followed on the beach?
People grapple with mixed messages as relaxation of coronavirus guidance comes as council urges people not to visit, finds Harry Cockburn
Looking out across Hastings seafront this weekend, the sun is shining and the turquoise sea is calm.
A large fishing boat is heading out from the beach, two canoeists paddle past the harbour arm and in the distance several enormous container ships travel west along the English Channel.
Despite the normality of the scene, the beach, which would usually be busy during such fine weather, remains relatively quiet, though numbers are up after weeks of desertion.
“It’s supposed to warm up this week,” says Ray, my neighbour, as I leave my house on Hastings’ West Hill on Friday afternoon. “They say it’s going to be three weeks of beach weather, only we can’t go to the beach.”
“Can’t we?” I reply. I don’t tell him I am in fact on my way to the beach.
“That’s what they’re saying on the telly,” Ray says.
Following the revisions to the UK government guidelines, which came into force this week, visits to the beach do not seem to be a problem – though the issue is not specifically mentioned. The guidance states we may now “spend time outdoors – for example sitting and enjoying the fresh air, picnicking or sunbathing”, and that we can “meet one other person from a different household” while doing so.
While there clearly remains some confusion over exactly what we can and can’t do under the new “Stay alert. Control the virus. Save lives” slogan, many people aren’t hesitating to take advantage of the relaxation of some of the rules.
On Rock-a-Nore Beach near Hastings’ old town, sisters Sophie and Lauren have both travelled from Sevenoaks in Kent with their young children and tell me (from several metres away) it is the first time they have met up since lockdown.
“You’ve got to get out,” Sophie says. “Both of our husbands are key workers. We’re only seeing each other today and that’s it. Both our mum and dad had Covid. They’re fine now, they had it quite a while ago. But if they hadn’t had it yet, maybe we wouldn’t be doing this.”
“But it’s also for the kids,” says Lauren. “They’ve had no interaction with their cousins. They’ve not seen anyone for seven or eight weeks. Can you imagine?”
“Driving down here I did feel like we were doing something almost illegal, but you can drive out to places now,” adds Sophie. “You’ve got to balance your mental health with your physical health haven’t you.”
Further along the pebbles, beneath Hastings’ beach-launched fishing fleet, a family of four from Westerham – just south of the M25 in Kent – tell me they’ve travelled down to the coast on Friday because they think it’s going to be “a lot busier on the weekend” and didn’t want to sit in a traffic jam.
“Both of us are furloughed and we’ve come down for the first time since lockdown was lifted on Wednesday,” says the father, who didn’t give his name. “It’s the first time we’ve been able to justify coming to a different environment. We’ve done so many local walks in our area.”
“The rules haven’t changed much but we are benefiting from the small change that there has been,” the mother adds. “But it’s quite hard to understand the changes. The government website is the only one I’ll read, and I’ll adhere to that because on social media there’s too much grey area and there’s too much personal opinion.”
Despite the clear desire among people to get to the coast, Hastings Borough Council is not encouraging visitors. Most of the shops in the town centre and the medieval old town remain closed save for a few fish and chip shops and grocery stores. The numerous public lavatories (Hastings is particularly well-served in this department) all remain closed, as does the town’s Stirling Prize-winning pier.
Coastguards are not scheduled to monitor those in the water until July as the rollout of the RNLI’s normal seasonal lifeguard service was paused at the end of March due to the impact of the virus, and the service is now only expected to operate at 30 per cent of what it was last year across the UK.
Councillor Kim Forward, leader of Hastings Borough council, says that the town is closed to visitors.
“We love welcoming visitors to Hastings, some of whom return every year to enjoy the fantastic attractions, restaurants and shops our town has to offer. But for now Hastings will remain closed to visitors until we feel it is safe for our town to welcome them again.
“Our toilets are closed across our town as well which is helping to prevent the spread of Covid-19. We are all working hard in Hastings to keep our residents safe and our infection rate is relatively low and we need it to be even lower.”
In the old town one of the few businesses that has remained open throughout lockdown has been Judges Bakery – which has been running since 1826, and allowed to stay open due to its dual function as a grocery store. Two people are allowed into the shop at once, and perspex screens have been erected on the counters.
On Friday mid-morning, a long socially distanced queue is stretching past several shuttered shops on the high street.
Owner and manager Michael Wootton says initially lockdown was “chaotic” for the bakery, “a calm chaotic”, he adds, and explains trade avenues such as providing bread to local restaurants have stopped, while the small shop, which also sells various other foods and goods, has seen an increase in trade.
“Initially your thoughts are ‘How are we going to do this?’,” he says. “It was scary to be honest because nobody knew exactly what was going to happen. But it’s surprising how quickly people adapt. Our staff have been absolutely brilliant and we’ve got such a lovely community down here.”
“Since Monday the mood has changed. It’s a bit more positive. A month ago we were selling the bare essentials. Now people are saying they’ll have four brownies. They’re out for a walk, they’ll have a coffee as well.”
Back on the beach a couple who live in the old town say they are “just basically chilling”.
Marco, a web designer from The Netherlands, and his partner Anna from Germany, a video games artist, have lived in Hastings for a year and a half.
Today they have been “lying in the sun a bit and reading. Coincidentally one of our neighbours was blasting music so we couldn’t sit in our garden, which has been our refuge,” says Marco.
“We’re still being a bit cautious. It’s good that some people are able to work again. We haven’t made any plans to go anywhere.”
Anna adds “it’s boring not being able to go to cafes, but it’s kind of nice having the beach to ourselves”.
One person grateful to embrace the latest lockdown relaxation is actor Danielle Bird, who lives in Hastings and has been out for a walk with a friend for the first time since March, “a great occasion”, she says.
“It’s been really uplifting. We went for a socially distanced walk and I got to see her baby who I’d been apart from at this early stage in his life.
“The lockdown being lifted slightly, for my mental health, has been bloody great. Knowing that dear friends live so close has been really hard, a real battle. I’ve been quite strict because I’m a high risk person,” which she explains is due to suffering from ulcerative colitis.
She had been cast in a stage production of Angela Carter story A Company of Wolves, which was cancelled due to the lockdown. “It’s absolutely gutting, but safety first. Obviously the theatre industry has closed completely and the idea that theatre is about a shared collective experience with the audience – it’s absolutely impossible to do social distancing with that.”
Danielle adds: “I don’t feel like the government advice is clear. I don’t necessarily think it’s the right time to be easing the lockdown, although emotionally I feel so grateful I can sit with a friend and not be moved on by the police or anything like that. But in terms of people not being as sensible as they may be, loosening that too soon is quite scary.”
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