In an attempt to get out of the house in what seems like the longest stretch of Sundays /bank holidays ever, yesterday I made the whole family go on a day trip to Hastings and St Leonards. I had heard St Leonards was the new Hastings, and as Hastings is the new Brighton, I felt we should take a look.
Us Londoners are always on the look out for somewhere we can find an affordable second home or a place to move to when we are old, and the very cheap 6 bedroomed houses (if you live in London) for sale on St Leonards seafront, sounded perfect to me.
After we had endured the trauma of the dog being sick all over the texting teen on the back seat, we thoroughly enjoyed our day out by the sea and of course I managed to sniff out the most gorgeous shop in Hastings old town.
Butlers Emporium was an old hardware shop until March of last year, when experienced shop owner Rose took it over. She had previously owned a shop called Odd (such a great name) in Hastings, but had hankered after the amazing interior of Butlers for a while. She has turned the stunning space into a treasure trove of old and new nick nacks, haberdashery and lovely lovely things (don’t you just love that Ab Fab episode?). She is also a lovely person and filled me in on all the interesting local people and places to go. I told her that the shop reminded me of Story in Spitalfields and of course she knows the owners really well and has worked with them in the past.
Hastings old town is really lovely and well worth a visit if you fancy a day out as there are also lots of great junk/antique shops. It’s worth taking a look at St Leonards too. Norman Road is the area to go to apparently (although we didn’t make it there as the teens had had enough) and the houses are amazing.
I think I may have found the location for our gays and girls boutique old peoples home’!
Butlers Emporium
71 George St
Hastings, East Sussex TN34 3EE
