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Monday, 01 February 2010 07:41 Last Updated on Monday, 01 February 2010 07:41 Written by Hoboken 0 Comments

I have been lucky enough to see an advance copy of 'The Slow Turning Tide' - the latest of Victoria Seymour's social histories written for the people of Hastings, and I'm delighted to say that I think it's her best yet. Its subtitle, 'Hastings in Austerity, 1946-1954' suggests that a sobering read is ahead and yet, ironically, for people of my generation (I was born, in 1960 and grew up into an age of consumerism and high expectations) there is a compelling romance about tales of rations - of a world where personal initiative and community efforts were necessary for survival.

One of the joys of the book is the selection of excerpts from the work of newspaper editor Frederick Goodsell who, writing under the name of 'Vigilant' represents a voice of Hastings that is still discernable in the more conservative circles of the town today. He comes across, the author suggests, as a combination of Victor Meldrew, Winston Churchill and Mr Pooter. His attitudes, she says, are those of his period and station in life, and a guide to small

town values.

I also found myself chuckling somewhat dourly at a quote from a modern local newspaper reporter who said of 'Vigilant' that... He believed passionately in Hastings and ensured the [Hastings & St Leonards Observer's coverage was thorough and meaningful. You could read his paper years later and get a fair understanding of the town's lifestyle. Goodsell was among the last of his breed.

My, how times have changed!

And yet Hastings, like many small coastal towns, still seems to be going round in circles arguing over the same issues as those Vigilant wrote about - the fate of the clock tower, how much should be spent on seafront lights and flowers, do we want day-trippers (and their money) or do we want to be an upmarket residential town and so on and so forth - but in this lively and intriguing account of the Austerity Years, we also see the town wrestling with the inauguration of the health service, the healing of people, buildings and the economy after years of devastating death and destruction, and doing so despite a seemingly endless list of shortages and bureaucratic obstacles caused by the aftermath of war.

The citizens interviewed for this book tell of family feuds sparked off by the resource-saving rule that wedding receptions may only cater for 50 people, of ladies using ex-RAF maps (printed on pure silk) in place of the sun-tops and bikinis the shops couldn't supply, brides exhibiting amazing initiative with needles and scissors to kit out themselves and their bridesmaids using lace scraps, old nightdresses, parachute silk - even cardboard and coloured crepe paper.

While some elements of Hastings struggled to maintain its charm and respectability, others were revelling in the 'seaside escapades' mood of the developing holiday industry. We meet Donald McGill, whose famous comic (or notorious, vulgar, depending on your view) postcards caused such controversy in the forties and fifties. How's this as material for an obscenity trial:

Flighty girl to bookmaker at a racecourse: "I want to back the

favourite, please. My sweetheart gave me a pound to do it both ways."

We also meet poster girl Moira Knight (later Moira Hornsey) who, by lying about her age at 14, became a prize-winning bathing belle in 1948 and went on to symbolise all that is fun and risque about seaside holidays. Moira, says the author,

now lives in a momento-filled seafront flat, midway between the sites

of the two swimming pools that were the scenes of her early triumphs

Moira's memories of the trials and delights of post war Hastings and McGill's postcards make a stark contrast to the memories of death, heartbreak and hardship related by railway workers and ex-service people, and the notes of caution and care from the likes of Vigilant and Ex-Police Inspector Charles Banks (who has been called 'the real life Inspector Foyle) but by weaving their stories together, Victoria Seymour has created such a vivid tour of the post war years in Hastings that I almost feel as though I was there.

'The Slow Turning Tide' is to be launched in November.

Review originally written for the Booksy Review Forum by Kay Green, administrator of the Earlyworks Press Writers' & Reviewers' Club

Writer, editor and English teacher, Kay Green is a lifelong lover of story in all its forms. Her collection 'Jung's People' was first published by Elastic Press and is now available through her own small press, which is also a club for the promotion of independent writers and illustrators. The club has an online forum for developing stories and poetry and 'enclaves' around the UK where like-minded writers get together for workshopping and discussion, and to organise book fairs and other activities.