Certain areas of the town have always been, how should I put it? ‘rough’ and despite numerous false dawns, investment in infrastructure, buildings and people has never really materialised, even whilst Amber Rudd was the local MP, as poverty intensifies and drug dependency becomes the norm, not the exception. The shops are deserted, as folk have no money to spend on niceties, and the only growth industry at present seems to be shoplifting. It was no surprise however, a few days later, to read the ONS 2023 ‘happiness’ index which ranked Hastings as the second most miserable area in the UK, followed by its near neighbour, Eastbourne, in third.
With a UK average ‘life satisfaction’ score of 7.45, down from 7.54 last year, Hastings scored poorly.
Adur, near Lancing in West Sussex, eclipsed its Sussex neighbours to take the mantle with a dreadful 6.16 score and certain towns, who you would think would be the epitome of sadness, such as Luton and Grimsby, did not trouble the top ten whatsoever. On the other side of the coin, the top ten happiest were made up of places I have never visited which could be a contributing factor as to why I am such a miserable sod, with the Shetland Islands scoring 8.
22 with Na h- eileanan Siar scoring 8.12. So how come the two happiest places in the UK are distant islands off the north of bonny Scotland? It seems solitude, isolation and the biting cold are preferable to being around ghastly people as they live a life that is as old fashione.
