The East Hill Cliff Railway — the East Hill Lift — climbs from Rock-a-Nore Road at the eastern end of Hastings Old Town to the top of the East Hill, and it is the steepest funicular railway in the United Kingdom.
The gradient is about 78 per cent — roughly 1 in 1.28 — which is steep enough that the carriages are built as staircases and the track disappears beneath you as you look down it.
It opened in 1902, originally worked on a water-balance system, and was converted to electric operation in the 1970s. It was rebuilt and reopened in 2010 after a lengthy closure.
Short — under a minute — and startling, mainly because of the angle.
The view improves the whole way up: over The Stade and the net shops, over the Old Town roofs, along the beach to the pier and out into the Channel. At the top there is a viewing platform and a café.
Hastings Country Park — 345 hectares of clifftop, gorse, glens and ancient woodland running east from the town towards Fairlight, and one of the best coastal walks in the south-east.
The cliffs here are sandstone, not chalk, and the ground is cut by deep wooded glens — Ecclesbourne, Fairlight and Warren — dropping to the sea. It is a National Nature Reserve, and the combination of heath, woodland and sea cliff makes it exceptional for birds and invertebrates.
The 1066 Country Walk and the Saxon Shore Way run through, and you can walk all the way to Pett Level and Winchelsea.
The Stade — the shingle where Hastings’s fishing fleet is drawn up. It is the largest beach-launched fishing fleet in Europe, and it has been operating from this beach for a thousand years because Hastings has never had a harbour that stayed built.
The net shops: tall, narrow, black-tarred wooden huts, some three storeys, built in the nineteenth century to store nets in a minimum of ground area because the ground was rented by the square foot. There is nothing else like them anywhere, and they are the single most distinctive thing in Hastings.
The Fishermen’s Museum and the Shipwreck Museum, both free.
Hastings Aquarium on Rock-a-Nore Road.
Fish is sold straight off the boats.
Fares are modest — singles and returns, cash and card. A single up and the stairs down is a common and sensible choice: the steps beside the track give a superb view and save the return fare.
Opening: daily in season, reduced in winter, and closed in high winds.
Access: the carriages are stepped internally, which limits wheelchair access — check at the bottom station.
Time: the ride is a minute; allow an hour or more for the clifftop.
Hastings has two cliff railways. The West Hill Lift runs from George Street through a tunnel to the West Hill and Hastings Castle. The East Hill Lift is the steeper one, at Rock-a-Nore, and goes to the Country Park.
Riding both is a reasonable way to spend a morning.
Yes — the gradient is about 78 per cent, or roughly 1 in 1.28.
It opened in 1902, originally water-balanced, later converted to electric, and was rebuilt in 2010.
Hastings Country Park — clifftop, glens and ancient woodland running east towards Fairlight — plus a café and viewing platform.
Yes, steps run alongside the track. Many people take the lift up and walk down.
No — that is a separate funicular running through a tunnel to the castle on the other side of the Old Town.