The pier officially opened on Saturday 21st May 2016 with a concert by Madness. Over the pond, they’re that band that popped up with a jaunty little number called ‘Our House’ in the early 80s and then disappeared again. Back here in Britain, they’re one of those evergreen bands like the Pet Shop Boys that have been going on seemingly forever, and still producing new albums that are worth listening to. Despite being a decidedly North London band, they do have a Hastings connection, as Suggs was born here.

The gig sold out five minutes after the tickets went on sale. I missed out on getting any as I was stuck in a traffic jam in Tunbridge Wells during those all important 300 seconds. Instead, I settled for listening to the concert from the balcony of my flat, about a mile and a half away. Even from that distance, it sounded really good.

Others took to watching the concert from their drones. Or just sitting on the beach next to the pier and having a picnic.

So why is the saxophonist in the air. Because that’s what he does.

On a whim, I posted this strip to a facebook group specifically about Hastings, and was amazed by the positive response it got. Not only that, but the local alternative newspaper, the Hastings Independent, got in touch with me and asked if they could reprint it. I like the Independent, it reflects the creative yet ornery character of Hastings in a way that the ‘official’ newspaper the Observer could never do. Of course I said yes. So they’ve published a Smith strip in every issue since. And, goodness, they do a good job of it. Each strip is published in perfect colour, to a standard I could never have dreamed of in my Daily Mirror years. And they print them BIG.

This strip also got to be a Sherpa Choice selection on GoComics. Not bad going for one strip.