Hastings : 1926 And All That
necessitating the stand to be built on a series of interconnecting concrete posts plunged deep into the hillside . As for the seating accommodation , this consisted of wooden benches attached to the concrete tiers , with access gained by three stairways spaced out along the front of the stand . Dressing rooms were contained within , ingress and egress being available via a central tunnel , as was the usual practice . Sidney Little , had it been his own project , might have opted for a more modernist looking roof , perhaps even a cantilever one , which really would have been an architectural marvel , but nevertheless , at a cost of close to £ 6,000 ( roughly equivalent to £ 500,000 in today ’ s money ), council officials were quite correct when they described the grandstand as one of the finest in southern England .
Photos : Vince Taylor
Opposite Page : A news cuttings marking the opening of the grandstand in April 1926 Above : Three modern-day views of the grandstand showing the grandstand towering over nearby housing , the concrete supporting posts and the wooden bench seating
Hastings & St Leonards were controversially ousted from the Pilot Field in 1948 by Hastings United , a newly formed professional club elected straight into the Southern League . At the same time , speedway was introduced to the Pilot Field in the shape of Hastings Saxons , who joined the British League Division Three . The track was remodelled , with banking raised at each end , and a series of lights standards were erected around the oval to illuminate the track . Despite attracting large crowds , which raised the possibility that the crude terracing opposite the grandstand would be properly concreted , speedway at the Pilot Field ceased after two seasons following complaints about the noise from local houseowners . Instead of being removed , the light standards around the speedway track , of which they were sixty , were fitted with 1,000 watt bulbs and pointed towards the football pitch . Starting in 1951 , matches were played under these rather unsatisfactory lights on an intermittent basis until the 1964 , when a more orthodox set of eight lattice pylons was installed . Maintaining professional football at the Pilot Field proved to be a financial
5