Hastings Hookups: Hastings Women Want to Meet

The battle was eight miles away; the action is in Hastings

Hastings lent its name to the famous battle of 1066 without hosting it: the fighting took place eight miles to the north west, at Senlac Hill. What the town did get was a place among the medieval Cinque Ports, a Victorian heyday as a resort once the railway brought the visitors, and a fishing fleet that still works from the beach. Tall cliffs close it off to the east, and the Old Town sits in a sheltered valley between East Hill and West Hill, with the castle ruins on West Hill.

Over the years the town has spread west and north until it merges with St Leonards-on-Sea, which began in the early 19th century as an elegant new town for the well-off, with a public garden at its heart. Ore, Silverhill and Hollington, once villages, have been swallowed up too. All told there are more than 90,000 people here, which is plenty to keep a hookup low-key. If you came looking for dating in Hastings, this is the no-strings kind: adults who want sex without the commitment, whether that's one night together or something more regular.