St Leonards Frost Parade 2014 © JJ Waller

Warm welcome for the Frost Fair

Christmas came early for St Leonards, in the form of the Frost Parade and Frost Fair on Saturday 28 November. As always on important occasions, HOT’s favourite photographer, JJ Waller, was there to cover the parade, market and general fun. Scroll down to see the day through JJ Waller’s eyes.

The Frost Fair was a fabulous spectacle for St Leonards, and brought crowds of people out to enjoy the parade, the market, the shops and cafes. Congratulations to market organiser, Anton Burton, who organised the Frost Fair, and Marcie Ball of BoBo Flowers who directed the Frost Parade. The day was a great success for St Leonards Business Association – the local traders’ organisation who delivered the day, with support from Central St Leonards Town Team and Hastings Borough Council.

For new readers to HOT, JJ Waller is a Brighton-based photographer who has been documenting the streets of St Leonards for  most of the last decade. His St Leonards-on-Sea and Hastings book was launched on 6 November, the Feast Day of St Leonard of Noblac. Hastings and St Leonards are far from lacking in fantastic photographers of our own, but sometimes it takes an outsider to really get the measure of a town. JJ Waller has quietly engaged with St Leonards and its community and produced a fascinating study of a small town on the cusp of change. His images are often colourful, sometimes quirky, and always insightful.

The photographs in his book will have you doing a double-take. When you live somewhere, it is surprising how much you sub-consciously edit out. Looking at St Leonards through the eyes of JJ Waller will have you falling in love with the town again. It’s the ideal Christmas gift for long-term residents and newbies to the area.

Copies are available in Susan Diamond and SHOP, or online direct from JJ Waller’s website.

Also in: One Long Party