Winkle Island is a

traffic island A traffic island is a solid or painted object in a road that channels traffic. It can also be a narrow strip of island between roads that intersect at an acute angle. If the island uses road markings only, without raised curbs or other physical ...

at the heart of

Hastings Old Town Hastings Old Town is an area in Hastings, England roughly corresponding to the extent of the town prior to the nineteenth century. It lies mainly within the easternmost valley of the current town. The shingle beach known as The Stade (the old Sa ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It is part of a unique area in Hastings called '

The Stade The Stade is a shingle beach in Hastings Old Town, Hastings, East Sussex, England. It has been used for beaching boats for more than a thousand years. It is now home to Europe's largest fleet of beach-launched fishing boats. The word '' stad ...

' (the old Saxon term for 'landing place') and the stretch of shingle beach from which Hastings' famous fishing fleet has been launched every day for over a thousand years. Winkle Island is located at the foot of All Saints Street at its junction with Rock-A-Nore Road at Hastings seafront. The small island is part of many outdoor events and festivals, such as the Hastings Old Town Week, and

Jack In The Green Jack in the Green, also known as Jack o' the Green, is an English folk custom associated with the celebration of May Day. It involves a pyramidal or conical wicker or wooden framework that is decorated with foliage being worn by a person as part ...

. It is also the symbolic gathering place of the

Winkle Club The Winkle Club is a charitable organisation formed in 1900 by Hastings fishermen to help the under-privileged families of Hastings Old Town, in East Sussex, in the south of England. The Winkle Club headquarters, located at the Fishermen's Inst ...

charity, as well as other local artistic events and street performances. A sculpture of a giant winkle, a marine gastropod, stands on the pavement. It was made by a member and given to the club by J. B. Jones. It is used as a collecting box for charity purposes.

Gallery

Image:danceinwinkle.jpg, Dancing on Winkle Island Image:wisland2.jpg, Town crier File:Winkle Island.jpg, View of Winkle Island

References

External links

Hastings Old Town Carnival
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