Marine Parade Boating Lake

Built in 1933 to plans drawn up by Borough Engineer Sidney Little, the Boating Lake was originally over 330ft across by 230ft wide. Originally there were no railings around the lake and the southern perimeter was delineated from the beach by the Hastings Miniature Railway which was constructed in 1948. Since the installation of amusements and rides in the 1980s at either end of the boating lake, its size has reduced to the present-day dimensions of approximately 220ft by 230ft. Two small islands were constructed in the middle of the lake in the early 2000s^[1].

Prior to World War 2, there was a small children's paddling pool at the west end of the Lake - the pool filling with shingle during the war. Post-war, however, due to maintenance and hygiene issues the pool became disused and was filled in by early December 1952^[2]. The wooden petrol engined boats (powered by a 123cc Stuart Turner engine) were built by a firm in Oxford who also supplied the unpowered canoes, and were reportedly second-hand when they came to Hastings^[1].

Run by the Corporation for the first 14 years of its existence, in 1947 it was leased out to a private enterprise, namely Messrs Lane & Tegg, who at that time were already leasing the Boating Lake in Egerton Park from Bexhill Corporation. There was much dissatisfaction when soon after taking on the Boating Lake Messrs Lane and Tegg almost doubled the price of renting a boat^[1].