By Dave Kent
Shorn: muddy. Den (dene, dean): vale.
If the pathway between Upper Park Road and Upper South Road was once called Shornden Passage, then it was not a name chosen at random by some ancient group of big-wigs under the influence of port, laudanum or whatever. Shornden Wood appears to have covered a fairly large area stretching from part of what is now Alexandra park, up to The Green. The swannery at the Bohemia end of the park is known as Shornden Reservoir. There was also a Newgate Wood in this vicinity, I presume thats how Newgate road got its name. If so, it seems a shame that Shornden Wood had a mere passage named after it when there are some roads in the Bohemia that appear to have been named when the bright guys were taking a toilet break (North Road, South Road, Upper South Road etc.).
SHORNDEN VILLAS
I got most if this stuff by typing "Shornden" into Google. This search also threw up the fact that a photographer called John Blomfield lived at 6
Shornden Villas, Bohemia Road. I suspect that Shornden Villas used to stand on the site now occupied by Lidl and, possibly, some vermin (I have a vague recollection of there being dwellings here when I first moved to Hastings, which was in 1971). The same web page mentions that the Blomfield family home was at 1 Magdalen Terrace, which I think may be tucked away behind Magdalen Road, unless it has suffered the same fate as Shornden Villas. Im sure there are plenty of locals who can clear this up (once they return from the varmint hunt). So, it makes sense that the path in question was called Shornden Passage and perhaps the businesses that use it can put up a sign if and when they erect the gates (perhaps they will call it New Gates Passage).
DOUGLAS BADER’S WALK
There is an alternative. There is a workshop in Shornden passage in which I used to rehearse with a band called "The Twice Amorous Maniac Douglas Baders". Perhaps we could rename the pathway Douglas Baders Walk and simultaneously honour a war hero and a group of musicians who kept the North Star ticking over during 1989.
It seems a shame that this particular walkway will be gated as I find it the least forbidding of the local alleys that I have so far explored (or looked into and decided against entering). The others seem to offer more refuge for footpads, brigands and flashers (not to mention giant tentacled glopmonsters). To be fair to the other paths, I suppose I should venture forth and make a proper survey, but not before my GP has given me every Vaccination at his disposal and I have consulted Ray Mears. The web pages that contain the references to Shornden Wood, Reservoir and Villas are worth reading and most of them appear on the first page of search results in Google.
