Hastings and St Leonards Observer, Saturday 25 March 1933.

Licensing Anomaly. Why two public houses will keep open later.

Two public houses in Gillingham, Kent, will open until 10:30 p.m. During the summer months in spite of the fact that the Chatham Licensing Magistrates, whose area includes Gillingham, have refused any local extension.

The reason is that these two hostelries, the "Hastings Arms" and the "Mulberry Tree," come under the jurisdiction of the Hastings justices, who have sanctioned the extra half hour.

The result is a licensing anomaly that has no parallel elsewhere in the country. While the other public houses of Gillingham will be closed and shuttered, the "Hastings Arms" and the "Mulberry Tree" will be reaping in rich harvest.

And it is all because of the time, centuries ago, when Hastings acquired the "Manor and Grange neare Jelingham" as a limb of the Cinque Port of Hastings.