The Best Fish and Chips in Brighton

Heaven is eating chips on the beach! Image: Janet Cameron

Everyone should go there.

The best fish and chips shop is actually in Hove, and it's called Chippy Chips.  If coming from Brighton, then you go past Hove Lawns, and along the little parade of shops.  It's on the same side of the road as the King Alfred, more or less opposite the Sussex Inn. 

The best chips ever. Crisp and crunchy and consistently good. These people used to run the fish and chip shop in Church Road not far from George Street. It was great then and everyone missed them when they moved towards the sea front.

But now we have found them again.

They're not expensive either.  You can get cut price fish and chips on Tuesdays and Thursday, £4 for your meal, not bad.

They also do home made fishcakes, vegetarian burgers, chinese rolls and loads more.

YUMMY!

A Grim Search of Brighton's Coastline by Lifeboat and Helicopter

Last evening, just after dusk, I went for a walk along Hove seafront, in the direction of Brighton. 

The West Pier, copyright Gareth Cameron

There was a boat with searchlights drifting along the near the shoreline and soon I came to a coastguard's van. As I walked on, a man hurried up to me and asked if I had spoken to the coastguard. I hadn't. When something is clearly under control, I don't bother anyone, as I feel those involved have enough to do without having inane questions fired at them from outsiders.

But the man who approached me knew what had happened. He  told me that someone from the flats opposite had seen a man, who was very agitated, running up the beach. He walked into the sea just as dusk was falling. He was fully clothed. No one would go swimming in a cold sea with dusk falling, least of all fully dressed, so it was clearly a suicide. A bereavement, a divorce, being dumped by a partner. Who knows what was going through his mind?

The trouble is, the man explained, it's hard to find someone in the sea, because not only does the tide here go in and out, there is also a strong drift to the east.  Then there are the two piers, the wrecked west pier, and the Palace Pier with its fairground and arcades. Bodies can get caught up in all the debris beneath the piers.

Later, besides the boat  (all I could see of this were lights and a searchlight back in front)  a helicopter scoured the coastline, travelling east, then west, slowly looking for any sign of a body. It was, I think, too late to expect to find the person alive, although I suppose, you never know.

How sad that he felt the need to do it, and also that he couldn't bring himself to find solace in a friend or family member.  Of course, a few miles to the east, close to Eastbourne, there is Beachy Head and there have been two suicides there just recently, where desperate people have thrown themselves off the clifftop.

As the man said goodbye, he mentioned that probably the body would be found by a dogwalker in the morning. "It's usually the dogwalkers who find them," he told me.  I feel sorry for anyone who finds something like that, and can only admire those whose job it is to do the searching.

I will be very careful in future of my friends. It's so important to watch out for signs of despair, and maybe a sympathetic chat and a little bit of kindness, can help someone pull through the darkest of days.

Royal Albion, Brighton - the Hotel with a Self-Operating Lift

Sir Harry Preston (1860-1938) bought the Royal Albion Hotel in 1913 after it had been closed for around thirteen years and he entertained many famous people there, including the Prince of Wales. He was knighted for his support of charities and sports in 1933.

Now some people believe that the ghost spotted in the Royal Albion Hotel might be Sir Harry Preston, businessman and philanthropist, who was born in 1860. Sir Harry's ghost prefers to hang out near the Sir Harry Preston Function Room. Doors mysteriously open and close, apparently by themselves, and there are sometimes chilly, unexplained draughts. It's also claimed the lift has been known to ascend and descent when there's no one around to operate it. The ghost of Sir Harry makes itself visible mostly on Sunday evenings, and he's easy to identify because he wears his smart bowler hat.

The Marlborough Hotel, Kemp Town, Brighton - Poltergeist of the Butcher's Daughter

Ghostly activity at the Marlborough Hotel in Princes Street is so intense that it received a visit from the Paranormal Society. One of the visitors, a psychic, said she could see the apparition of a woman in a black dress and wearing jet-black beads. This was thought to be the ghost of Lucy Packham, according to a report in the Argus dated Monday 30 October 2000, which described the brutal murder of a young woman by her husband in a fit of rage.

Thomas Packham, the publican at the Marlborough Hotel, was a thug and was violent to his wife and children. On 2 March 1900, a Dr. Ross was called to the Marlborough Hotel to find Lucy Packham dead. Lucy, the daughter of a butcher, had married Packham in 1888 and the couple had three children. The cause of death was found to be serious bruising to the head and body, and, as confirmed by the post mortem, cerebral haemorrhage.

Thomas Packham was charged with murder, and witnesses gave evidence of his brutality and verbal abuse towards his wife, for example, he had once even hit her with a heavy stewpot. It was reported how he had flung her into a seven-foot-deep grave-like pit before he ended her life. The jury was composed entirely of men and, after Thomas Packham reported how "dirty and idle" his dead wife was, he was found guilty of manslaughter instead of mruder. He received four years' imprisonment and reportedly served only three, a paltry punishment for his crime. 

Lucy was just thirty-two (or thirty-six in some reports) and it is no wonder the poor woman still cannot rest. Many customers claim to have felt Lucy's presence, and witnessed the activity of the poltergeist she has left behind her. The manager, Sue Kerslake, detailed these activities as playing around with lights and switching off the gas on the beer taps.

The poltergeist of Lucy also sweeps bottles off a shelf behind the bar and twirls lampshades. The landlady often has a strong feeling of being watched. "I've never seen her properly," she said, "just fleeting glimpses when I've been on my own. When I thought about it, as she was beaten to death by her husband, she probably didn't like men too much. She's more comfortable with female company. It's not scary because she isn't nasty and she's been here a lot longer than me anyway."

Sue always warns new members of staff about the hautning and, although no one has yet declined employment, most are too terrified to enter the cellar. One employee, Paula, of St. James's Street, didn't believe in ghosts until she began working at the Marlborough Hotel in 1998. "I've known Sue for a long time," she said, "and she's not the sort of person to make things up. Sometimes you do feel there's someone in the bar with you, even if you can't see anyone else in there."

Originally, the Marlborough Hotel was known as The Golden Cross Inn and was formerly a coach house. It was renamed the Marlborough Hotel and Theatre in 1850 and was once owned by someone called Henry Witch, who died in 1906

Why I'm Reading The Sun in the Sunshine

Sunday 8 September and this was the view from where I was sitting in the lounge of the Royal Albion Hotel. There's Brighton Pier to the left. The hotel is past its sell-by date yet still has its special atmosphere of faded glory.  It's a nice place to go if you're on your own. 

Just before my first Brighton Christmas, I helped one of the staff put up the Christmas decorations and it was great fun. We never stopped laughing. Also used to meet friends here, although they are all doing different things now. (Something I said?)

So, happy memories.

A nice glass of white wine in front of me and a free copy of The Sun to read as the real thing streams through the window, what's not to like?  

The Sun is the only newspaper left, which is why I'm reading it.  Most people in a semi posh venue like the Royal Albion wouldn't be seen dead with The Sun. I got used to buying it when I was working in Adult Ed. helping people with learning difficulties. I used to have to buy easy-read newspapers so I could make learning materials out of the articles. 

Actually, I quite enjoyed reading it again, even though I wouldn't have gone out and bought a copy.

I still prefer the Guardian, the Independent or the lovely concise little i newspaper.  Especially since the latter is only 20p and 30p on Sundays. (Unless you can pick up a free copy at The Royal A.)

The thing with the Royal Albion is when you're fed up of the paper, you've still got the view.

Brunswick Square, Brighton ~ Another Great Festival

Copyright: Janet Cameron

On the weekend of August 17th, 2013, there was a festival in one of our local squares, Brunswick Square. Everybody likes festivals in Hove, so it was packed in spite of a grey day. Included in the celebrations was some fine belly dancing from local young ladies, while bunting festooned exciting pitches selling gorgeous gear and fabulous food. 

Copyright: Janet Cameron

Disco Pete, who is eighty-plus, is always in the paper and turns up at any event of note to strut his stuff. Everyone loves him to bits.  The youngsters have trouble keeping up with him!