Brief Overview of Brighton and Hove

Brighton and Hove – More to See, More to Do

The trouble with Brighton and Hove is that we have everything you need for a delightful lifestyle or holiday, far too much to cover in one article. We have stunning architecture, including fine Regency houses and Victorian villas, many now converted into flats or apartments.

We have fascinating old pubs and bars, theatres and cinemas, festivals, street musicians, a seafront electric railway and a Marina that’s like a small self-contained town, also with eating places, modern shops and factory outlets.

There’s also a great choice of good, seafront hotels and frequent bus services that serve the city and other places of interest, like Chichester, Eastbourne, Lewes and Tunbridge Wells.

The Palace Pier and the West Pier

The lively 1722 foot long Brighton Pier, formerly known as The Palace Pier, was opened on 20 May 1899 and its shops, stalls, bars, amusements, music and scary fairground rides throb with vitality. Our old West Pier was built in 1866, but gradually deteriorated over time, despite our best efforts. There were fires in March and May 2003, and in June 2004, gale force winds destroyed the middle of the pier. It is now a skeleton of its former self and people are debating what to do about it. But, strangely, although some say it is an eyesore, other Brightonians are fond of it exactly as it is!

The Starlings Create a Famous and Stunning Display

A famous sight in Brighton features an ordinary, shiny little black bird. Starlings flock over our piers at sunset. As many as 40,000 birds wheel, swoop, dip and rise in glorious formation as the sun goes down in a blaze of red and orange below the horizon. Visitors make a point of witnessing this amazing spectacle. The starlings flock to avoid danger from predators, such as peregrine falcons, but they are also social birds. People believe that they exchange information about good feeding places.

The now-derelict West Pier, Copyright Gareth Cameron

It's a tense moment, waiting for the birds to drop, suddenly and simultaneously, to roost on the piers. Sadly, conservationists fear numbers are beginning to plummet, due to the disappearance of their natural habitat, caused by modern farming practices. Their numbers are increased in late autumn by migratory birds from across the Channel.

The Royal Pavilion and the Royal 'Dirty Weekend'

This distinctive, former residence of the Prince Regent, later George IV, was opened to the public in 1850. The Prince Regent first visited Brighton in 1783. He believed the sea air and seawater would be good for his gout. An additional bonus was that he was free to meet discreetly with his paramour, Mrs. Fitzherbert, well away from annoying London gossip. This, it's claimed, gave rise to the saying, 'A dirty weekend in Brighton.' It's said the King wept when he first laid eyes upon his exotic Palace by the sea.

During WWII, Hitler had his sights on The Royal Pavilion for his future headquarters - once he'd achieved his planned invasion. This meant he left it alone when sending his bombing raids to Britain.

In 1974, Abba won the Eurovision Song Contest at The Brighton Dome, which was built as part of The Royal Pavilion estate.

Our Medieval Lanes

The lanes date from around the fifteenth century and the narrow, winding little streets and twittens are reminiscent of the wealthy fishing village Brighton once was. Although raided and burnt down by the French in 1514, the lanes still follow their original medieval construction. Here, there are quaint, tiny, specialised shops, old inns, restaurants and bistros.

Brighton and Hove, City of Freedom

In Brighton and Hove, young people work out or do Tai Chi on the seafront. Middle-aged men skateboard, old ladies wear flowers in their hair. Two or three elderly ladies regularly bathe as the sun comes up, winter and summer, regardless of the temperature.

Currently, Peter Turner, a pensioner and grandfather of 74 years old has reached the finals of 'The Face of Brighton' talent competition with his breakdancing routine. He’s a regular at the Tru nightclub in West Street and dances until midnight. What’s amazing is that he is in remission from oesophageal cancer, but, according to the Argus newspaper, he was ‘not ready to hang up his dancing shoes yet.’ Peter Turner says, ‘When I am in the club, the girls come over. They used me as a coat rack last Saturday, which I suppose is better than being used as a cat-scratching post.’

Cosmopolitan Brighton

According to the Argus newspaper, the English Language School in Hove said their school had catered for 53 nationalities. Spokesperson Phil Hopkins said: ‘Our biggest groups are Italians and Spanish but we are increasingly getting a lot of students from the Far East, Korea, China and Japan, who need more than one language for careers in business.'

The Royal Pavilion, Copyright Janet Cameron

A Brief History

Once, Brighton was known by its Anglo-Saxon name, Brighthelmstone, or Brighthelm. Brighton was merged in 1997 with its slightly more sedate neighbour, Hove, to become one borough. In the year 2000, Brighton and Hove was, deservedly, awarded city status.

Urban British people started wanting a day out in Brighton when the railways were being built in the 1870s and the bank holiday was invented. Brighton's economy flourished as people were drawn by the health benefits of sea-bathing, using special bathing machines to preserve their modesty.

Today, Brighton and Hove is not so modest! Nowadays, the city is more likely to be described as "London-by-the-Sea." It is as alive, vibrant and as architecturally elegant as England's capital city, with the added advantages of wonderful air and, of course, the sea.

Sources:

"Still swinging" by Anna Roberts, The Argus, November 10, 2010.

"Our 94 mother tongues" by Naomi Loomes, The Argus, November 12, 2010.

Brighton History Centre, Local Studies

Hove Library, Local Studies.