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TOURING : CITY BREAKS
BRIGHTON AND HOVE FACTFILE
Brighton Wheel
1. Brighton Marina is one of the largest in Europe, covering
128 acres of water and berthing around 2,000 yachts.
2. Volk’s Railway opened in 1883 and is Britain’s oldest public
electric railway.
3. Opened in 1910, the Duke ofYork’s cinema is the oldest
operating picture house in the country.
4. Brighton’s Sea Life Centre is the world’s oldest operational
aquarium.
5. A number of celebrities live in Brighton and Hove, including
TV presenter Julian Clary, Olympic skating champion Robin
Cousins and former middleweight boxer Chris Eubank .
North Laine
BRIGHTON ROCKS
Culture buffs, naturalists and seaside lovers are guaranteed
a good time in Brighton and Hove, says Don Jolly
B
righton and Hove is one of
England’s youngest cities,
having been honoured with
that status in 2000. It is also
the only city to feature two
former towns in the title.
For centuries, Brighton was no more
than a tiny fishing village known as
Brighthelmstone. It wasn’t until the 18th
Royal Pavilion
30
century that it appeared on the map, after
Dr Richard Russell from nearby Lewes
championed drinking and swimming in
seawater as good for your health.
Georgian terraces sprang up along the
seafront and Brighton was soon the hip
place to visit, attracting the likes of the
decadent Prince Regent (later King
George IV), who liked Brighton so much,
he bought a farmhouse and converted it
into a villa. It later became the Royal
Pavilion, his fanciful palace by the sea.
Combining Indo-Islamic domed
and minareted architecture with
Chinese-themed interiors, especially
in the richly-decorated banqueting and
music rooms, the Pavilion failed to amuse
Queen Victoria, who sold it to the town.
It is now the city’s prize asset.
Across the Pavilion Gardens, the Dome
Theatre was once the Pavilion’s stables and
now hosts big names in music and comedy,
while adjoining it is Brighton Museum and
Art Gallery (closed Mondays except Bank
Holidays). Among its varied collection is
Salvador Dalí’s celebrated sofa modelled
on Mae West’s rouged lips.
BRIGHTON HIGHLIGHTS
Other excellent museums in the city
include the quirky Booth Museum of
Natural History (closed Thursdays)
in Dyke Road, and Hove Museum and
Art Gallery (closed Wednesdays) in
New Church Road, which has an excellent
toy collection as well as an interesting
display on Hove’s role in early film
making. Preston Manor, on the northern
edge of the city, is also worth a visit if you
want to glean something of the ‘upstairsdownstairs’ Edwardian way of life.
If you are planning a winter visit to
Brighton, the Pavilion has the added
attraction of an outdoor ice rink on its
lawns from early November to mid-January,
with its domes and minarets making a
www.caravanclub.co.uk
wonderful floodlit backdrop. There’s also
a restaurant and bar from where you can
watch the action in comfort.
Walk through the Old Steine (the
fishing village’s original site) and you
come to Brighton Pier, the last surviving
of three such structures. The first, the
Chain Pier, stood close to where the
present one is now, but was destroyed in a
storm in 1896. The West Pier joined it as
a Brighton landmark in 1866 and became
famous as the centrepiece for Richard
Attenborough’s 1969 film, Oh, What a
Lovely War. It closed in 1974 and, since
then, storms and fires have left its bare
bones detached from the shore, waiting,
ultimately, to be consumed by the sea.
In the meantime, Brighton Pier, or
Palace Pier as it was originally known,
continues the seaside tradition with a
variety of slot machines, funfair rides,
fish and chips and souvenir shops.
The latest seafront attraction, the
Brighton Wheel, opened near the pier
in 2011 with planning permission to
remain until 2016. Its 35 gondolas take
12 minutes to complete three revolutions,
providing superb views along the coast and
inland towards the South Downs.
SPOILT FOR CHOICE
Opposite the pier, Sea Life Brighton is an
ever-popular attraction for the young,
while, in the shadow of the Wheel is one
end of the Volk’s Railway, the country’s
oldest functioning electric railway. The
other end is adjacent to the resort’s nudist
Volk’s Railway
beach – hidden behind a shingle bank –
and just short of the Marina with its
extensive choice of restaurants.
This is the part of the coastline closest
to The Club’s site, which is also handily
placed for Brighton Racecourse on the
Downs, with its far-reaching views.
The course offers 21 days of flat racing
over the summer, with its main three-day
meeting in early August.
Back on the seafront, the arches of the
lower promenade between the piers
house shops, bars, cafés, art galleries
and museums. It’s a lively stretch and
on hot, sunny weekends can be very busy.
If the crowds get too much, sit at a bar
with a cooling drink and just watch the
world meander by, maybe listen to some
live music, or watch youngsters playing
beach volleyball.
Between King’s Road, along the
seafront, and North Road is old Brighton,
known collectively as The Lanes, a
network of alleyways, full of interesting
shops and cafés. Avid browsers could
be occupied for hours and it certainly
beats Churchill Square shopping centre,
where you could be in virtually any town
in the country. There’s more great
browsing in the North Laine area,
particularly along the pedestrianised
New Road where the Georgian Theatre
Royal is located, and Kensington Gardens,
and semi-pedestrianised Bond Street,
Gardner Street and Sydney Street.
Along the seafront, beyond the West
Pier’s remnants, the Peace Statue marks
the border between Brighton and Hove,
where there was much Georgian
development, notably at Brunswick
Square, Adelaide Crescent and Palmeira
Square. The statue also marks the start of
Hove’s lawns and broad promenade lined
with colourful beach huts.
The word ‘colourful’ aptly describes
Brighton and Hove, no less so than
during the three-week Brighton Festival
(2-24 May), the city’s annual celebration
of music, theatre, dance, circus, art, film,
literature, debate and family fun. While
many ticketed events may be sold out by
the time you read this, there are plenty of
free events to enjoy.
If you like to be beside the seaside, add
Brighton to your touring agenda.
INFORMATION
For your visit to Brighton, stay at Brighton Caravan Club Site – for
the most up-to-date details, see The Club website. Alternatively,
details can be found on p74 of the
Sites Directory & Handbook
2015/16. To book, call 01342
327490 or see caravanclub.co.uk/
searchandbook.
The site is about two miles
east of the city centre with
frequent bus services running
throughout the day. Alternatively,
largely traffic-free cycle lanes run
from the nearby marina along the
seafront to Brighton Pier and
beyond to Shoreham Harbour.
Lower promenade
May 2015 The Caravan Club Magazine
31