A Different Brighton

Last Sunday I wrote about the annual March for England, the huge police presence in our town and the sudden downpours of rain that - fortunately - limited the inevitable violence.

What a difference a week makes!

Walk around Brighton with me today and see the other side of the city.

To begin with it's bright and sunny, there are blue skies and the temperature is about 15 Celsius (60F). As we leave Churchill Square car park and walk towards the seafront people are wearing a variety of clothes; many people wear short sleeves, some wear shorts, several young guys are bare-chested, proudly showing off their tattoos, but elderly folk are wrapped up in tightly-buttoned layers.

It's Spring Bank Holiday tomorrow and people are determined to enjoy themselves. Al fresco dining is the thing and the famous Regency restaurant on the sea front is busy.

Further along, the children's paddling pool is open and some hardly kids are splashing about in what must be freezing water...the wreck in the background is the remains of the old West Pier after fires and storms have taken their toll.

 

 

On Hove Lawns an elderly woman has exercised her two small dogs and is packing them in her bicycle basket for the ride home. In the background a number of large white tents announce the Foodies Festival where you can taste a variety of freshly-cooked foods, drinks and exotica while listening to live music. Only £12 for entry. No thank you.

I fancy a balloon though, it's a much more reasonable price.

Brighton's beach is pebbly and those people admiring the ruin of the West Pier must have well-upholstered posteriors to sit for long...

Further along, there is a wedding party on the beach. They look a little over-dressed for the location but - hey, this is Brighton!

Now, this is appropriate wear for the sea off Brighton today (wet suits)...

As we head Eastwards towards Palace Pier, the beach gets increasingly busy. The restaurants, cafes, bars and shops are packed, absolutely heaving. This is what a public holiday is like in Brighton (at least for the days when the sun shines).

We pass the 'famous' Fortune of War pub. Some workmen were carrying out repairs at the pub about three weeks ago when the Victorian arches at the rear of the pub partly collapsed and the road above sagged and had to be closed. A couple of lanes are still closed and repairs to the Victorian aches in Brighton's seafront area has been estimated at tens of millions of pounds.

Of course that doesn't worry these teenagers  who are trying to paddle in the icy English Channel waters...brrrr!

Over on the Palace Pier, there are a large number of amusements, including many traditional ones like carousels...

 Dodgem cars...

 

 

Knocking down things....

Or you can slide down the Helter Skelter, visit the Horror House or try several more traditional games.

Of course, there are also many more modern ones that involve terrifying flights high in the air over open water or involve challenges like staying on a bucking mechanical bull. Or you can just chill out, sit in a deckchair and have a snooze like these folk...

Too tame? Well, on the water beside the Pier, there are several jet skis buzzing about, throwing up huge plumes of water.

On of the jet skis was having great fun in towing a red and yellow inflatable ring in which sat a guy in a wet suit - hanging on for dear life.

I was watching closely and at one stage they made a sudden turn, too sharply for the chap on the rubber ring who promptly flipped off...(and this is the moment that it happened).

That was quite enough excitement so I left the Palace Pier and began walking into town, past a quiet leafy square filled with diners...

And Brighton's army of tarot readers, fortune tellers, skull massagers, aura readers and ...

Pushing on a little further, I came across evidence that the Brighton Festival was underway...a rash of street performers, buskers and street artistes new to Brighton.

Further on, in the shadows and greenery of the Royal Pavilion Gardens, people were sleeping on the grass, enjoying picnics and just chilling...

This part of town houses the Lanes. The newer North Laines have trendy boutiques, fancy fashions, veggie burgers and veggy shoe shops, curios, art galleries and such like. Sometimes the streets are transformed into restaurants.

 

Nearer the seafront is the oldest part of town - the original Laines - with their narrow streets.

 

 

Here there tends to be more antique shops, more jewellers, the occasional fancy chololatiers, the inevitable trendy fashion shops and some occasional quirky remnants of earlier times.

 

Then, to round the day off, a quick five-minute drive to Brighton Marina, just east of the town. It's the largest marina in Europe with over 1,500 berths (I once kept a small yacht there).

 

There are many anglers still fishing although it's well after five in the afternoon now, the sun is lower in the sky and it's decidedly cooler.

 

 

What is the attraction? And what are these anglers so interested in? What has that chap caught? Whatever it is, he has been keeping it fresh in his drop net.     

 

 

A squid! Yes, it's the seventh annual All England Squid Championship. This looks like a decent size so he's measuring it up and will record the details on his competition form, hoping to win a prize. This is the best time of year to catch squid, especially when the water is crystal clear like it is today. I believe there were about 60 anglers entered in the competition and a total of 32 squid were caught, plus six cuttlefish.

 

 

It's definitely cooler now so let's head for home, past the rows and rows of boats.

 

 

 

Past the gin palaces, awaiting buyers...

 

 

Past the working boats...

 

 

Past the working bird (actually, he's having a rest at the moment but I've seen him fishing and he's pretty good!)

 

 

Well, it's been a bit of a saga today but I just wanted to say that Brighton & Hove is a great place to live, it gives a lot to pleasure to a lot of people, and when the sun comes out - why, it sparkles!