Day 79: Brighton

My last day. I can’t believe it!!! 79 days since I left Eastbourne on May 1^st to take my mum’s ashes around the coast of Britain.

Today has to be Brighton but I wanted a different Brighton to the usual tourist stuff so I asked Ben my son in law and Freya my beloved number two daughter - who both live there - for my what to see and what to do list.

Brighton has a myriad of claims to fame that deserve a week at least and a whole book to itself: in history, in film, in sordid court cases, in Pride Marches, in fiction and in being a wonderful vibrant city host to the Festival every May, and for being the home of choice of two of my favourite people.

So...

• Kemptown not Churchill Square
• West Pier not Palace Pier
• North Laines not The Lanes
• Open Market London Road not Western Road 
• Duke of York Theatre not Cineworld
• Not the Wheel but the i360

I parked up in Elm Grove as Brighton is also famous for very expensive parking, and walked first to the Open Market in London Road. It is called the open market but it is actually a large covered space with a wide variety of interesting stalls, little shops and small studio spaces on their first floor. 

It is heading towards becoming  like London’s Convent Garden particularly since its renovation.  Lots of interesting foods and ethical products as well as traditional fruit and veg.

Ice-cream is my favourite food group. I had one of the best ice-creams of my whole trip at Mathers in the market.

The North Laines are also a favourite destination of mine and judging by the crowds thronging the narrow streets or indulging at street cafes and watching the world strut by, a favourite haunt of everyone else's too. 

Every time I enter these labyrinthian streets new shops have sprung up amongst the established retailers, like mushrooms. Noticeable but unsurprising for Brighton, lots of male grooming outlets on this visit particularly products for beards!

The Laines are extremely eclectic and attract all sorts of shopping experiences and people. 

Brighton has sad side - a large homeless population and regretably  they were in evidence too.

Coming out of the North Laines I went in search of the Duke of York – a  Picturehouse (Cinema to the rest of us).

The Duke is an art house cinema away from the main drag with the distinction of probably being the oldest cinema in Britain that has been in continuous use. It opened in 1910 and was one of the first picture houses to be built in the World. Given that so many cinemas have come and gone, it is amazing that his has kept going and in 2012 it was voted the best cinema in the UK.

Like some of the boutique cinemas in New Zealand created by Lord of the Rings Director Peter Jackson, the Duke has sacrificed some of its seating capacity to make it comfortable with sofas and chairs. It has a 12 foot model of Can Can dancers legs on the roof which came from a theatre in Oxford. 

Coming out of the cinema I saw a queue outside the fire station. Curious I followed it to what turned out to be Brighton and Hove fire station Open Day. How lovely. Children allowed to put on the helmets and climb into the fire engines and their dads taking selfies like children themselves. Ice-creams, raffles and then all of a sudden mayhem as firemen rushed around grabbing their kit and gently pulling children out of the fire tender and piling in themselves. 

‘A shout’ – and they were off sirens blaring.

Another iconic old building that refuses to be ignored is the exotic Royal Pavilion – a Palace built as a seaside residence for King George IV as a place where he could enjoy the charms of his girl friend  Maria Fitzherbert.

Today people were relaxing in the gardens in the sunshine.

Like some other towns I have visited on my trip around the coast of Great Britain, Brighton has two piers. Or it had.

The West Pier was opened in 1866 and closed in 1975 and became derelict. It has suffered from two fires and very little of it remains but a sort of skeleton and even what little was left has been largely demolished to make way for the i360.

What on earth is Brighton thinking to be installing a massive erection on the seafront? I can’t help thinking it was a joke that someone with very little imagination took seriously! The popular Brighton Eye has gone (WAS it sold to Weston Super mare?) and this structure is taking shape in front of the West Pier.

I360 is supposed to be an observation tower but 180 degrees will simply observe the sea unless one can see far enough to spot the French Coast? Apparently the ‘i’ in the brand represents independence and innovation. Shouldn’t that be i i then adding to the impression of saucy seaside postcards?

It is proposed to be the World’s tallest slenderest tower with the World’s only vertical cable car. Looks like a donut to me. The planners are hoping to get it into the Guinness Book of Records in 2017. At £15 a ticket I doubt I will be a vertical traveller. Personally I could have suggested other ways to spend the estimated £46 million it has cost to build. Hostels and real opportunities for rehabilitation for the homeless in Brighton for a start!!!

It is due to open in August. Happily I will not be there to witness it but I am sure thousands will.

Kemptown is the area east of Brighton centre. It feels a bit like a village. It has independent cafes and shops and was the only place today where I could get a standby haircut.

Two young men, one washed my hair and the other cut it...good job done fast and good value.

Last bit to do, walk on through the town and past the Pepper Pot.

It’s a listed building just by Queens Park at the top of Kemptown. It was once part of an estate but the house has long gone and this is all that remains. No idea what it might be used for today. Not really concerned as I am now knackered and need a cup of tea and a lie down in a darkened room.

At least I have been able to unload all the craft beers I had gathered for Ben and Freya on my trip  so my car is less likely to explode should I impact with anything on the last lap home tomorrow. !

Day 78: Secret Worthing

Looks like I am definitely going to manage to complete my journey on the edge around the coast in 80 days as planned, but the first bit up to Suffolk and the last bit across the south has been rushed. Perhaps I should have done it in 100 days instead to have given myself more time.

Today I am looking for the Sistine Chapel.
Sistine Chapel? Isn’t that in Italy?
Yep but there is a 2/3 version painted on the ceiling of a church in Goring on Sea West Worthing. Jeremy (my brother) living here knew nothing about it but we went looking. The first church in Goring had a small mural which, although charming in its own way, was not what I had expected at all.  Unruly Sat. Nav was useless. She did not recognise Sistine Chapel Goring on Sea as a point of interest worthy of her computer but we found it.

From the outside, The English Martyrs Church in Goring didn’t really look as if it contained a treasure of this magnitude. To be kind it looked like a community centre and to be unkind and this close to Shoreham, a small aircraft hanger.

The original ceiling in Rome was painted in the 16^th century by Michelangelo. This one was painted in 1987 -1993 by a signwriter with no formal art training, called Gary Bevans.

Gary had been to Rome on a pilgrimage in 1987 and noticed that the Sistine chapel ceiling was almost the same size and shape as that of his local parish church in Sussex. On his return he asked permission to paint a copy and when this was granted he began.

It took him five and a half years and has now been rated one of the top of Worthing’s tourist attractions on Trip Advisor. Yet few people have heard of it or seen it locally. When the ceiling in Rome was cleaned, Gary had to redo some of his work to match the brilliance of the revealed clean colours. Frankly I think he is brilliant!

Gary serves as a deacon in the church and to celebrate his ordination he painted a mural of Noah’s ark for the children in a modern graphical style. A man of many talents.

The church is quite beautiful inside. Apart from the stunning ceiling it has wonderful stained glass rescued from a convent that was closing and other artefacts well worth seeing.

From there we went to Beach House Park. It’s a lovely green space with formal gardens and bowling lawns that used to be the site for the National Bowls Championships both national and international. The greens are wonderful. No idea why they lost the championship status.

In the park is probably the only memorial to carrier pigeons from World War 11 in existence.

Sadly the original sculptured pigeons have been stolen but the message is clear.

June 30^th 1916 was the day that the men of the South Downs Battalion, fought at the disastrous Battle of the Somme. The park had several memorials to that day, an informal one and a stone memorial too. 

There was a fine new bench with what looks like laser cut ironwork depicting soldiers on it and a flower bed planted up in the form of the regimental badge. 

One of the two soldiers singled out for commemoration,  Nelson Victor Carter VC,  was born in Eastbourne. He was the company Sergeant Major and was awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravely and for saving several casualties under fire before he was mortally wounded. Although he is buried in France, there is a blue plaque in his memory on his home at 33 Greys Road a few yards from my own house.

So even on the last few days of my trip there is a soldier asking to be remembered.

Finally there is a World War I vegetable plot planted up on the park presumably by the council The vegetables looked wonderful. I was surprised they hadn’t been stolen too!!!

Back to Jeremy and a double dish of Trifle. 

My brother is the trifle King of England whose trifle prowess is celebrated as far away as Columbia! Truly.

Day 77: Worthing

My brother lives in Worthing and he runs an excellent Airbnb house. So popular is his home that yesterday he was fully booked and unable to offer me a bed. Happily he can for the next couple of days.

I spent most of the day catching up with Jeremy and his partner Renee, and telling them about my adventures on the edge around the coast of Britain.

Then I went out to begin to investigate Worthing, a town that in spite of having a brother recently move there from London, is a place with which I am unfamiliar. When we go there we tend to spend time with family, not to sightsee.

Jeremy tells me Worthing is 'on the up'. I will have to take his word for it but while it is not as pretty or as smart looking as Eastbourne, it does have its very good points, not least that it’s cheaper to buy a house in Worthing than it is in Brighton, just ten miles along the coast.

His suggested must see and must do list...

• The Museum and Art gallery
• The Pier (I am becoming a world expert on piers)
• Fish and chips (Nooooooooo...!.)
• The artists’ studios on the beach east of the pie

The Museum is in a very imposing Victorian building in the centre of Worthing. Not only was it free to get in but it was really good. I enjoyed it.

Amongst the usual local archaeological and historical artefacts it also has a textile and costume collection including wedding dresses...

And a toy collection that would fascinate any child or the child within any adult.

I gave fish and chips a miss and instead had a meal in a Thai Street food cafe just off the shopping street at 3 Bath Place. Very good value and good food.

I walked along the pier where there is a restaurant and a kind of semi permanent art gallery sort of sandwiched between the glass panel wind breaks, running down the centre of the pier. Interesting concept but I would think they would need to be changed regularly to keep up interest and possibly to prevent salt and damp damage. I think most of the exhibits are actually photos of the work rather than the work itself.

East of the pier towards Lancing and away from the town centre, there is a row of old fashioned brick and steel beach huts that the council has given over to a group of artists for small studio spaces. I loved the idea. Wish the council would do that in Eastbourne.

More exploring tomorrow then I am off to Brighton