H L Mencken

My recent visit to the Royal Pavilion gardens reminded me of my previous visit many years ago. On that occasion I had intended to visit the Pavilion but there was a long queue so I opted for a quiet lunch in the gardens. I chose the perfect bench but what followed was anything but quiet and relaxing. On my recent visit I sought out the bench only to find it is no more.

What follows is the tale from my previous visit in 2010:

On the half day that I had free between the two conferences I decided to visit the Royal Pavilion. To save time I asked for directions at the hotel reception and found my way there quite easily although it was further than I thought. The pavilion looked rather packed so I decided just to enjoy the garden which was free. It was lunch time so before looking round the garden I nipped to the nearest baker and bought a blueberry muffin, which looked a lot more appetising than the rather gooey looking sandwiches. I then made my way back to the garden and sat on a bench to eat it The bag the muffin had been in made a bid for freedom and whilst I was trying to rescue it a small piece of blueberry muffin dropped on the floor next to my feet.

A few minutes later I was assailed by a rather large seagull who was weighing up the options of doing a duck and dive at the crumb. I had visions of my feet being skewered by his beak and he refused to be shooed away! Then I saw a squirrel running towards me, but luckily he had something else on his mind and he carried on past me without stopping. Eventually I moved to the other end of the bench so I could finish eating in peace. And yes the seagull did then dive for the crumb.

Just as I was finishing eating a youth with a beer can plonked himself next to me on the bench. Thankfully he was dragged away by his friends who told him ‘don’t annoy the lady’. There was a bit of back chat but he followed them anyway. Just when I thought I was going to get some peace and quiet at long last, I was approached by a Jehovah’s Witness…

Gardens in Brighton are not at all what I am used to!

It was more relaxing along the seafront (despite the traffic) when I took my sunset photos later in the day.

In the mid 1780s George, Prince of Wales, rented a small lodging house overlooking a fashionable promenade in Brighton. Brighton was developing from a decayed fishing town to an established seaside retreat for the rich and famous, being close to London.

It also proved popular for the therapeutic health-giving sea water remedies made famous by Dr Richard Russell, a physician from nearby Lewes.

The prince had been advised by his physicians to benefit from Brighton’s fortunate climate and to try out the sea water treatments, which included ‘dipping’ (total body immersion into the salt sea water).

Brighton suited George who was a vain and extravagant man with a passion for fashion, the arts, architecture and good living. He rebelled against his strict upbringing and threw himself into a life of drinking, womanising and gambling.

This decadent lifestyle combined with his love of architecture and the fine and decorative arts – his residences in London and Windsor were like immaculate sets to show off his superb collections – resulted in his incurring heavy personal debts.

In 1787, after much pleading and many promises by the Prince of Wales, the House of Commons agreed to clear his debts and increase his income.

George hired architect Henry Holland to transform his Brighton lodging house into a modest villa which became known as the Marine Pavilion. With his love of visual arts and fascination with the mythical orient, George set about lavishly furnishing and decorating his seaside home. He especially chose Chinese export furniture and objects, and hand-painted Chinese wallpapers.

In 1808 the new stable complex was completed with an impressive lead and glass-domed roof, providing stabling for 62 horses.

Following our walk from Brighton pier to Marine Parade we planned to return to the pier on the Volks Electric Railway, however accessing the station proved problematic. All walkways to the station platform were blocked off due to regeneration of the area. Rather than walk a very long way round we decided to follow the example of a local jogger and scramble down a grassy bank.

From Wiki:

Volk’s Electric Railway (VER) is a narrow gauge heritage railway that runs along a length of the seafront of the English seaside resort of Brighton. It was built by Magnus Volk, the first section being completed in August 1883, and is the oldest operational electric railway in the world, though it was not the first electric railway to be built. It was preceded by electrification of Miller’s line in 1875, Werner von Siemens‘ 1879 demonstration line in Berlin and by the Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway of 1881, although none of these remain in operation.

Today the line runs between terminal stations at Aquarium (a short distance from the Palace Pier) and Black Rock (at Black Rock, not far from Brighton Marina), with an intermediate station and depot at Halfway.

The line has a 2 ft 8+1⁄2 in (825 mm) narrow gauge, is electrified at 110 V DC using a third rail, and is one mile (1.6 km) long.

St John the Baptist’s Church was the first Catholic Church in Brighton. The building of the church was funded by Maria Fitzherbert a wealthy widow from Shropshire who became the secret first wife of George, Prince of Wales who later became King George IV. The marriage was kept secret because at that time it was illegal for a Royal heir to marry a Catholic

Henry Van Dyke

Brighton i360 was designed by the architectural company Marks Barfield, which also designed the London Eye. The building was conceived as a “vertical pier”. The tower is located at the shore end of the ruined West Pier, and the design recreated the original Italianate ticket booths of the West Pier, placed on either side of the entrance, serving as ticket office and tea room.^[4] The design also includes a beachfront building that allows access to the tower and houses a brasserie, café and gift shop.^[9]

The tower is designed as a 162 m (531 ft) tall needle structure with an ascending and descending circular viewing platform with capacity for 200 people.

The Brighton bandstand is the sole survivor of the many bandstands from the Victorian era:

It is the sole survivor of the dozen bandstands which graced the parks and promenades of Brighton and Hove in Victorian times. They fell out of favour in the 1960s when traffic noise began to drown out the music, but this one, sometimes called The Birdcage because of its delicate ironwork, has been restored by local heritage enthusiasts *

*from Rough Guides; Brighton, Sussex & The South Downs – The Best Walks and Tours