Brighton

Introduction

I went for a weekend in Brighton in November (because reasons). Weather-wise it was probably not the best time to visit, although the wind strength was quite impressive for the South of England. But it was an interesting short trip.

Friday

From the station we walked through rain toward the guesthouse, which turned out to be near an enormous unfinished viewing tower. This looked rather ominous as we approached - it wasn’t dark by that point but because of the rain the tower itself was invisible until we got close, leaving a baleful disembodied red light glowing high in the sky. It reminded me of the Eye of Sauron and, appropriately, the tower will be called the ‘i360’.

After checking in at the guesthouse, we walked back in a very roundabout route toward a restaurant.

Eye of Sauron and the floodlit Grand Hotel at night.
1/30 at f2.8, 23mm, ISO1600 50°49′12″N 0°8′49″W
Bright streetlight illuminating the rain, beach behind.
1/30 at f2.8, 23mm, ISO1600 50°49′12″N 0°8′32″W
Brighton Pavilion, with pretty floodlighting.
1/15 at f2.8, 23mm, ISO800 50°49′21″N 0°8′17″W

Saturday

View toward the sea from our room in the guesthouse.
1/125 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′22″N 0°8′58″W
Rhinoceros on the guesthouse stairs.
1/15 at f4, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′19″N 0°9′0″W

We walked toward Hove, initially along the seafront.

Streetlamp and tower (1).
1/250 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′18″N 0°9′9″W
Block of flats directly beside Sussex County Cricket Ground.
1/30 at f5.6, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′48″N 0°9′51″W
Save Hove Library (again) (again).
1/60 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′46″N 0°9′53″W

Across the whole area, all of those telephone connection box thingies in the street appear to have been painted with artwork - sometimes officially, but other times I’m not sure.

‘Look out, Oz! Here comes Rita!’ Presumably she’s emigrating.
1/30 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′37″N 0°9′54″W
Adelaide Crescent - impressive curved frontage.
1/250 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′29″N 0°9′47″W
Classic British seaside architecture: the rain shelter.
1/125 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′22″N 0°9′42″W

I walked back to Brighton, stopping to take photos of the remains of the West Pier, which has been set on fire so many times it‘s now pretty much the West Scaffolding Island. There‘s no chance of restoring it now.

West Pier and a wave.
1/250 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′17″N 0°9′21″W
Ricin under a footbridge.
1/60 at f5.6, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′19″N 0°9′17″W
Bandstand.
1/250 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′19″N 0°9′17″W
Paddling pool (and the pier).
1/250 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′19″N 0°9′13″W
Pier again.
1/200 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′14″N 0°9′3″W

Around the construction site for the giant viewing tower, the hoardings are full of very impressive street art. (It was done with permission in an August event. Nice works though.)

Seagull in trainers (MORF).
1/200 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′15″N 0°9′1″W
Bins clustered around a lamp base and puddle.
1/200 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′13″N 0°8′46″W
Public art sculpture (Afloat by Hamish Black) on the seafront; POW graffiti.
1/60 at f11, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′7″N 0°8′21″W

I continued a little further along the seafront, past the surviving pier and the local Ferris wheel, one of those low-rent London Eye clones.

Palace Pier.
1/125 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′9″N 0°8′3″W

The Volks electric railway, which starts nearby, sadly doesn’t run outside the season. So I left the sea behind and wandered around the Lanes for a bit (and ate lunch in the rain).

‘Yeah, tea!’ - The best of those painted telephone thingies.
1/30 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′19″N 0°8′34″W
Derelict building on Middle Street.
1/125 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′15″N 0°8′35″W

I headed back to Hove...

Giant tower again.
1/250 at f5.6, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′16″N 0°9′4″W
Streetlamp and tower (2).
1/125 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′15″N 0°8′51″W

Toward the end of the afternoon, the sun actually came out!

Sussex County Cricket Ground, and a rainbow.
1/250 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′50″N 0°9′52″W
Flats by cricket ground.
1/250 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′48″N 0°9′52″W
Nice garage building.
1/125 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′34″N 0°9′55″W
Building with painted crack.
1/125 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′28″N 0°9′58″W
Hove seafront and a table-tennis table.
1/125 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′25″N 0°9′56″W

From Hove we walked back into Brighton again.

Sun over the promenade.
1/500 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′23″N 0°9′56″W
Sun over the beach.
1/500 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′18″N 0°9′20″W
Sunset by West Pier remains.
1/250 at f4, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′15″N 0°9′3″W

We walked out onto Palace Pier, which seems little changed from when I visited as a child.

Although this rollercoaster is probably new. It was closed due to high winds.
1/30 at f2.8, 23mm, ISO800 50°48′54″N 0°8′14″W
Grand Hotel again, with rather a surplus of flags.
1/20 at f2.8, 23mm, ISO800 50°49′15″N 0°8′50″W
Back gates in Stone Street, with Eye of Sauron in background.
1/15 at f2, 23mm, ISO1600 50°49′27″N 0°9′1″W

Sunday

We spent most of the day visiting Brighton Pavilion, which is basically a stately home. It has various royal connections, and a slightly inordinate number of dragons in the pseudo-Chinese decorations. After that (and afternoon cakes in a tearoom) it was nearly time to head back to the station.

‘Find the red squirrel’ (fire exits on South Street).
1/60 at f5.6, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′15″N 0°8′39″W
Another building in South Street.
1/60 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′15″N 0°8′39″W
One last look at the sea.
1/1000 at f8, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′8″N 0°8′23″W
Bike racks in the station.
1/30 at f4, 23mm, ISO200 50°49′43″N 0°8′26″W

All images © Samuel Marshall. All rights reserved.