Brighton

I guess I picked Brighton for it’s Brighton Palace Pier but never even ventured on it as there were too many things to do during the day so Ihad planned to see it at night all lite up but it closed @ 10 PM. My overall impression of Channel front & central Brighton, since that’s all I saw, was a vibrant town with great energy. A good walking city. But the number of people living rough was depressing.  No cathedral but a museum, BA i360 and a lot going on after 5PM (17:00).  Quick aside, dial watches and clocks are on a 12 hour basis not 24 so why do they say 17:00? And 17:30 would be half 5 not half past 5. The Gatwick Express took me to Brighton in short order and I hiked down to the waterfront and my average hotel. I was too early for check-in but they had a lobby full of bags so I added my kit to the pile and headed out to wash my hands in the English side of the English Channel.  Felt just like the French side.  The beach reminded me of Folkestone with no visible sand and pebbles that must turn to hot coals on bare summer feet.

The jetty is to the left or East and is only 40 years old according to a retired gentleman out metal detecting. I guess there were much fewer pebbles before it was built.

Brighton was a pleasure/resort town in the 1880’s with the 2 piers being the big draw.  One is gone to a fire.  The current Hilton and other older waterfront buildings show the class of an earlier time.

The pier is mostly an arcade.

Instead of the pier, my eye was drawn to what turned out to be the British Airways i360 observation tower. One of the Tower staff, Charlotte, explained to me the concept was a vertical pier to match the horizontal one.  Opened last August it impressive even during a rainy day.  The 162m tower is built from 200 tonnes of steel on a concrete base weighing 4150 tons right on the lime bedrock.

I’ll let BA describe the build:

The Victorian style tollbooths were a nice touch.

I apologize for the blurry photos but the glass was streaked with rain and reflection.

A section of glass floor like Tower Bridge would have been nice.

Both the Hilton and the Holiday Inn took advantage of the new views of their properties.

The Royal Pavilion was built for the Prince Regent, who became George IV.  Queen Victoria disliked the constant attention she attracted in Brighton, saying “the people here are very indiscreet and troublesome” and sold it to the city.  She  preferred Osborn House which I visited and posted about in 2015 on the Isle of Wight.  I wasn’t able to get in as there was not enough time to do it justice.

Next to it is the Brighton Museum and Gallery.  Take a look:

But I’m baffled by this grass.  In Britain.  It’s fake!

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Very eclectic, here are some of the things that caught my eye starting with Lawrence Koe’s Venus and Tannhauser

The masks were novel

This one is studded with dozens of tiny white lights.

And who doesn’t love Punch and Judy?

I wish I could have tried out these chairs and the Dali lip sofa modeled after Marilyn Monroe’s own luscious ones.

Peter Ghydzy’s Garden Egg and Kuramata’s How High the Moon

The clear one titled Keep Off the Glass is by Thomas Heaterwick and then behind it, Ron Arad gives us Parpadelle.  But if you plopped yourself down in Sofa Joe I don’t think you’d want to get out.

Nice wooden furniture

And I, of course, could not grok this untitled piece and would have never taken a photo except a little girl about 3-4 said to her mum ” it looks like bird poop”.  Agreed

I stopped int o the C & H Weston gunsmith, startled to see so many guns available here in Britain.  The gentleman behind the counter seemed willing to bring me up to speed. Permits are needed for all guns.  Unless one has a special police generated permit the only handguns available are air guns.  Shotguns are allowed but must be registered as are rifles and both guns and ammo must blocked up in separate safes.  I think magazines are capped at 10 rounds so no tubs of hundreds of bullets like in the States. And forget about AK47’s except at private shooting ranges.

After returning to my hotel to check in I went out for a couple pints with dozens of pubs to choose from.

I started at the Camelford Arms because I liked the street and a couple of others but settled in Shortt’s.  The music by Three Days Straight was good as was the craik.  The folks here were like all I have met so far regarding POTUS.  They think both he and America mad. And they are well versed on his many scratch-your-head comments and Tweets ( SNL is available here). In fact Chris gave me and interesting coin.

 

I mentioned one must be dead to be on US currency and he only smiled.  I have yet to hear one person mention support for my president (for sadly that is what he is), and as soon as it is clear I am a Yank, it comes up, mostly in derision.

And apparently Brighton is one of the largest LGBT communities of Europe and every August a section of the city is shut down for a Gay Rights parade and festival.  I’m not gay and have nothing against those whom God made that way but Whaatt?!?!? Considering these are regular storefront displays, the festival must be crazy.  And we all know that if anyone can throw a great party, it’s this community.

Now I’m off the Bridport for a week of R&R.