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emilyf86
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9/12/2006
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Date Available:
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4/1/2006
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Guide to Brighton, Sussex - Site Search.
Brighton on the southern Sussex coast is one of the largest and most famous seaside resorts in England. Brighton and Hove form a single conurbation. Brighton's lively atmosphere is a direct contrast to its near neighbour, Hove which has quieter and more refined character. The two boroughs were joined together to form the unitary authority of Brighton & Hove in 1997, which in 2000 was granted city status by the Queen as part of the millennial celebrations, following competition from other large towns which coveted city status.
Brighton - Piers
The Brighton Marine Palace and Pier, generally known as the Palace Pier before being oficially renamed Brighton Pier in 2000, opened in May 1899 and is still popular. It suffered a large fire on 4 February 2003 but the damage was limited and most of the pier was able to reopen the next day.
The older West Pier, built in 1866 by Eugenius Birch, has been closed and deteriorating since 1975, awaiting renovation. The West Pier is one of only two Grade 1 listed piers in the UK, the other being Clevedon Pier. Plans by The West Pier Trust to renovate the pier with help from Heritage Lottery Fund have been opposed by some local residents who claimed that the proposed new onshore structures — which the renovators needed to pay for the work on the pier — would obstruct their view of the sea. The restoration was also opposed by the owners of the Brighton Pier, who reportedly saw its subsidised rebuilding, were it to happen, as unfair competition.
The West Pier partially collapsed on December 29, 2002 when a walkway connecting the concert hall and pavilion fell into the sea after being battered by storms. On January 20, 2003 a further collapse saw the destruction of the concert hall in the middle of the pier. On March 28, 2003 the pavilion at the end of the pier caught fire. Firefighters were unable to save the building from destruction because of the precarious state of the walkway. The cause of the fire remains unknown. On May 12, 2003, another fire broke out, consuming most of what was left of the concert hall. Arson was suspected. The West Pier Trust refers to the fires as the work of 'professional arsonists', (notwithstanding that there is no evidence linking the fires to the owners of the Palace Pier). On June 23, 2004 high winds caused the middle of the pier to completely collapse.
Despite all these setbacks, the owner of the site West Pier Trust remained adamant they would soon begin full restoration work. Finally, in December 2004, the Trust admitted defeat, after their plans were rejected by the Heritage Lottery Fund and subsequent less ambitious plans to restore only the oldest, structural parts of the pier were also rejected by English Heritage. However, in September 2005 the Trust revealed in their newsletter that they are forming further plans to rebuild the original structure with help from private funding.
Brighton had one further major pier, the Brighton Chain Suspension Pier ("Chain Pier") of 1823. The pier was primarily intended as a landing stage, Brighton having no natural harbour, but it also featured a small number of attractions including initially a camera obscura. An esplanade with an entrance toll-booth controlled access to the pier which was roughly in line with today's New Steine.
The Chain Pier survived the construction of the West Pier, but a condition for permission to build the Palace Pier was that the builders would dismantle the oldest pier. They were saved this task by a storm which destroyed the already closed and rather decrepit pier on December 4, 1896. The stubby remains of some of the pier's iron piles, sunk ten feet into bedrock, can still be seen at the most extreme low tides.
Brighton today
In Brighton, the area occupied by the original fishing village has become The Lanes — a collection of narrow alleyways now filled with a mixture of antique shops, restaurants, bistros and pubs. That name was derived from 'Laine', which was apparently an old unit of Anglo-Saxon field measurement. The North Laine area still keeps the original spelling.
The city has a large gay community, mainly based in the Kemptown area of the city. Every August sees a large annual Gay Pride event which has now become one of the most popular such events in the UK calendar.
The biggest arts festival in England—the Brighton Festival—takes place in May each year.
Brighton is home to two universities, the University of Sussex and the University of Brighton, as well as a public school, Brighton College. It is sometimes known as 'London by the Sea' because of its lively atmosphere and cosmopolitan nature and also because of the large number of visitors from London. In the summer, thousands of young students from all over Europe gather in the city to attend language courses.
Part of the beach has been designated an official nudist area — one of very few naturist beaches in the United Kingdom to be located adjacent to an urban area.
Since the 1978 demolition of the Art Deco open-air swimming lido at Black Rock, the most easterly part of Brighton's seafront, the area has been developed considerably and now features one of Europe's largest marinas. However, the site of the pool itself remains empty except for a skate park and graffiti wall, and further development is planned for the area including a high-rise hotel which has aroused considerable local controversy, mirroring the situation with proposals for the site of the King Alfred leisure centre in neighbouring Hove.
Brighton is considered a fairly progressive town due to the large numbers of political movements and activities, for instance SchNEWS, a local newsletter. This has been demonstrated by the Green Party taking 22% of the vote of the Brighton Pavilion constituency in the 2005 general election, versus just 1% nationally.
Brighton - nightlife
Brighton is renowned for its lively music scene, having spawned a number of successful bands in recent years, including Fatboy Slim, The Levellers, British Sea Power, The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, The Go! Team, The Kooks, The Love Gods, Johnny Truant, Electrelane and The Electric Soft Parade. Brighton is also fast becoming home of a thriving hardcore punk scene with bands such as The Permenant, Johnny Truant, and The Deepend making an impact at a national level. It boasts a number of record labels, including Skint Records, LOCA Records, Stompaphunk, Supercharged Music, Kayotix, Catskills, Tru Thoughts and others. A healthy free party scene has been in action since the early 90s.
There are a large number of bars and nightclubs in Brighton, though due to problems with binge-drinking, alcohol consumption on the street is now banned in some areas. Some of the most important clubs in the UK dance music scene are based in Brighton, including The Beach, Honey Club and The Ocean Rooms, and the now defunct Escape and Zap clubs. There are also a range of alternative venues including The Sussex Arts Club, the Concorde 2, the Freebutt and the Hanbury Ballroom.
Brighton is the home of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. and the Hove ground of Sussex County Cricket Club. The cricket ground is one of only four in the UK with permanent lighting, and though not a test ground, is used for international one day matches.
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