Brighton

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Brighton Marina is one of my favourite places to visit. It is very dynamic, yet attractive and relaxing. It has the hustle and bustle of shops, pubs, restaurants and entertainment centres, and is surrounded by beach walks and rock pools. Walking along the marina boardwalk starts off amidst restaurants and bars and even a floating Chinese restaurant. Looking down at the boats from there, gives a view of pleasure cruisers, sailing boats and dinghys and boats to take a fishing trip on. The next section of the marina is quieter and has some seats where you can sit and look at all the private yachts and dream about the boats for sale. The final segment is where the little working fishing boats moor up. There is a distinctly fishy aroma down this end but it is charismatic and still very peaceful. Lots of opportunistic birds can be seen around these boats. After a short walk across the marina lock, you come to the marina wall that takes a long curve around the marina. It is lovely to walk along it to the end and back, but if the weather is rough, you may get wetted by the waves that sometimes come over the top.

Brighton, was originally called Beorthelm’s Tun or farm, after the fifth century Saxon invader, Beorthelm, who made the first settlement on this patch of English coastland. That vast farm, became so big and prosperous, it became a complete town, but all the fishermen lived outside the farm, just a little further east, under the cliffs. The fishing industry thrived and fishermen daily sold their catches on the beach, a custom that continues on a very small scale to this day.

Brighton has been a port since the fourteenth century. It was used despite its lack of natural harbour because of the prevailing winds that blew onshore, and the ease of transport to London. At one time it was the quickest London to Paris route.

In 1806 a proposal for a wharf along with fifty warehouses and a graving dock (or dry dock from which the water can be pumped out) was put forward. The Chain Pier was built and opened in 1823. This was Brighton’s third pier about which little is known locally. It was a suspension pier, like a one ended suspension bridge, built of wrought iron and cast iron and two hundred tons of Purbeck granite. All this stood on oak piles set deep into the seabed. It was over one thousand feet long and had four huge towers shaped like Egyptian pylons. The pier was used for loading and unloading cargo ships, so rowing boats did not have to be used between ship and shore. But it soon became a local promenade and attraction, even having a camera obscura. In 1830 Captain Samuel Brown, who originally designed and built the pier, suggested it be filled with chalk to form a harbour wall, but the idea was discarded as too expensive.

In December 1896 the pier was destroyed by a great winter storm.

In the 1960s Henry Cohen planned a large yacht marina reclaimed from the sea, with leisure structures on the land.

Work began in winter 1971, and expansion still continues. In 1978 the marina opened to the first boats. Now there are homes as well as all the various businesses. Several areas of further development have been announced including a multi-story tower building of some kind.

From the marina you can walk the undercliff walk as far as Saltdean, which is well worthwhile.

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