The world and his wife go to the seaside on a sunny day!

---

We Brits love to complain about the weather.

We have a lot of weather to complain about.

When it's wet and windy, we complain that it's too wet and windy. When it's cold and gloomy, we moan about it being cold and gloomy. When it's hot and sunny, we moan about it being too... you get the idea.

Today, in the middle of the month of May, the sun was shining. So my wife took me to Brighton. It was actually a belated birthday present. My birthday was in March, but it was wet and windy, so we didn't go. We just moaned about it being too wet and windy.

Fortunately, although it was sunny today, it wasn't hot. There wasn't even a mention of wet, windy or gloomy in the weather forecast. So, as we boarded the train at St Albans for the comfortable two-hour ride southwards through London and past Gatwick Airport to the Sussex coast, thousands of others in the south of England were doing something very similar. By the time we arrived, the world and his wife were sitting in deckchairs on the beach licking ice-creams.

You can read all about the history and geography of the town with a click of your mouse here. The London to Brighton veteran car rally ends here every year. There are more restaurants per head of population here than anywhere else in Britain outside of London. The list of the great and good associated with Brighton and nearby Hove runs to several hundred, most of whom you've never heard of or who have long-since gone to sunbathe on that fluffy white beach in the sky. And it's said to be 'the gay capital of Europe', although that's possibly apparent only after the sun goes down. For the most part, this is still a quaint Victorian seaside town with narrow lanes, up-market shops and pleasant little cafés. In a few parts, it's a bit everyday, grubby, down-at-heel. It's even historic, kiss-me-quick and family fun. There's something here for everyone.

We particularly liked strolling along the seafront. The pedestrian promenade above the wide, shingle beach gives views to the sea and the two piers, the West Pier just a blackened skeleton following two fires and several storms. Below the promenade, alongside the beach, is a busy walkway with seafood stalls and small art and souvenir stores, bars and fish-and-chip shops burrowing into the archways beneath the pavement above and spilling out onto the foreshore.

There are plenty of places to sit and while away an hour or two on the remaining pier (promoted as Brighton Pier, but known locally as Palace Pier). Alternatively, like us, you can walk along its wide wooden boards with the sea on either side of you, to simply breathe the bracing air and watch jet skis dashing dangerously across the waves beneath. Others might enjoy playing slot machines in the noisy amusement arcade or riding exhilarating roller coasters at the pier's most southerly point. Beyond the pier is another wide expanse of beach, crowded with families enjoying themselves on this sunny day, together with a Big Wheel and other things to keep the kids entertained.

For an interesting lazy walk and window-shopping, we enjoyed the historic quarter known as The Lanes. Here, in a maze of twisting alleyways, quirky independent shops and boutiques selling jewellery, designer fashion and New Age bits and bobs vied for our attention. There are some pleasant little eateries here too. Today, we enjoyed tea and cakes at the Angel Food Bakery. Someone was ordering a mountain of its stunning cupcakes for a special 40th birthday party, but we were seduced by giant slices of their amazing chocolate cake and Victoria sponge.

Nearby, in one of the little squares, costumed Morris Dancing sides, one from as far away as Guernsey in the Channel Islands, were taking turns to perform traditional folk dances. To the accompaniment of tuneful music played on the melodeon and the occasional fiddle, lute or tuba, groups of men and women stepped rhythmically up and down amid much jangling of bells, clacking of sticks and waving of white handkerchiefs. Elsewhere, buskers, human 'statues' and comediennes attracted visitors - all part of the Brighton Fringe Festival.

The town was once particularly popular with royalty. The Prince Regent (later King George VI) had a Royal Pavilion built here in the late-18th/early-19th century. It's still here, a well-preserved and imposing building, but it's a bit bizarre to have something with such an exotic oriental appearance in a British seaside town. We've never been inside to see the royal bedrooms, the ornate banqueting room and the great kitchen, but surely they're somewhat out-of-place in this present-day family resort? We'll have to take a peek next time we come to Brighton - for a next time there will surely be, whatever the weather!



Scroll down for more photos and double click on them to enlarge.

The panorama at the top of the page is part of a slideshow.

---

Photos

As one gull said to the other...
Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside!

And, if you like to be beside the seaside too...
...rent one of the few remaining deckchairs on Brighton's shingle beach

Beyond the Palace Pier
The busy beach and Big Wheel

The seafront promenade
See the burnt-out shell of the West Pier out at sea.

People-watching over lunch
Lunch at a pavement café and you'll see some surprising sights

Panda-watching over lunch
...from that same pavement café!

In The Lanes
:0)

Accompanying the Morris Dancers

In a square near The Lanes
Reveal your past, present and future with a Tarot reading!

East Street
X Factor host Dermot O'Leary has his 'Fishy Fishy' restaurant here.

Comments

[David]

I do like to be beside the seaside!
A grand tale of Brighton, Britain and the British! Your writing and photos get better by the day. Proud to be your big brother. David

[Keep Smiling]

I'm learning from a master
I tell it like it is, in black and white, but I'm trying to do it like you - in technicolour!

[D MJ Binkley]

Time for the beach
Time to stop the complaining about the British weather and enjoy the beach. Looks like a great part of the world and those beach chairs look very inviting.

[Keep Smiling]

Strangely, most British people are reluctant to complain about bad service, poor quality goods, and the like - but we just love to talk about the weather and complain about it no matter what. Brighton has a lot to offer and we enjoy its rather old-fashioned charm. It has to be said, however, that there are better beaches around our coastline - but most of them don't have deckchairs to rent!

[Rose Newbold]

Sunshine Fun
Wonderful photos Mike - I especially like the panoramic cropped photo of the seagull!

[Keep Smiling]

Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside
Thanks Rosie, good to hear from you - hope you are well and still smiling! Seagulls are fun to photograph - and easy too because they're huge. They do like ice cream cones though, so you have to be careful not to go too close if you have one.