Impressions of Brighton

Let’s wander around Brighton for a while. This is Britain’s most popular seaside city on the English Channel, about 80 kilometres south of London.

In the late eighteenth century, George IV, then Prince of Wales, used to escape to this small town whenever he became tired of London. He liked the place so much that he had a huge residence built for himself, and before long the fashionable circles of British society began following him to Brighton. When the London–Brighton railway opened in 1841, ordinary Londoners also started coming here for holidays.

Today, the easiest way to reach Brighton is still by train. Board at Victoria Station in London, pass Gatwick Airport on the way and before long you arrive at Brighton, where a handsome old railway station welcomes you.

Here is our first encounter with the city.

Since the city is completely oriented towards the sea, the best place to get an overall impression is naturally the seafront.

Below is a photograph that more or less sums up Brighton, facing its broad beach, constantly beaten by the tides of the English Channel.

The tall tower on the left is an observation lift called the i360. A viewing pod moves up and down the tower, offering views over the city and on clear days, a panorama of the coastline. Brighton’s main road also runs for kilometres along the seafront, immediately above the beach.

The most striking structure on the coast is the impressive pier.

During the Victorian period, building large pleasure piers in seaside towns became fashionable and one of the most impressive examples was built right in the centre of Brighton. Today it contains bars, places to stroll around and an amusement park. Brighton Pier gives the city one of its most characteristic views.

It may seem rather strange that one of the largest structures in the city is a pier. But when you remember that this was once considered the height of seaside entertainment, the fact that it has survived so well and still serves the same purpose is actually quite impressive. On holidays and weekends, the enormous pier becomes very crowded.

Another view towards Brighton Pier from the beach.

Let us walk along the seafront for a while.

The endless tidal cycle of the northern seas makes itself immediately felt here as well. In winter, when rough weather is added to the tides, it is probably wiser to admire the sea from a certain distance. In summer, however, people arrive in large numbers to enjoy the beach.

The wide shoreline, stretching for kilometres, is not sandy but covered with pebbles. This has one practical advantage: whenever you feel like sitting by the sea, you can simply walk down without later having to deal with sand on your shoes.

At lunchtime, you can buy a portion of fish and chips and a cold beer and eat them while looking out over the sea. Deckchairs are available all along the beach.

If you are brave enough, you may even consider swimming. Personally, I find the idea of swimming in the sea this far north rather uninviting.

When we talk about deckchairs and beaches, you shouldn't get the wrong impression. Brighton is still a city, and people here have jobs and busy daily lives. The buildings of the city begin immediately behind the beach, as you can also see in the second photograph above.

Victorian architecture gives the seafront much of its character.

This is one of the poses Brighton offers when you turn your back to the sea.

At the western end of the long seafront, beyond the beach, there is a large open grassy area.

This seems to me very good planning. Large open spaces have been left so that people can breathe a little.

When the weather is pleasant, people simply spread themselves over the grass and enjoy the day.

The i360 tower appears in both of the photographs above. It really is an enormous structure. The viewing pod takes roughly half an hour to travel to the top and come down again.

Below is the 360-degree view of Brighton reflected in the mirrored underside of the pod.

After seeing the seafront, let's move a little further inland.

The streets running perpendicular to the sea offer some very attractive architectural views. Old, low-rise buildings, once again mainly Victorian in style, have been preserved remarkably well and create a harmonious urban texture.

Naturally, a few ugly “modern” buildings have managed to insert themselves here and there but taken as a whole, you immediately feel how pleasantly the past has reached into the present.

One of the most enjoyable areas to walk around is The Lanes.

This district, full of narrow streets and passages, offers plenty of alternatives for shopping, eating and drinking. Nightlife is also very active here, although there is one small warning: the British seem particularly fond of becoming drunk late at night and conducting increasingly loud conversations.

At weekends especially, the bars remain packed until the early hours.

But let us return to the streets of The Lanes.

After walking around, getting tired and eventually becoming hungry, it would be wrong not to try some of the flavours offered by the sea.

The general "reputation" of British cuisine is well known. It is hardly one of the world’s strongest culinary traditions. Still, the fresh seafood of the English Channel deserves some attention, even if it cannot quite compete with the style found on the French coast opposite.

Here are the streets of The Lanes.

One of the roads leading directly into the centre is North Street.

Following it brings you to a small square dominated by the Jubilee Clock Tower. On one corner stands a wonderful five-storey Waterstones bookshop. It is slightly surprising to find such a large bookshop in a city of this size.

North Street, with its characteristic architecture and buses.

While wandering through Brighton, sooner or later you come across an enormous building whose architectural style seems completely out of harmony with everything around it: the Royal Pavilion.

At the beginning, I mentioned that George IV had helped make Brighton fashionable. When he became so fond of the town, he decided that he needed a residence of his own and commissioned the architect John Nash for the job.

Nash enlarged an existing building, decorated it rather enthusiastically and the result was the Royal Pavilion.

Its style is usually described as Indo-Saracenic, or sometimes simply as an extravagant mixture of Indian-inspired architecture. Decorative domes, towers and minaret-like forms dominate the building.

The king must have liked the result, because he moved in.

I have never particularly liked the building, so I deliberately avoided photographing it directly from the front. In my own way, I thought this softened the effect a little.

Brighton, which I have tried to introduce briefly here, is one of those British towns that manages to surprise you.

Its whole existence seems to have been shaped by its relationship with the sea, almost like a Mediterranean city placed much further north.

Only about an hour and a half by train from London, Brighton has developed a life and character entirely of its own.

One last photograph.

The buildings of New Steine in the late afternoon, with the end of Brighton Pier visible in the background.