The Quintessential Seaside Resort

Well, after a couple of days of sitting around, hiking through airports, heaving baggage hither and yon, and working up a sweat in unseasonably warm weather, I have arrived at the first main stop of my trip in England.  Originally a tiny fishing village known as Brighthelmstone, it was discovered by the fashionable world (and especially by the Prince Regent) during the period known as the Regency (between 1811 and 1820).  Of course, today the name is shortened down to the considerably easier form of "Brighton".

Only in England would you find such quintessential sights as a seafront vendor selling whelks, a pleasure pier complete with an amusement park at the end, a giant Ferris wheel rubbing shoulders with a rally for Volkswagen vans, and a royal palace covered with Indian domes.

Start with the palace: the Royal Pavilion.  This was the Prince Regent's fantasy of a getaway from the rigours of his duties in London.  It was begun in 1787, on a small scale, and then rebuilt on a much larger scale in the 1820s.  The architecture is a fantastic take on the architecture popular in India during that time.  The interiors are a mixture of Indian and Chinese styles.  The Pavilion is notable for the lightness and airy feelings of its interiors, compared to many European royal palaces where the decor is ponderous and overwhelming.

The Pavilion is surrounded by gardens which have been extensively recreated according to the style and taste of Regency times, and with the same species of plants and shrubs that were used for the original owner.

Leaving the Pavilion, you walk south through a district known as The Lanes.  It's an area of narrow twisting alleyways, now lined with unusual boutiques and restaurants.  It's easy to see from the look of the buildings that this area was built up before the invention of urban planning!

It only takes about two minutes before you arrive at the sea front.  Brighton has long been renowned as a beach resort, but it may come as a shock to some visitors when they realize that the only sand is on the beach volleyball court!  The beach itself is a gigantic heap of rounded stones, making a distinctive crunching sound whenever you walk on them.  Sticking out into the turbulent waters of the English Channel is the Brighton Pier, most famous of all the pleasure piers of Britain's seaside resort towns.  Yes, that really is an amusement park with a roller coaster at the seaward end of the pier!

A short distance to the west you see standing in the water the skeletal remains of the West Pier which was destroyed by fire some years ago, after having stood empty for decades.  Old photographs show that the West Pier in its heyday exhibited the very height of Victorian decorative excess.  A cleaner, less elaborate style can be seen on the facade of the nearby Grand Hotel, one of many heritage buildings standing along the waterfront here.

The entire length of the waterfront is lined with multiple levels of pedestrian walking areas according to the height of the shoreline at any given point.  There's also a bicycle path and roadways for cars.  Right near the Pier is the Ferris wheel, which gives a good view of the city and ocean.

In this photo you can see the parking area a little way beyond already well-filled with Volkswagen vans, with more arriving.  I don't know what the event was, but assume it was some kind of rally for owners of these now-classic vehicles!

I covered a fair bit of ground this morning before the sky clouded right over and the rain moved in.  Over the next couple of days, I'll be using Brighton as a base for some side trips around the south coast region of England.