Brighton in the sun.

Yesterday was the first warm day of the year - the first time I wasn't freezing cold since the autumn.

We went out for the afternoon to Brighton.  

It's never really been my favourite place. Too much of a rip off and just a little bit sleazy really.

But there's a very fine pier;

........and everything you could want from a traditional seaside resort;

And of course, where else would you want to go if you are a MOD?

But Brighton has always been a bit sinister, a bit violent just as in Graham Greene's novel 'Brighton Rock', set amongst the 1930's razor gangs and the 'Bookmakers Protection League' gang wars up at the race track.

We had a walk along the seafront but I was suffering a bit - feeling ill and with a nosebleed for a lot of the time.

Still, I cheered up when I saw The Grand Hotel, site of the assassination attempt on Margaret Thatcher.

Thatcher destroyed so many peoples lives, that I can't help wondering every so often, how life would have turned out if the IRA had been a little more accurate in 1984.

We wandered off and walked around 'The Laines', a little rabbit warren of old streets which used to be the centre of the antiques trade on the south coast.

These days it's mainly jewellery and posh, scented shops.

We looked into the excellent Fisherman's Museum which has taken over a couple of the arches on the seafront;

Although we disgraced ourselves by falling about laughing at some old cine film they were showing.

I can recommend it as probably the best tourist attraction in the city.

I couldn't resist a look at Volks Electric railway, which runs along the seafront.

It's now the oldest surviving electric railway in the world having been built in 1883.

It's a big part of summer on the seafront;

Although it's a struggle to keep it open these days;

I've grumbled about Brighton; the tourists, the whole rip-off of it all.

What I like is the alternative Brighton - Gay and Lesbian Brighton, skateboard punk rockers, a slightly crazy Brighton.

I like galleries and art shops that sell things like this;

Or bags like this;

And I like graffiti artists, although there wasn't as much as I remember. I did like this;

Quite a lot;

I ended up collapsed on the pier just soaking up the sun until at 5-30 (like Cinderella) we had to leave.

I am the lucky holder of a disabled parking badge these days and we were able to park on the seafront, free of charge for 3 hours.

You have no idea what a luxury that is, until you have to walk back to the car!

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me; neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

32000 Thanx from Seaford.

Having wasted Tuesday at Hospital we were determined to go out on Wednesday and the nice weather lasted for us....just.

We got up late and made a picnic to take from the easiest things to hand....I boiled up pasta and threw in one of my tomatoey, garlicky, oniony sauces from the freezer. Then Robyn made 'Angel Delight'.

Hey, we're on holiday!

We went to the seaside - to Seaford just next to Newhaven and Brighton. It's like Brighton before it became Brighton. It's got the same beach;

It's got the same sea;

But it's just a little town by the sea;



But it has it's very own white, chalk cliffs and even a sea stack;

This is the chalk close up - if you have a microsope it's easy to see that the chalk is made up of billions of skeletons of microscopic algae that swam in a warm sea millions of years ago. We get algal blooms every summer around Britain that you can see on satellite photos.

But here you can see the layers of flint - the dark rocks in rows amongst the chalk;

No one knows what made these hard, glassy stones that turn up in regular layers. It means that there were distinct geological periods when something was laid down and then squeezed together by the algal remains. Who knows? 

Here's a long distance view of the cliff and in front of it is a very well preserved 'Martello Tower'. This is one of a long line of forts built to protect against a sea borne invasion by Napoleon's army. This one is also a museum but it wasn't open when we were there. There's a period cannon on the roof;

 



I've no idea who wrote this message in chalk; 

But a number of today's photo's were taken by my Art Director; Robyn G. May;

 

 

It was cold but really bright - a fabulous blue sky and at Seaford you can park on the seafront for free.

 

On the way back we stopped at a little café by the tower and ate delicious 'bread Pudding' which (weirdly) is both a very old fashioned English pudding and is also 'Soulfood'!

 

Who would have thought that?

 

A good day.

 

Then, getting increasingly desperate I ended up injecting my self in the car on the seafront at Eastbourne.

 

They won't like that!

 

Oh and thank you all for taking us to 32000 hits.

 

It's appreciated.

 

Neil Harris

 

(a don't stop till you drop production)

 

 

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

 

Contact me:  neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

 



In wonder at the spring.

(ROADTRIP)

Compared to yesterday, Thursday was a good day; things began to work out for me and I was able to escape again in the afternoon.

Oh there is gorse on Ditchling

All golden in the sun

And sweeping slopes of Downland

Where good cloud shadows run

And Caborn silver-misted

And Chancton’s sunset ring

And little Clayton laughing

In wonder at the spring

 

The narrow road to Ditchling

The old white road I love –

There’s open Down beside it

And open sky above

Unlorded, brave and lonely

It runs from end to end

The Skylark for companion

The sea-wind for a friend

 

Ditchling Beacon

Alfred Norman

1917

I took the Brighton road, always a thrill in itself (hey, I'm a MOD)– down to the sea!  Turning off at Pyecombe, do I go right to Ditchling Beacon or left to Jack and Jill? Jack and Jill won.

A pair of disused windmills; Jack is the dull one at the back – now a private house. Jill, in white, was looking very fine, although not open to the public when I was there.

The sky was the very bluest of blues, the only clouds were the vapour trails of planes. A bright sun but with a stubborn March chill, up on the Downs winter is hanging on.

I let my feet follow the bridle way along The South Downs Way, the route of the old Drove road that once took the sheep to market.

Today I am walking from the windmills to the beacon, heading east (I'm 'Eastbourne') with the sun on my shoulders. A bag on my back, a banana, a slice of cake and a bottle of pop. No better feeling in the world, I could walk on forever. I'm 11 years old.

 

There was a mist, so I couldn’t see the sea but I could hear the gulls, even above the sound of a farmer harrowing and following the rolling contours of the Downs with his tractor. There was a light breeze in from the sea. There were sheep and a shepherd on his quad bike.

Under my feet a flinty path or springy downland grass. Here and there white chalk. Lungfulls of fresh air, as I struggled up hill and down until I got to the beacon where you can see the whole world.

If you like 'The Snowman', this is where the boy and the snowman fly before they get to the sea.

 

After a while I turned back, this time with the sun in my eyes. Spring is still a while away – the gorse was only just starting to flower yellow on the hills. The swooping swallows and swifts I love so much have not yet begun their incredible journeys from Africa – too early for the insects they catch. No skylarks today.

And after? I swooped down to the seafront for a look at the sea – it’s been years now. But, when I got there I got a sea fog, blanking out everything.

Ironically, when I rushed off I forgot a hypodermic – I didn’t go back to get one because I'd assumed I wouldn’t be able to find anywhere to do an injection. Brighton may be tolerant but it isn’t that tolerant and I didn't fancy 12 hours in a police station, explaining.

In fact, with the fog, I could have stood on the beach, dropped my trousers, stuck a needle in my thigh and no one would have ever known!

Still a good day.

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

Click on a picture for a slideshow.

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact: neilwithpromisestokeep@blogspot.com