B'Right-On

1 Conversation

Brighton has charmingly been called 'London by the sea'. This is misleading. There are, of course, elements of London in Brighton but there are elements of London in any city. A good approximation of Brighton is London minus Reading.


Fitting in is easy. Standing out is almost impossible. Identities are created and discarded like bus tickets and you should start by renaming yourself. The name should preferably contain only a few letters and be as obscure as possible. Multi-syllable names are seen as pretentious and tools of The Establishment. To this end Bartholemew can be contracted to Baz (matey) or Lem (obscure and suggestive of 'Lemming' an ironic reference to the blind rush of the consumer society into total planetary oblivion unless a more advanced civilization teaches us The Way -- you need to start thinking in this way).


The seafront at Brighton features two piers, the Palace pier and the West pier. Whilst the West pier is a rusty shell with its lottery fingers crossed; the Palace pier is a traditional, heaving structure laden with large amusement arcades, mini-fairground and all the associated impossible-to-win stalls. Best avoided unless you have a fetish for this kind of thing. Brighton is generally a good place for fetishes. The funny Taj Mahal type building that appears as a motif on lots of stuff and which clearly would never had been built if they had to obtain planning permission is the pavillion. It has nice gardens, often inhabited by the odd musician, juggler or amorous couple.


Other landmarks that should be familiar with include the Station (undergoing eternal reconstruction), the Clock tower and the Universities. Almost any point can be triangulated, with varying success, in terms of these points. Details of the other local train stations (Preston Park, London Road, Moulescoomb and Falmer) are also useful. The trains are antiquated with the classic swing-those-doors design and feel-that-track suspension. Nothing that a lick of corporate paint won't disguise.


Brighton is almost seamlessly joined to Hove along the misleading named Dyke Road. The two are often referred to as one entity in a bid for city status. Think of Hove as the more mature brother of the younger, wilder Brighton. You get the feeling that Hove is waiting for Brighton to 'grow out of it'.


The North Laine (yes, with an 'i') features cool cafes, kooky/kinky komodes and more kitsch than you could push off a pier. Walk down from the road which connects the station and the clock tower. The Lanes are across the road and are more touristy. At all costs avoid the new consumer cathedral Churchill Square unless your life depends upon being able to visit exactly the same stores that you would see anywhere else in the country.


Bookmark on your Personal Space


Conversations About This Entry

Entry

A70778

Infinite Improbability Drive

Infinite Improbability Drive

Read a random Edited Entry


Written and Edited by

Disclaimer

h2g2 is created by h2g2's users, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the Not Panicking Ltd. Unlike Edited Entries, Entries have not been checked by an Editor. If you consider any Entry to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please register a complaint. For any other comments, please visit the Feedback page.

Write an Entry

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."

Write an entry
Read more