Brighton Pier

Piers here seem to be miniature showgrounds open all year round. I think they even used to charge you to go out, but as the years have passed admission has become free. The Brighton Pier first opened in 1899 (replacing an older Chain Pier) and still has some of its original kiosks and iron arches and a signal cannon from the Old Chain Pier. When you walk out on these piers, with a little bit of imagination you can really feel like your back in the 30's & 40's when penny arcades were the big entertainment hot spots, when men and women stood around smoking - not knowing then how bad it was for their health, when Barbershop Quartets sang in red and white suits and kids ate hard boiled sweets and candy floss! Music still plays out on the piers today, but through wired speaker systems, people still eat and drink and chat and enjoy the simple atmosphere, the fresh air and the feeling that comes from being by the seaside! The penny arcades have been replaced with amusement arcades - which are much the same thing - but more technical. A few thrill rides have also been added, but they never appear that popular on the piers, even though there are quite a lot of people about.

I found it interesting to read how the wars affected seaside piers, a section in the middle was often removed to discourage enemy landings! The Brighton Pier boomed after WW2 and was a very popular tourist destination until the 1960's.

Today Brighton Pier is one of the most famous film locations in the world. Lloyds TSB, Coca Cola, Sky TV and Cadbury have all filmed advertisements here. Major feature films such as 'End of the Affair', 'Circus' and 'Mona Lisa' have scenes of the Brighton Pier in them and many TV shows have also been filmed here (none of which I recognise though!).

Our short walk on Brighton Pier was refreshing (and a little chilly, as you can tell from Lani's nose in the picture below) and a nice thing to do before our journey home in the car.

We have seen so many carousels since being here that they no longer seem exciting. Kind of sad really! I'm sure the kids would still love a ride, but it's getting much easier to say "no, not this time girls!"

Princess Jasmine's Castle

After our day at Chessington (and a good nights sleep) we headed to the South East of England to the county of East Sussex - to Brighton and Hove. Brighton became England's first seaside resort and when I saw a photo of the Royal Pavilion in our Eyewitness Travel book I wanted to go and check it out. We all decided it looked a bit like Princess Jasmine's castle from Aladdin - which kept the girls excited!

We decided to go inside and have a look, even though we are just about over looking at stately homes and castles!! I'm glad we did go in though because it was quite different from others we have seen and the inside was really well displayed. It was decorated with fiery dragons and fake bamboo and the rooms, paintings and furniture were all quite stunning. This Lavish Oriental Palace was transformed by John Nash (the same man who designed Regency London) who was employed by the Prince of Wales in 1815 (who became King George IV in 1820).

The audio guide was very interesting and told the story of The Prince of Wales and his love affair with Maria Fitzherbert - who he was not allowed to marry because she was a widowed catholic. Prince George was quite rebellious though and embarked on a life of drinking, womanising and gambling which got him heavily into debt. He secretly married Maria, they lived in the farmhouse in Brighton (which later became the Royal Pavilion) and were quite happy until George's official marriage took place to Caroline of Brunswick (which was demanded by his father in order to get him out of debt). This marriage turned out to be quite disastrous though!

George became Prince Regent in 1811 when his father, King George III was declared mad. The Royal Pavilion which was completed in 1823 became his home. He died in 1830 leaving a rich art collection and an architectural legacy including Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and of course the Royal Pavilion.

We found it quite interesting hearing about Queen Victoria's connection to the Royal Pavilion. She succeeded to the throne in 1837 and visited here often and in 1842 she took up residence here with Prince Albert and their 2 young children. Although, it is said that she never really liked the interior decor, and by 1845 they were moving on because the Pavilion wasn't private enough or big enough for their growing family! Interestingly though Queen Victoria took with her tons and tons of the furniture, wallpapers and carvings from the pavilion! (So it's thought she must not have disliked the decor that much!!!) Some of what she took is now back here on loan from Her Majesty the Queen.

And speaking of Queen Victoria, a few months ago we watched the movie The Young Victoria, starring Emily Blunt and it was EXCELLENT! One of the best 'royal stories' I have seen! Definitely recommend it!