The City of Brighton & Hove

The City of Brighton and Hove is a modern, vibrant, cosmopolitan "City by the Sea", situated between the beautiful South Downs and the Sussex Coast approximately 60 miles due south of the United Kingdom capital, London.

Brighton has long been one of the UK's biggest and most fashionable seaside towns and is a popular tourist resort with many hotels, restaurants and entertainment facilities together with a considerable business conference industry.

Originally known as the modest fishing village of Brighthelmstone, this city has strong connections with the past with it's regency architecture, Victorian Sea Life Centre, Brighton Pier, and of course The Royal Pavilion. By 1825 after Dr Richard Russell extolled the virtues of bathing in and drinking seawater, Brighton was born as a fashionable seaside resort.

Now it is a contemporary metropolis, with diverse shopping from Churchill Square and Western Road, to The Lanes and bohemian North Lanes, London Road and St James Street, Church Street and George Street in Hove. There is a new state of the art Library, restaurants, bars and clubs to suit every taste, theatres, cinemas, 10-pin bowling and casinos.  In addition there are 2 universities, and a wide variety of sporting activities, including successful cricket, and football teams, and even a racecourse and greyhound stadium.

Another unique and historical attraction is Volks Railway, the oldest operating electric railway in the world.  Created in 1883 by Magnus Volk, this 1 ¼ mile track links the Aquarium and Pier with Brighton Marina, with a half way stop near the children's playground.

Brighton & Hove were awarded their first ever Blue Flag award in 2007 for its beaches at Hove Lawns and West Street.  These guarantee that they are litter free and have clean swimming water.  There is also a discreet naturist beach at Dukes Mound near Brighton Marina.

After a visit to Brighton Pier what better way to continue than with a stroll along the beachfront and down to the boardwalk.  Here you can find the artists' quarter and fishing museum.  There is a traditional carrousel and various bars, clubs and restaurants under these historic arches.  Further along the seafront you will discover a children's playground, paddling pool and volleyball court.

From here you come face to face with the remaining wreck of the West Pier.  This was originally built in 1866, has been lying derelict since 1975, and was destroyed by arson attacks in 2002. Although certain pieces from this Grade I listed building were removed and have been kept in storage.

Adjacent to Brighton Pier is the Brighton Sea Life Centre dating back to 1872, which features an ever changing and updating variety of sea creatures.

Further east along the coast road is Brighton Marina, a hive of activity with many attractions for a great day out.

Brighton is a centre for the arts and culture, nowhere more so than at the Theatre Royal in New Road.  This Grade II listed building opened on 27^th June 1807 with a performance of Hamlet, and is currently celebrating its 200 year anniversary. This culminated in a visit from H.M The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who toured the theatre, watched a concert celebrating the anniversary of the Theatre and also enjoyed a performance of a bicycle ballet from the balcony.  The theatre is used regularly throughout the year, hosts a popular festive pantomime, and is favoured as a pre West End venue.

A short walk from the Theatre Royal is Brighton's wonderful new Jubilee Library opened on 3^rd March 2005 (World Book Day) and also visited by the Queen on her visit to the city in March 2007. This award winning, eco friendly £14million library is at the heart of the Jubilee Square development.  This glass-fronted building is one of the most energy efficient buildings in the country utilising solar and wind power.  The ground floor contains an extensive range of fiction, large print and audio books, music CDs and DVDs.  There is also a large children's area at the rear containing picture books, fiction, videos, DVDs and audio books. There is a collection of teenage fiction, together with GCSE revision guides. They also hold Playstation tournaments. There are regular story time, Baby Boogie and Rock n Rhyme sessions.  There is a large IT Centre with free Internet access, which holds silver surfer sessions with Internet tutorial sessions for the over 50s. The upper floor is home to the reference section and conference rooms that are available to hire.  In addition to this flagship library there are many branch libraries throughout the districts of this city.

The city boasts two universities. At Falmer there is the University of Sussex founded in the 1960s and designed mainly by Sir Basil Spence, it has become a leading teaching and research institution.  It is the only university in England located entirely in a designated area of outstanding natural beauty.

The University of Brighton received university designation in 1992. It has been making steady progress ever since and has become one of the country's leading vocational universities. It has 5 campuses, 3 in Brighton at Grand Parade, Moulsecoomb and Falmer, 1 in Eastbourne and 1 in Hastings.

Brighton is an excellent shopping venue. There is Churchill Square which has undergone a £90 million redevelopment and extension completed in 1998.  There are 85 big name retail outlets over 2 floors with a further floor providing 5 restaurants/cafes.  There are 1600 parking spaces provided in 2 car parks adjoining the complex.  This leads on to Western Road with further high street chains represented.  The 17^th century Lanes is the oldest area of Brighton and comprises primarily jewellery, designer clothes and gift shops with a good selection of restaurants and bars. The North Lanes provide a more bohemian area with a unique range of individual shops full of character.  This pedestrianised area also has many pubs and restaurants and is an excellent area for a relaxed and interesting shopping experience. It is also home to the Komedia Theatre Complex. There are further shopping areas in London Road, St James Street and in George Street and Portland Road in Hove.

Brighton and Hove is home to a host of parks and gardens. Preston Park and Rock Garden on London Road was opened in 1884 and comprises 63 acres. Its facilities include 6 bowling greens, 12 tennis courts, children's play area, a garden for the blind and the Rotunda café.  The Rock Garden situated on the other side of London Road is the largest municipal rockery in Britain and is built with 1350 tons of Cheddar Stone. The most central park in Brighton is Queens Park, which has a duck pond, children's play area and sandpit, café, 4 tennis courts and a bowling green. The Level is situated between London Road and Lewes Road and has a children's play area, café and in the summer a paddling pool, and a skateboard run. Hove Park has something for all the family with facilities for football, rugby, bowls and tennis.  There is a café and children's playground and at certain times there is a miniature railway in operation. Further parks can be found at: Devil's Dyke, Kipling Gardens (Rottingdean), Moulsecoomb Wild Park, St Ann's Well Gardens, Stanmer Park and Withdean Park.

Sport is well represented and provided for throughout the City.

Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club was founded in 1901 and currently play in the First Division.  Home games are played at Withdean Stadium, although plans are under consideration to build a new stadium at Falmer. Micky Adams manages the team and the club chairman is Dick Knight.

There is the highly successful Sussex County Cricket Club were double champions in the 2006 season and are based at Eaton Road in Hove.

Brighton Racecourse is situated on top of the Downs above Brighton Marina and holds approx 20 race meetings per year as well as various events.

Brighton & Hove Greyhound stadium (home of racing legend Ballyregan Bob) is situated in Nevill Road, Hove and is recognised as one of the most scenic and of all greyhound stadia in Britain. The big oval sweeping circuit is recognised by many experts as being one of the fastest and safest tests of the racing greyhound today.

Opened in 1930 Hove Lagoon caters for a variety of water sports including windsurfing, yachting and dinghy sailing.

Further sporting opportunities are offered at Sussex County Lawn Tennis Association, Mid Sussex Golf Club and Brighton Squash Club amongst others.

Preston Manor is an Edwardian gentry home in the upstairs, downstairs tradition. This old manor house was rebuilt in 1738 and added to in 1905.  It has more than 20 rooms over four floors and includes servants quarters, kitchens and butler's pantry, children's day nursery. Outside the walled garden includes a pet cemetery.

The Brighton Museum and Art Gallery is situated in the Royal Pavilion Gardens. It has undergone a £10million redevelopment and its improved galleries now include interactive technology. Collections include: decorative art, world art, natural sciences, local history, costume, fine art, archaeology, musical instruments, media and film and toys. Admission to this interesting and educational establishment is free.

Hove Museum and Art Gallery situated in New Church Road also offers free admission.  Displays include the toy gallery, film gallery, contemporary crafts, local history and paintings.  The month of June has seen the return to the grounds of the extensively refurbished Jaipur Gate, which was originally donated to Hove Museum in 1926. It was originally made for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886.

Foredown Tower is an Edwardian water tower built in 1909. With its extensive views across the Sussex Downs, it is a centre for the study of science, nature and the environment. It has a camera obscura (one of only two in South East England) to observe the landscape, sun and sky. The Foredown Tower Countryside Centre organizes activities for children about nature and astronomy.

West Blatchington Windmill is a Grade II listed building.  Information details the history of this refurbished mill and the history of milling.

Originally created by Victorian ornithologist Edward Booth in 1874 the Booth Museum of Natural History contains over half a million specimens of taxidermy. A skill developed by the Victorians. Its collection also includes butterflies and beetles from all over the world, together with skeletons ranging from a pygmy shrew to a killer whale. There are 140 million year old dinosaur bones and a fossil fish that is over 85 million years old. There is a discovery gallery where children can touch artefacts including a dinosaur bone and shark teeth. Admission to this fascinating attraction is free.

To the east of the city lies historic Rottingdean, a charming village dating back to early Saxon times (although recent evidence has highlighted the existence of a Neolithic settlement).  Rottingdean features in the Domesday Book, produced in 1086 described then as a small settlement with approximately 10 families.  Complete with a small village pond around which much of the early life was centred and a windmill on Beacon Hill (built in 1802), which ground the corn for the village for almost eighty years.  Even today Rottingdean provides an attractive contrast to the hustle and bustle of city life.