The City Council pledges to save Saltdean Lido

A pledge to secure the future of Saltdean Lido has been made today by Brighton & Hove City Council’s new administration.

The pledge was made by Councillor Geoffrey Bowden in response to residents’ concerns about the future of the iconic Grade 2 listed pool. 
“The council shares everyone’s passion for the Lido,” said Councillor Bowden.  “The argument is not about whether we save it – we all agree that we must.  The debate is about how best to do it.
 
“Going through the courts will be expensive, slow and, ultimately, may not work.
 
“The situation is very complex and we have a duty to be legally fair to everyone, including the current leaseholder.  However, we are determined to work with all those involved to protect and enhance the Lido for the future.”

From a council press release.
Save Saltdean Lido Campaign

In memory of the trolley bus

A Brighton Trolley bus at Fiveways

50 years ago today the last Brighton trolley bus ran its last journey back to the depot in Lewes Road; unhitched its poles and sat waiting for the scrapman. With that, the dismantling of the extensive infrastructure of overhead lines was set to begin. It is remarkable that 50 years on many of us still look back on the trolleybus era as embodying something  highly desirable, a "modern" & efficient form of city transport, yet regrettably consigned to the past like the moon-landings. 

Anyone who has ever travelled in these excellent vehicles will remember the quiet, vibration-free ride they provided.  Their smooth powerful acceleration away from stops, even up hills such as Elm Grove, was such that passengers could feel themselves being pressed back into their seats. This is not a sensation one is familiar with even on the most modern of diesel buses. Trolley buses  were clean and efficient and transferred all air pollution to the power station so that, if still in use today, they would gradually become greener concomitant with the means of energy production.

Trolleybuses were scrapped because with dropping passenger numbers they had begun operating at a loss. They were also said to lack flexibility as there was a limit to the number of buses you could have operating on the same route at the same time. One wonders however if the system might have been rejuvenated if, by some quirk of history, the overhead line system had been preserved for a few decades. The modern preoccupation with sustainability and pollution control could have provided just the incentive to look again at the trolleybus; and to design a modern version incorporating similar technical innovations to those used in hybrid vehicles.

The bandstand - before & after

2003

2011

The Brighton Society campaigned for 30 years for the restoration of the Bandstand. In the city council election year 1997 a local pressure group of Hove residents added their voice, and a new Conservative administration came to office promising to take action where the previous administration had failed. The restoration was duly carried out at a cost of nearly £1M, whereas if the job had been tackled years before, the cost would have only been of the order of £200K.

The surrounding area was also reorganised and refurbished and the mosaic paving abandoned in favour of resin-bonded coloured glass. The bandstand was officially reopened in 2009.

The Greens came to power this year, although without an overall majority, promising to restore and enhance the Valley Gardens area. It will be interesting to see if they can follow through.

Earlier posts:-
The Bandstand restored.
Brighton Bandstand.

The 1911 coronation

100 years ago, on the 22 June 1911, the country awoke on the coronation day of King George V and Queen Mary and it seems that Brighton had eagerly seized on the excuse for a celebration.

Read more: Royal Pavilion & Brighton Museums.

Unfortunately, someone forgot to inform the weatherman; not only did the sun not shine but the celebrations were shrouded in mist throughout.

Portslade Village on the cusp of change

Portslade Village in 1840, the same year that Portslade Railway Station opened and sparked urban development south to Copperas Gap and north to the Old Shoreham Road, eventually engulfing the village itself. The viewpoint appears to have been the Easthill.

By 1881 Portslade Farm, seen in the middle distance, was occupied by Martin Broomfield, his wife and 8 children, and the farm was being turned to market gardening to supply the burgeoning conurbations of Brighton, Hove & Portslade. Martin, descended from Sussex yeoman farmers had moved to Portslade in 1868 from Crawley Down, where he had been a Farm Bailey. He was a church worker, a keen cricketer and became a respected member of the Portslade community. His eldest son Martin opened a greengrocer's shop in Sydney Street, Brighton where he died early by falling through a trap-door. His youngest son Percy became a brick-layer, and was employed on the construction of Shoreham A Power Station. Percy's son Reginald also became a brick-layer, was employed on Shoreham B Power Station, and lived to see its last chimney fall from the viewpoint of his back garden in Southwick. Such is life. . . . . 

The painting which is on display in Hove Museum was by William Henry Earp, b.1831, who lived in Brighton and died in 1914.