A London to Brighton record

A model of the coach "Old Times" owned by Henry Wyndham, 2nd Lord Leconfield. In this coach on July 14th 1888 James Selby drove from Piccadilly London to the Old Ship  in Brighton and back in 7 hours 50 minutes and so won a £1000 wager*. His average speed  including changing horses must have been about 12 mph. Presumably between stops he was bowling along at about 15. The turnaround at the Old Ship must have been particularly dramatic. 

The all-time record for a single journey had been set 65 years earlier when the "Criterion" drove from London to Brighton in 3 hours 40 minutes. Those were the days . . . 

James died the same year aged 44.

*From "The Brighton Road" by Charles Harper.

16 Ship Street

In the heart of the old town this rather neglected looking property was once the home and offices of distinguished Victorian architect Thomas Simpson. He is shown to be in occupation in the 1871 census and died there in 1908. His name has come to the fore due to the recent listing, by English Heritage, of the Connaught Road School in Hove for which he was the architect.  The application for listing was made by the Brighton Society based on the extensive research work of member Ninka Wilcox.

Thomas Simpson was appointed Surveyor and Architect to the Brighton & Preston School Board in 1871. He went on to design - later in collaboration with his sons - all the Brighton Board Schools except Richmond Street, He designed many in Hove and Portslade too. Downs Primary and St. Luke's, both listed, are particularly fine examples of his work. Connaught Road School is the only example of his Queen Anne style in Hove. It is fair to say that nearly everyone who has been to school in Brighton has to some extent been touched by Thomas Simpson's work.

Thomas Simpson seems to have founded something of a family dynasty. His younger son Gilbert Murray carried on as Surveyor and Architect to Brighton Education Committee until his retirement in 1945. His eldest son John became president of the RIBA in 1919, was knighted in 1924, and, among many other prestigious assignments, designed Roedean School.

The Royal Alexandra saved

After years of struggle by local concerned residents this landmark building has been finally saved. The Council's Planning Brief for the development of this site, which requires retention of the main block shown above and possible retention of the Victorian villa on Dyke Road, has today been signed off by Cllr. Theobald, Cabinet Member for Environment.

Please can we have the flagpole back?

Imperial Arcade was originally built in 1923 on the site of the North Street Brewery, but was rebuilt in 1934 with the adjoining Arcade Buildings added in the style of the day, resembling the prow of a ship*. It has mounting brackets for 4 flagpoles, 3 on the Western Road side and another at this visually important elevation. The brackets appear to be made of bronze and in good condition except the upper mounts are missing the clamping piece. I wonder if they were safely stored or sold for scrap?

To my eye the whole design ethos of the building appears to have been woefully frustrated by the loss of its poles, with or without flags.

*From "the Encyclopaedia of Brighton" by Timothy Carder.

City loos

Someone has just written to the Argus complaining about lack of public toilets in Brighton and Hove. This may have been a justified criticism several decades ago but is surely not the case now.

According to the Council's website here there are 48 public toilets in the City plus 20 in public libraries & museums and 16 in buildings open to the public under the "You're welcome" scheme making a total of 84 in all, which seems adequate.

If the difficulty is knowing where they are you can see a location map here or get a hard copy from the Council by emailing cityclean@brightonandhove.org.