Hove Carnival

For the three previous years in succession the annual May Carnival organised by Hove Lions in Hove Park has been rained-off. Today the weather was dry with an occasional glimpse of sunshine, but not too hot to tempt people to the beach, and, as if to make up for previous years, people turned up in their hundreds. The atmosphere was good, spirits were high and, if the length of the queue at the beer tent was anything to go by, it seems to have been a  successful event.

The Brighton Blasphemy Society

This new society held its first meeting on 19th May. Its goals are:-

"To resist the forces, of religion and state, that seek to curb our freedoms of thought and speech.
We consider all religious dogmas, political ideologies, and the like to be fair game for criticism, ridicule and satire."

Sounds reasonable to me.
It has a Facebook group here, and the contact email is:- polesapartstilts@ntlworld. com

The Dome Foyer opens up . .

The ceiling of the Dome Foyer decorated for the Festival.

Following the success of this venue (which was once the Central Library) during the Festival, it is now to open to the public from 10am – 5pm, Tuesday to Sunday, and Bank Holiday Mondays including 31st May. The Foyer bar is linked with Brighton Museum & Art Gallery and these doors will be open – so you can visit two spectacular venues at once!

A New School for Hove

Announcing a Public Meeting at the Connaught Centre at 1pm on 7th June.

An ePetition has also been posted on the City Council's website :-

"We the undersigned petition the council to lease or buy Connaught School, Hove from City College Brighton, and to immediately return it to Infant School use. Further, in view of its size & capacity, we urge BHCC to consider taking it into Infant Primary use as well in order to provide the continuity so highly valued by parents at Davigdor/Somerhill and at the C of E St. Andrews School. This 125 year-old purpose-built school was taken out of infant school use in the 1970's when pupil numbers fell. City College are now taking it out of its current adult education use; and the future of this Grade 2 Listed school building is now at issue. Any newbuild school will take years to achieve elsewhere, and the current strategy of add-ons is robbing other schools of playspace which is to be resisted."

So far it has 39 signatories.

Brighton Beach in the 19th century

This postcard of Brighton Beach between the Piers shows the typical Brighton 'hogboats' with all sails set. These seem to have favoured yawl rig and had transoms designed to deflect following waves when running ashore. They were beamy fishing boats which turned to providing joy-rides for holiday makers during the summer, the most famous being the "Skylark". Motor driven versions, and small rowed versions like the one seen in the middle distance, were still operating up to the mid-20th century. In the latter case the boat was propelled by a single fisherman rowing from the forward thwart while up to 4 passengers sat in the stern. If there was anything of a swell running it took quite a mixture of skill and luck to disembark them in a reasonably dry condition.