A Plaque to Mercedes Gleitze

 

A remarkable female athlete was commemorated today with the unveiling of a plaque at 124 Freshfield Road by the City Mayor.  

In 1927 Mercedes became the first British woman to swim the English Channel and in the following year the first person to swim the Straits of Gibralter. Other sponsored long distant and endurance swims followed, and in 1933 Mercedes used the funds generated to set up the first Gleitze Home for destitute people. The charity's work continues to this day.

A film "Vindication Swim" dealing with Mercedes' exploits in the English Channel is to be released later this year. The unveiling ceremony was attended by the film's star Kirsten Callaghan and director Elliot Hasler (photos below).

A Plaque to Rabindranath Tagore

A plaque was unveiled by the City Mayor today at 7 Ship Street to commemorate Rabindranath's connection with the city. Brighton & Hove was the first place he lived in outside of India. Rabindranath was born into a wealthy Bengali Brahmin family and built on and transcended these roots, embracing universalism and humanism. He became a poet, philospher, novelist, visual artist, composer and activist. In 1913 he became the first non-westerner to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and in 1915 he was knighted by King George V for his services to literature.

Addresses were given by:-

Roger Amerena, Chairman of the Brighton & Hove Commemorative Plaque Panel.

Her Excellency the High Commissioner for Bangladesh.

Dr Kalyan Kundu, Tagore Centre UK.

Professor Shahaduz Zaman University of Sussex.

Dr Jeanne Openshaw, University of Edinburgh.

The Salvation Army Band provided welcoming music and the National Anthems.

A Plaque to Elizabeth Robins and Octavia Wilberforce

This plaque has now been installed at 24 Montpelier Crescent. Due to infection control measures it was deemed unadvisable to hold an unveiling ceremony. 

Elizabeth Robbins was born in America and moved to London in September 1888. She had a very active and eventful life, great success as an actor and wrote as C.E. Raimond. She met Octavia Wilberforce in 1909. 

Partly supported by Elizabeth and against strong parental oppositions Octavia entered the London School of Medicine for Women in 1913, qualifying in 1920. She entered general practice in Brighton  and ran a women's shelter near Henfield. Octavia was friendly with members of the Bloomsbury Group and treated Virginia Woolf's mental illness towards the end of Woolf's life. She retired in 1954.

Smuggler's Cottage, Rottingdean

The semi-detached cottage shown on the left in the above postcard (see also: Rottingdean) was at one time known as '"Smuggler's Cottage".

The photo on the right shows it in 1957 with a curious object above the downstairs window. It has been suggested that this was an air-raid siren left in place after the war but it seems to be the wrong shape for that.  Closer inspection reveals what might be decorative features and a hint that it is barrel-shaped. Was it in fact an ornamental brandy-barrel displayed as a nod to the smuggler's trade and in lieu of a conventional house nameplate?

 

Restore the Stanmer Palm House.

The Palm House

Since 2019 Plumpton Agricultural College and BHCC with partners have been working to restore  Stanmer's Victorian walled garden, build a new Horticultural Centre of Excellence and open as 'One Garden Brighton' which will be a destination garden for the community. After laying abandoned for years the work is now complete and the garden is open to the public for the first time in its history.

The Palm House, near the gates of One Garden Brighton, is one of only three remaining of its kind in England. They were built in the 1950s for local councils and were originally heated. The Walled Garden during this time was a nursery for Brighton & Hove City Council and a space to grow plants for the city parks. 

The Palm House has not been a part of the original restoration project and the ambition is to now restore it and open it for the public to enjoy. This will involve refitting the heating system and reglazing the glass so that it can house exotic plants. Plans include adding a vaulted walkway with viewing platforms and an educational experience showcasing a wide variety of plant species. A mini Kew on our doorstep in fact.

To help get this project underway One Garden Brighton has opened a crowdfunder with a target of £500,000. 

To contribute go to 'Palm House Restoration'. 

Follow "One Garden Brighton' on facebook.