For those who weren’t paying attention (tsk tsk), I live in Brighton, UK. Well, Hove actually – the two small towns overlap and were awarded the title The City of Brighton and Hove for the millennium. Brighton is on the south coast, and just a 40 minute train ride from London – so there’s no excuse not to visit if you’re visiting the UK from abroad!
There’s no other way to say it: I love Brighton and I can’t stop going on about it. So here’s my little love letter to the beautiful city I’ve called home for the last five years.
Dear Brighton,
You need to know that I love you. Like NYC to Carrie, you are the love of my life and I don’t know what I would be without you. I first met you, gosh, about ten years ago when I came to visit friends in university holidays. I was instantly smitten by your beauty and character, and you were always at the back of my mind from that moment on. Over the years, lots of my friends fell under your thrall and gravitated to your clutches so it was only a matter of time before I did so myself. Yes, I admit it took a catastrophic break up to get me there, but I was always going to end up with you.
How you wooed me
You wooed me with your charm, beauty and your ability to keep me distracted. No other city has so much going on – from White Night celebrating the extra hour when the clocks go back, to the month-long Brighton Festival and accompanying Fringe; through countless beach BBQs, quiz nights, lazy Sunday roasts and one-day festivals. You offer enough theatre, comedy and gigs to keep your inhabitants triple-booked every night all year. Your eccentricities endear you to all who visit; from the Duke of York’s – the country’s first purpose-built cinema with giant legs kicking their way out of the roof; the beautifully out of place oriental Brighton Pavilion; the Brighton Pier and the burnt-down West Pier that houses thousands of starlings and their dance practice. Your nightlife is legendary and you offer a restaurant for any occasion and budget.
Your shops, oh the Brighton shops
You have massive vintage warehouses, sprawling flea markets, tiny boutiques and numerous charity shops. The high-end designers have their place on and around East St, and Western Road and Churchill Square cover just about every high street outlet you can think of. Your bohemian North Laine is the place to go for quirky cafes, tattoo parlours, falafel houses, takeaway noodles and alternative clothing stores. Your famous jewellery industry is clustered in the tiny cobbled streets of your South Lanes, and draws people from all over the UK. The combination of your artistic flair and embracing of digital media is well represented by these jewellery shops. They may look traditional to the casual observer but they would simply not last in this economy without making the effort with Twitter, blogs and up-to-the-minute websites. For typical Brighton, one just needs to look at Union Jewellery on Union street – the perfect example of a thriving business based on carefully-selected gorgeous products and a savvy marketing technique that demonstrates a true love of fashion and industry knowledge. Brighton, you not only have something for everyone, but all your parts work together.
What you’ve done for me
Speaking of something for everyone, that takes me to the main reason I love you. You make me feel like I am truly myself for the first time, but also part of something bigger. I fit in. I am part of a whole yet I get to be individual. Someone once told me that you can’t stand out in Brighton – when everyone is different then we quickly stop shocking each other. We have every culture here, every sexuality and people from every walk of life. Perhaps your infamy for laid-back acceptance of the gay community is the cause, or perhaps it’s just another effect of your accepting character.
Now, Brighton, you are not perfect. You have poverty, you have homelessness. You have snobbery and of course nowhere is without prejudice. But which city doesn’t have those things? The main thing is that you do your best and, for the most part, you are going in the right direction. You have the first Green Party M.P. in the UK. You have the aforementioned unequalled reputation for accepting all sexualities and cultures. You have numerous schemes to help the homeless and disadvantaged. I love you because you try and because you have brought out the best in me. Never before have I felt so accepted, and I truly never thought I’d find a love like this. So I thank you.
Liza xxx
Image via The Telegraph Travel.
Hi Kate, Brighton understands and looks forward to having you back!
I’ve recently moved from Brighton to Canada (having spent 4 years living just around the corner from Waitrose on Western Road) and I miss it terribly. I miss my friends, evening walks along the seafront trying to decide which of the beautiful regency houses I’d like to live in, Bankers fish and chips on the beach and endless evenings spent in the endless number of fantastic pubs. I’m sorry Brighton, i promise this Canada thing is only a fling. I’ll be back soon.
I just discovered your posts while sipping a cup of tea (loved your tea article) and now I’m loving this letter – I spent a year in Brighton (at Uni of Sussex) 2 years ago and I’m finally going back next week!!! I can’t wait to be back, thanks for this!
I will be back in England this May/June and you have inspired me to make a trip to Brighton! Thanks for that, I can’t wait!
Love it! Best thing about Brighton is Scoop & Crumb, no question!
Thanks for the responses, it made me even more proud of our little city! And I am glad someone picked up on the ‘Hove, actually’ – I’m looking at you, Carrie Ann! x
Originally from NJ, I moved to Brighton for an exchange year and never left!!! I decided to transfer after my first term at the University of Sussex and I have never felt so at home!!! From open mic nights and fabulous gigs, to this month’s science fair, Brighton has everything I love!!! I am so glad you wrote about this :0) I’d like to give a shout out to the little boutique I work in every sunday (except this one) called Charlie Barley!!! It’s a children’s clothing store on meeting house lane (right near the homeless man who makes origami- only in brighton!) and it just fantastic!! Every sunday I get to walk through the north laines and pass by the beautiful pavilion and I appreciate Brighton more and more every time!!!
YAY BRIGHTON! xxx
I live in Worthing so I’m in Brighton all the time. Hopefully going to move a bit closer at some point
You’ll normally find me in Fabric Land!
My friends live in Hove actually too
I’m from nearby Lewes but I was born in Brighton and I consider it my unofficial hometown. Can’t beat it and always miss it when I’m away, so pleased it’s on Hello Giggles
I’ve been to Brighton when I was younger a couple of times. My Dad’s from Southampton (Mum’s from near Cambridge), so we used to go back to England for about 3 months every 4 or so years to visit all the rellies (because I’m an Aussie). I remember the “beach” (well what the Brits call a beach I call a bunch of stones and the sea
). But I remember I always loved going to the Piers (Brighton and Southampton) and playing the penny machines (yeah we were taught how to gamble young hehe). We also went to Butlins one summer – which I believe is somewhere down near Brighton. I would love to go back some day when I go back to the UK.
I lived in Brighton for a year while on exchange at Sussex Uni. I really miss it! You nailed it, though – you can really feel the freedom to be yourself and to still fit in. I’ve never felt more free and willing to try new, crazy, awesome things than during that year. I made some terrific and terrible fashion decisions, traveled to twenty countries, hitch hiked to Morocco, took up running, yoga, and photography… ugh, I miss the Laines and the beach, and pretty farmland just thinking about it!
I haven’t been to Brighton in almost 10 years and this letter made me smile so much!!The first time I went there it was the Gay Pride Parade and I’d never had so much fun in my life! Even though I am not gay,I felt so at home, people are very nice and kind. I got lost in Brighton once when I was there with a group of friends and it was the most wonderful experience! i went to this tiny shop that was on a basement and it was so bohemian that Brighton became my favourite city in England, even though I was living in Cambridge City….Thank you so much for this letter! it is, for lack of a better word, perfect.
I’ve always wanted to go to Brighton, because Lydia got to go! (I’ve always identified with Kitty Bennet. Poor girl!)
The picture reminded me of Barry Beach. No one but me apparently loves Barry (in Wales) but it was one of the first places I went in the UK. It was winter and gray and the wind was cold but it will forever be my favorite place in my lil cannuck heart.
I’m from the U.S. but I studied abroad in Kingston for a semester, and our first weekend there we took a trip to Brighton. I love it there, every single turn is so amazingly unique. It reminds me a lot of a town by me, Cape May, New Jersey. You’re lucky to get to live there!
I really understand how you feel, I’m from barcelona, but since I visited Brighton i felt completely in love with it, I hope I can live there some day.