Starting out from Hove to Brighton - Part 1

When the great writer Daniel Defoe visited what we now know as Brighton while writing his "A Tour Through the Whole Island of Britain" during the first quarter of the 18th century it was called "Bright Helmston" or more commonly "Bredhempston". He described it as:

"...a poor fishing town, old built and on the very edge of the sea".

From the tone of those words I get the feeling the great author was not too enamoured with the place.

Where we stayed - ughhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For this visit, having got bored with staying in the likes of Travelodges and Premier Inns we decided to try somewhere privately owned through the AirBnB website. This did not turn out to be the wisest of choices. When we stayed in the so called "suite" it fell far short of its description and standards of comfort.

The host has already been named and shamed. The property has been withdrawn from the AirBnB site and at the time of writing has not been relisted. We have received a token refund a token refund of £8.00. By amortising this over the number of hours I spent complaining to AirBnB this works out to an hourly rate of £0.50. It was worth it because by complaining, especially about possible carbon monoxide poisoning, someone else may have been spared being seriously ill. As well as the potential gas issue the bathroom was no bigger than a telephone box, the shower had one temperature; scalding and the fittings were loose and dangerous.

There was no incentive for me to stay in this accommodation so I spent hours outside walking quite a few miles while my wife worked.

Hove

The old part of Hove I referred to is centered on George Street. This street runs north to south and is one way in the same direction. If you are staying near this street the parking overnight here is free from 1600 until 1000 the next morning.

There are the usual national and international names fronting on to the street but there are also several independent and sometimes very niche shops. Well worth an explore and before anyone asks, the car was still there the next morning and untouched. And there were several eateries which were all doing good business every time we were in George Street. Probably the best part of Hove.

Defoe does not mention Hove in his book but he must have gone along its shoreline as he mentions travelling to Shoreham as he says:

"From hence [Brighton], still keeping the coast close on the left, we come to Shoreham..."

His journey, by coach, would have taken place when the ocean posed a real threat to the survival of the town when there was no sea wall or King's Promenade that I was walking along some two hundred years later.

Heading out from Hove

My main explore involved walking from Hove along the seafront to Brighton and back. So yes, I did walk in the footsteps of Defoe. The promenade is punctuated with beach shelters dated from the Victorian era.

The day was what the Scottish people would describe as "dreich"; dull and gloomy with added drizzle that seemed to come from all directions. I didn't feel it was right to take a picture of the first of seven of these shelters. Sadly and a clear sign of our straitened times it was home to at least three people. Small tents were attached to the benches, back packs were bundled around them and carrier bags looked like they held worldly goods.

However bad our accommodation was I still considered ourselves lucky to be staying in a permanent structure and even luckier in the knowledge that we had a permanent home to go to.

To be continued