Brighton Things to Do



Adds	Brighton's History Things to do in Brighton for the Lover of History It's an old city Brighton and fortunately, it's one with much of its history preserved. Some of this, like the buildings just sits where it always sat while some is safely stowed away in museums. Getting a Guide There's nothing like getting a good guide to walk you around the history and that's a great idea if you can afford it and you don't mind being frog-marched around behind a raised umbrella. However, you no longer have to do that in Brighton in order to get a running commentary and it's possible to hire an MP3 guide to take you around. The great advantage is, of course, that you are then free to go at your own pace and to stop off for a cuppa when it suits you and your family. For more details <MP3 Walking Tours> Get a New Suit - of Armour! For the militaria lover, a visit to The Lanes Armoury is a must with a difference. It's housed in a three-storey 16th century building and is a treasure trove – it's a museum but not a museum as everything is for sale. The Armoury has been nominated and then short-listed for the British Antique & Collectors Awards as the best Antique Shop in Great Britain and is the latest incarnation of a much older business – Hawkins – which was one of the earliest and largest dealers in Antiques and Collectibles within Europe. It is their specialisation in Arms, Armour, Militaria, and Books which marks them out and creates such a fascinating and fantastic place to visit. You'll see bronze-age swords, suits of armour, guns, revolvers, duelling pistols, American Civil war swords through to medals, right through to World War II weapons, it's all there to be viewed and drooled over. It's not a museum but when you leave, you've had the same experience! Drinking in the Past Of course you'd expect to find historic pubs in an ancient town such as Brighton and the town will not let you down but delight you with its ancient alehouses. The Cricketers on Black Lion St. in The Lanes is said to be the oldest and occupies a site where there has been a hostelry present since 1547. It lists amongst its most-famous residents one Jack the Ripper and the first person to set up as landlord, Derrick Carver was famously burnt at the stake just for holding inappropriate religious beliefs – not a good idea at the time! However, its main claim to fame is its immortalisation in Graham Green's novel 'Brighton Rock'. Another old hostelry, The King and Queen, in Marlborough Place can be found on the Old Steine, in a large historic building. Having a more modern look and dating back just to the 1930's is The Ladies Mile in Mackie Avenue (Patcham) and this still retains some of the original features from the thirties. For more on Brighton's Pubs... Brighton's Pubs Travel the Seafront like a True Victorian If 'What the Victorians did for us' excites you then you should take a trip on the Volks Electric Railway. This was one of the first electric passenger-carrying railways in the world – the first in Britain - being created in 1883 by Magnus Volk and is the oldest one still in service. It takes you a mile and a bit along the seafront from Brighton Pier (The Palace Pier) to Black Rock. The railway operates a fleet of 10 cars (what the public calls 'trains') dating from 1883 to 1930 and carrying some 30-40 people. Their quaint and antique appearance makes travelling on the Volks a trip back into the past. Fishing for the Past Being a seaside town it's not at all surprising to find a Fishing Museum in Brighton which covers all aspects of the history of the trade – including the tasting! It's located smack in the middle of town and forms a focus for Brighton's fishing quarter. Within the museum is a reflection of sea-based activities from the Regency period right up to the post-war boom in tourism and pleasure boats. The exhibition features a 27-foot beach boat, along with photographs, prints and memorabilia from Brighton's fishing industry. During the summer months and when the weather allows, the museum operates a twelve-seater passenger boat, aptly named The Skylark, providing short trips for visitors. For more serious study, a computer archive is available and provides a wealth of information about the local industry and the people involved in this. Adjacent to the museum are a couple of shellfish stalls and a smoked fish shop, enabling you to actually taste the end product of this still-alive local industry. Brighton's City Museum and Art Gallery Brighton Museum and Art gallery is the city's main museum and this has recently been extensively remodelled. It is located in the Pavilion gardens, adjacent to the Royal Pavilion and has good disabled access and an educational pavilion which houses comprehensive educational facilities. Its collections reflect both local and national interests and community involvement has enabled new galleries to reflect the lives of Brighton's population. The main galleries are: 20th century Art and Design, Mr Willet's Popular Pottery, Images of Brighton, Fine Art, Fashion and Style, Body, Performance, World Art and Discovery. The museum is open year round but closed on Mondays (except public holidays). Hove's Town Museum Hove Museum has also been redeveloped recently and new galleries of modern design installed. The main galleries of the museum are the Toy Gallery, Film Gallery, Contemporary Craft Galleries, Local History Gallery and Paintings Gallery. The museum is open all year round but closed on Mondays – including bank holidays. Preston Manor: see how The Rich and their Servants Lived Preston Manor provides the visitor with a window into the life of an Edwardian house of the gentry which maintains its strict demarcation between upstairs and downstairs. The house was originally built around 1600, rebuilt in 1738 and then extended quite extensively in 1905. The contents of the house, together with the house itself, provide a fascinating, and unfortunately rare, chance to look at life during the early part of the twentieth century. More than twenty rooms are available to visit, these spanning four floors of the building and including the servants' quarters, butler's pantry and kitchens which are 'downstairs' in the basement, all the way up to the nursery and attic bedrooms on the fourth floor. Outside the house is a walled garden and a pets' cemetery. The house is open from April to the end of September but can be visited by special arrangement for groups at any time. And when the tourists are gone, Preston Manor keeps its spooky image! In fact, on a recent TV show, it was said to be one of the most-haunted today in Britain. The TV crew who made the film for the 'Most-haunted' series reported more mysterious goings on than at any other site they'd visited. One of the presenters, Karl, was convinced that he had been visited by the manor's White Lady. There's always been tales of ghostly experiences at Preston Manor, from the mediaeval nun, Sister Agnes, who helped travellers on their way to the White Lady and the Lady in Grey who elegantly glides down the main staircase. In modern times, doors have been known to lock themselves, lights turn off and and on and all manner of bumps and creaks and groans to be heard. Fortunately, you no longer just have to believe me as you can experience the spooky goings-on for yourself at one of the many special events held at the manor. On Halloween, for example, you can come dressed for the part and see what the evening turns up. Later in the year, at the beginning of December, you can try out the Christmas Ghost Tours or, in October and November sign up for one of the family ghost tours. You will need to book, whenever you go along to be scared out of your wits. Mechanical Memories Brighton's past is, more than most cities, connected with entertainment and one aspect of the British seaside was always its penny arcades and 'What the Butler Saw' machines. Fortunately for the city, these machines are not extinct but can still be found in the Mechanical Memories Museum. here you can still 'spend a penny' and get value - not on the loo but on a slot machine. For more details... Mechanical Memories Museum.
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Brighton's History

Things to do in Brighton for the Lover of History

It's an old city Brighton and fortunately, it's one with much of its history preserved. Some of this, like the buildings just sits where it always sat while some is safely stowed away in museums.

Getting a Guide

There's nothing like getting a good guide to walk you around the history and that's a great idea if you can afford it and you don't mind being frog-marched around behind a raised umbrella. However, you no longer have to do that in Brighton in order to get a running commentary and it's possible to hire an MP3 guide to take you around. The great advantage is, of course, that you are then free to go at your own pace and to stop off for a cuppa when it suits you and your family. For more details <MP3 Walking Tours>

Get a New Suit - of Armour!
For the militaria lover, a visit to The Lanes Armoury is a must with a difference. It's housed in a three-storey 16th century building and is a treasure trove – it's a museum but not a museum as everything is for sale. The Armoury has been nominated and then short-listed for the British Antique & Collectors Awards as the best Antique Shop in Great Britain and is the latest incarnation of a much older business – Hawkins – which was one of the earliest and largest dealers in Antiques and Collectibles within Europe. It is their specialisation in Arms, Armour, Militaria, and Books which marks them out and creates such a fascinating and fantastic place to visit. You'll see bronze-age swords, suits of armour, guns, revolvers, duelling pistols, American Civil war swords through to medals, right through to World War II weapons, it's all there to be viewed and drooled over. It's not a museum but when you leave, you've had the same experience!

Drinking in the Past
Of course you'd expect to find historic pubs in an ancient town such as Brighton and the town will not let you down but delight you with its ancient alehouses. The Cricketers on Black Lion St. in The Lanes is said to be the oldest and occupies a site where there has been a hostelry present since 1547. It lists amongst its most-famous residents one Jack the Ripper and the first person to set up as landlord, Derrick Carver was famously burnt at the stake just for holding inappropriate religious beliefs – not a good idea at the time! However, its main claim to fame is its immortalisation in Graham Green's novel 'Brighton Rock'. Another old hostelry, The King and Queen, in Marlborough Place can be found on the Old Steine, in a large historic building. Having a more modern look and dating back just to the 1930's is The Ladies Mile in Mackie Avenue (Patcham) and this still retains some of the original features from the thirties. For more on Brighton's Pubs... Brighton's Pubs

Travel the Seafront like a True Victorian
If 'What the Victorians did for us' excites you then you should take a trip on the Volks Electric Railway. This was one of the first electric passenger-carrying railways in the world – the first in Britain - being created in 1883 by Magnus Volk and is the oldest one still in service. It takes you a mile and a bit along the seafront from Brighton Pier (The Palace Pier) to Black Rock. The railway operates a fleet of 10 cars (what the public calls 'trains') dating from 1883 to 1930 and carrying some 30-40 people. Their quaint and antique appearance makes travelling on the Volks a trip back into the past.

Fishing for the Past
Being a seaside town it's not at all surprising to find a Fishing Museum in Brighton which covers all aspects of the history of the trade – including the tasting! It's located smack in the middle of town and forms a focus for Brighton's fishing quarter. Within the museum is a reflection of sea-based activities from the Regency period right up to the post-war boom in tourism and pleasure boats. The exhibition features a 27-foot beach boat, along with photographs, prints and memorabilia from Brighton's fishing industry. During the summer months and when the weather allows, the museum operates a twelve-seater passenger boat, aptly named The Skylark, providing short trips for visitors.

For more serious study, a computer archive is available and provides a wealth of information about the local industry and the people involved in this. Adjacent to the museum are a couple of shellfish stalls and a smoked fish shop, enabling you to actually taste the end product of this still-alive local industry.

Brighton's City Museum and Art Gallery
Brighton Museum and Art gallery is the city's main museum and this has recently been extensively remodelled. It is located in the Pavilion gardens, adjacent to the Royal Pavilion and has good disabled access and an educational pavilion which houses comprehensive educational facilities. Its collections reflect both local and national interests and community involvement has enabled new galleries to reflect the lives of Brighton's population. The main galleries are: 20th century Art and Design, Mr Willet's Popular Pottery, Images of Brighton, Fine Art, Fashion and Style, Body, Performance, World Art and Discovery.

The museum is open year round but closed on Mondays (except public holidays).

Hove's Town Museum
Hove Museum has also been redeveloped recently and new galleries of modern design installed. The main galleries of the museum are the Toy Gallery, Film Gallery, Contemporary Craft Galleries, Local History Gallery and Paintings Gallery. The museum is open all year round but closed on Mondays – including bank holidays.

Preston Manor: see how The Rich and their Servants Lived
Preston Manor provides the visitor with a window into the life of an Edwardian house of the gentry which maintains its strict demarcation between upstairs and downstairs. The house was originally built around 1600, rebuilt in 1738 and then extended quite extensively in 1905. The contents of the house, together with the house itself, provide a fascinating, and unfortunately rare, chance to look at life during the early part of the twentieth century.

More than twenty rooms are available to visit, these spanning four floors of the building and including the servants' quarters, butler's pantry and kitchens which are 'downstairs' in the basement, all the way up to the nursery and attic bedrooms on the fourth floor. Outside the house is a walled garden and a pets' cemetery. The house is open from April to the end of September but can be visited by special arrangement for groups at any time.

And when the tourists are gone, Preston Manor keeps its spooky image! In fact, on a recent TV show, it was said to be one of the most-haunted today in Britain. The TV crew who made the film for the 'Most-haunted' series reported more mysterious goings on than at any other site they'd visited. One of the presenters, Karl, was convinced that he had been visited by the manor's White Lady. There's always been tales of ghostly experiences at Preston Manor, from the mediaeval nun, Sister Agnes, who helped travellers on their way to the White Lady and the Lady in Grey who elegantly glides down the main staircase. In modern times, doors have been known to lock themselves, lights turn off and and on and all manner of bumps and creaks and groans to be heard.

Fortunately, you no longer just have to believe me as you can experience the spooky goings-on for yourself at one of the many special events held at the manor. On Halloween, for example, you can come dressed for the part and see what the evening turns up. Later in the year, at the beginning of December, you can try out the Christmas Ghost Tours or, in October and November sign up for one of the family ghost tours. You will need to book, whenever you go along to be scared out of your wits.

Mechanical Memories
Brighton's past is, more than most cities, connected with entertainment and one aspect of the British seaside was always its penny arcades and 'What the Butler Saw' machines. Fortunately for the city, these machines are not extinct but can still be found in the Mechanical Memories Museum. here you can still 'spend a penny' and get value - not on the loo but on a slot machine. For more details... Mechanical Memories Museum.