Caroline Lucas has made history of course as the first Green MP to be elected to the House of Commons, but Brighton and Hove have been making inroads into a greener and more sustainable future for a few years now!

One of the best sites you can explore as a visitor to the city is the Visit Brighton website and you’ll see there that the title was awarded by an Asda survey – which actually focuses on the purchasing of recycled goods, and the consumption of organic foods – ie as ‘Green’ consumers – but the Visit Brighton site also details some of the other ways the city does its bit to lead the way forward in terms of ecological responsibility.

I already wrote earlier about the fantastic Jubilee Library which was awarded the Observer Ethical Award for its design and construction – but its Brighton’s Beach that I want to particularly praise here, as no visit to our city is complete without it.

It has been awarded the prestigious Blue Flag Award – The Blue Flag Programme is owned and run by the independent non-profit organisation Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE).

The Blue Flag works towards sustainable development at beaches/marinas through strict criteria dealing with water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, and safety and other services.

It is the body’s independence and non-biased status that gives the award its true value – and it received the award based on the quality of the water as well as the cleanliness of the beach itself – which is cleaned daily. Brighton beach is also especially rich in the range of shops and stalls along the front itself – with art galleries, a museum, bars and clubs – as well as the essential bucket and spade emporiums!

The summer is forecast to be a warm one – but Brighton promises a great destination whatever the weather!

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Located n the beautiful grounds of the Royal Pavilion grounds, its architecture owes much to the heritage and style of the Pavilions designer, John Nash, echoing and reflecting some of the grandeur and flights of fantasy that the Pavilion embodies. But its origins arent quite so lofty as the building itself once housed the stables for the Royal Residence, although possibly the most glamorous stables to exist in the United Kingdom!

As the excellent Brighton and Hove Museum website informs us : ‘Brighton Museum was founded by local brewer and social reformer Henry Willett.  He was an avid collector of pottery and porcelain and Mr Willett’s Popular Pottery showcases his collection.’

This is the best website for getting info on the opening times and special exhibitions that are housed within the museum, but the most important piece of information is this: Admission is Free! So another great way to  spend an afternoon if the weather isn’t the best, and a way that wont strain the purse!

The museum is perhaps better suited to slightly older children as it doesn’t house too many of the ‘child attention grabbers’ that so many other museums offer. However that is not to say that there isnt a wealth of material there to grab their attention – but a little and often approach might provide the ideal way to get the most out of this great local attraction.

As you would expect there’s a lot of great local history covered within the Museum and on the upper floor there are plenty of resources for tracing local history or personal family history – so another potential project for the family to enjoy on a wet afternoon!

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Over the past few weeks and months there has been a spate of incidences involving the plaiting of horses manes. The plaiting is innocuous enough to look at  and images displayed in The Argus show something akin to the handiwork of children just perfecting their hair dressing skills on someone more willing than their baby brothers or sisters. But it seems the police are having to keep an open mind on this and include the possiblity that it may be  the handiwork of local witches, the plaiting being a ceremonious way of marking the horse as ‘ours’ or ‘special’.

That raises the concern that the witch or warlock in question could be either a white witch/warlock or a black witch/warlock. So a bit of a worry there for the horse owners who love their animals and so would understandably be concerned that anyone could harbour any ill intent towards these beautiful creatures!

Here at Brighton Short Breaks, where we steadfastly repute any evil intent or motives from any of our city’s inhabitants so applaud the image of our magical sisters and brothers  flitting about the countryside and attending to the coiffure of the local horses by moonlight!

We’ll be following this story with interest to see how it unfolds!

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In the report published by the Centre For Cities think tank  (no, Id never heard of them either but I wont let that dampen my optimism) they cited the high levels of education in the city, as well as  the  entrepreneurial strength in the city.

Brighton and Hove hold the great position of having more businesses per head than any other city after London – ie the population is a good at setting up new businesses. They also point out the strong band of established white collar employers which buoy the cities finances – American Express and EDF being particular examples.

This all bodes well for the thousands of restaurants and bars in the city which attract so many tourists – because nothing deters visitors more than a bank of boarded up shops and restaurants. It also bodes well for the further growth of our city – and whilst I would argue that growth for growths sake isn’t necessarily a good thing – in the light of recent cut backs within the Council facilities  (see my earlier article about the closure of Brighton History Centre) – if growth and prosperity can safeguard the fabric of Brighton and Hove’s history and present day identity, then Im glad to grab any growth going!

More business growth, more prosperity, then more taxes going into the councils piggy-bank, and with proper management that should translate into better facilities for everyone. Brighton prides itself on fulfilling its social responsibilities to its citizens, (and I’m particularly thinking of the large number of the homeless that the city attracts) so lets hope whilst the fortunate amongst us enjoy the glittering pleasures of gleaming bars and restaurants, and air conditioned and fully staffed Libraries and Museums  this boom in prosperity can also translate into more quality shelters and facilites for both staff and residents alike.

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Sadly, the future of the Brighton History centre is in discussion at the moment as a result of the financial pressures Brighton and Hove Council are under – and as a result the staff may be made redundant and the centre be rehoused inside the Jubilee Library. I think we’d all agree that this kind of resource is invaluable – and to lose it would be to lose it forever – BUT all the artifacts and exhibits are not in danger and happily their future as a source of inspiration and fascination for successive generations is safe.

However, what does  seems to be in jeopardy is the wisdom, experience and local knowledge of the History Centre staff themselves. There has been a movement -quickly gathering pace – to acknowledge and safeguard the staff themselves, as its feared that with their redundancy a great deal of local knowledge and understanding gathered over many years working and collecting the exhibits would be lost too. The exhibits would be grandly displayed in the Jubilee Library but, sadly, there would be no room for the curators and museum workers themselves.

Such is the strength of feeling on this that a petition has been established on the Councils website strongly defending the current set up, and citing the city’s strong dependency on its history and cultural tradition as a major tourist attraction and financial draw, as reason not to inflict any potential damage to the revenue draw!

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The old building, as with the old museum, was more a lovely time warp experience of what it must have been like as, perhaps a Second World War child evacuee, stepping through the doors of a slightly forbidding, very dusty and very antiquated institution. Something like being a character in an Arnold Bennett novel – perhaps the Five Towns Municipal library. A nice experience. But somehow I never left with books under my arm.

The development of the whole area in the Jubilee district was a major shot in the arm for the city – but no where was more successful, I would suggest, as the Jubilee Library. I know nothing about architecture – but I understand the fact that if a building is designed perfectly to suit its purpose then the whole project can be elevated to a glorious success.  As an end user I can vouch that for me personally the building is a hit, but I was interested to find out more about the critical success of the building amongst the Archictural powers that be – and I was delighted by their confirmation of the building’s prowess! Further to that a Google search on the building provided me with these heart warming facts about the building and its design and purpose:

• Winner of the South East England RIBA Award 2005. Operational project with the best design – 2005 PFI Awards. Named BSJ/CIBSE Major Project of the Year. Commended as an ‘exemplary piece of urban development’ by CABE. And on the shortlist for both the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award, and the RIBA Stirling Prize.
• There is a conventional air-conditioning chiller unit in the library’s plant room to cap the internal temperature at 25°C in summertime, but even during the occasional heatwaves experienced this year, the majority of rooms stayed below this temperature without the chiller being called into operation. The overall cooling effect achieved by passive means is put at 4-5 degrees lower than the ambient external temperature and the thermal sink caused by this exposed concrete is a vital part of the building’s passive ventilation system.
• “The library incorporates 1200 x 260mm Termodeck precast hollowcore slabs in the ceilings of the rooms on either side of the central atrium”, says David Selvage from Fulcrum, the organisation responsible for the award winning air conditioning desing of the building. “In summer, air is pumped through the Termodeck to cool temperatures inside the building at night, which during the day are kept to a comfortable level partly by the effect of stored ‘coolth’ and partly by passive heat exchange with the exposed Termodeck planks and insitu mass in the building’s centre.”
• Heating bills during winter months are further reduced by the library’s magnificent south-facing glass facade, with louvres specially angled to allow in winter sun but deflect it in the summer.
• The library’s loos use rainwater to flush!

I still go into the libray a lot – more so than before. Inside it is light airy and attractive – something in the design just draws you in there and encourages you to linger and explore – adn yes, now I all to often stagger out under the weight of books and cd’s – a testament to the success of the architects and the design teams involved in creating this fantastic building!

Jubilee Library is only one of many buildings we are proud of in Brighton and Brighton Short Breaks welcomes visitors to explore our city and see what makes us Brightonians so proud of our home place!

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20 years after Mrs Thatcher broke political ground by becoming the first ever female Prime Minister the complaint that the halls of Westminster are still a male dominated territory ring just as loudly as ever! So, Brighton and Hove’s all female  short list of Parliamentary candidates gives some encouragement to a potential future change of ground in the gender balance in the political power world.

Being quoted in The Argus , Fawcett Society chief executive Ceri Goddard said: “If all the candidates are women that is cause for celebration but also concern that it has taken until 2009, whereas all-male elections are still the norm.

“The voters if Brighton can be pleased that whom ever they elect they will be a step closer to closing the gender gap in parliament where currently less than 20% of our MP’s are women – less than Iraq, Afghanistan and Rwanda.”

‘Less than Iraq, Afghanistan and Rwanda……… ‘ – personally that particular statement left me slightly disconcerted about the state of our political arena and curious as to the reasons for male domination above and beyond the historical precedence that men should have it all their own way – and its a whole Pandoras box of discussion that is best left for another place.

But my purpose here today is as – as always – to fly the flag for Brighton and Hove and demonstrate how forward thinking and politically aware our population is, and having  a ratio of men to women in parliament  more representative of the population, is in my opinion, a step in the right direction!

Artists Open House

The event has been so successful over the last six years of it existence, gathering such a strong level of recognition both from public and the Brighton based art community that the venues will open on the last weekend in November: 28^th and 29^th, as well as the first two of December: 5^th, 6^th, 12^th and 13^th.

From their website:

The Christmas Open Houses offer a great selection of art and handmade goods and are ideal for discovering unique and beautiful gifts for your friends and family.

As well as paintings and sculpture, most houses show a broad range of work, including: ceramics, jewellery, textiles, lighting, furnishings, cards and a large variety of hand-made Christmas decorations. Many also offer mulled wine and Christmas fare while you browse.

You can chat to the artists and makers about their work and when you find the piece you’re looking for, buy direct from them – supporting your local artists as well acquiring a unique gift.

Venues are often clustered together within walking distance of one another, so it is easy to spend an enjoyable day visiting them. Why not avoid the queues and frustration of shopping in the high streets and malls?

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Operating from the Adult Education Centre, Connaught Road in Hove they offer a free first session to allow everyone to see if its the right club for them! From then on its an annual fee of £25 plus an attendance fee of £4 each time you attend – but for that you get access to this beautifully well lit and airy studio, the on site guidance and tuition of professional tutors and artists, as well as the opportunity to meet other like minded people and share skills and inspiration.

The club is run by and for its members and is a non-profit making organisation – which means everything is about the quality of the experience of the members, so a really exciting organisation for those who are looking to explore and expand both their artistic skills as well as their social circles!

If you’d like to arrange accommodation during the month  then check our our self catering Brighton propertiesand see what suits you best!

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