Work is due to begin next Monday, 17 February, on essential strengthening work to the promenade in front of the Palace Pier. The work is expected to take around eight weeks, according to the council, and is scheduled to finish before the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. The photograph accompanying this press release from the council shows the area between the Palace Pier entrance and Brighton Pier Roundabout. East from that point is Madeira Drive, and west is Grand Junction Parade which leads to King’s Road.
The council says the new strengthening work is needed to protect the arches so they can withstand ‘the weight of pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles in front of the pier for years to come’. Once the work is finished, a temporary surface will be laid before the new junction layout for Valley Gardens (inc. Brighton Pier Roundabout) is completed in 2026. Just like in 1829, this new layout will improve access between both sides of Valley Gardens: linking major areas in the east (St James’s Street and the hotels, bars and visitor attractions along Marine Parade and Madeira Drive) to the key areas to the west of (such as the city’s Cultural Quarter and shopping areas including the Lanes).
On a historical note, here is a colourful extract about the King’s Road from the 1881 Book of Brighton: as it was and as it is by Charles H. Ross, writer and professional cartoonist. ‘Can you believe it possible, that there was once a time when the King’s Road, Brighton, was not in existence? It is the truth, though. I would deceive no one willingly, whatever other guide book writers may do. It was not until about two years after the accession of George the Fourth that the road was formally opened, “amid the acclamations of 10,000 people” and a “royal salute from the 42-pounder at the Battery.” The King was in an open landau, accompanied by the Duke of York and the Iron Duke and the Duke of Dorset, and, according to an ancient custom, the spectators showered sweetmeats upon the royal and distinguished personages, who were not a little alarmed upon receiving, unexpectedly, these strange missiles upon their august noses. Casks of beer followed, not thrown like the sugarplums, of course, but tapped on the beach, and great were the rejoicings. Previous to this, although for many years Brighton had been the resort of fashion, the sea front of the town for carriages went no farther westward than a tumble-down public house called The Ship in Distress, at the corner of Middle Street.’ Ross’s witty guide can be read freely online at the HatthiTrust.
These two photographs of Grand Junction Road are taken from my 2014 book, Brighton & Hove Then & Now published by The History Press.
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