Brighton Beach blue

At low tide on Brighton Beach, you might notice clusters of dark-shelled creatures clinging stubbornly to the groynes, pier supports, or even scattered rocks. These are blue mussels (Mytilus edulis), nature’s little ocean purifiers and master survivalists. They begin life as microscopic larvae, drifting aimlessly in the currents after being released into the water during spawning. Males and females release sperm and eggs into the water, and fertilisation occurs externally, forming a free-swimming larva called a trochophore.

For the next two to four weeks, these larvae progress into veligers - tiny, shelled planktonic creatures that continue to drift with ocean currents, feeding on microscopic algae. After several weeks, they reach the pediveliger stage, developing a small foot and searching for a suitable hard surface to settle on, such as rocks, pier pilings, or even other mussels. Once they find a home, they attach using sticky byssal threads and undergo metamorphosis into juvenile mussels. 

Juveniles grow rapidly in nutrient-rich waters, reaching full size (5-10 cm) in about two to three years. In favourable conditions, blue mussels can live up to 15 years. They often crowd in dense colonies, forming mussel beds that can contain thousands to millions of individuals. These beds can stretch across large areas of rocky shorelines, pier supports, and other hard surfaces. The tightly packed arrangement helps protect them from predators and harsh wave action.

Mussels may seem passive, but they are essential to the marine ecosystem. A single mussel can filter up to 10 litres of seawater an hour, sifting out microscopic plankton and removing pollutants. In some places, mussel beds are even used to help purify water naturally. Their resilience is remarkable. At low tide, they clamp their shells shut to avoid drying out, sometimes surviving for days without water. They can also change sex depending on environmental conditions, optimising their chances of reproduction. And, if they ever need a change of scenery, some mussels can detach and ‘walk’ using their foot to seek a better home. Much more information is available at Wikipedia and the Marine Life Information Network.

While Brighton’s blue mussels are fascinating, other species of mussels have their own quirky traits.

The Deep-Sea Giants: The Bathymodiolus genus of mussels, found near hydrothermal vents, can grow up to 30 cm long - dwarfing their shallow-water relatives!

The Oldest Mussels: Freshwater pearl mussels (Margaritifera margaritifera) can live over 100 years, with some recorded at nearly 250 years old!

The Strongest Glue: The Mytilus californianus (California mussel) produces an adhesive so powerful that scientists are studying it to create waterproof medical glue.

The Fastest Growers: Green-lipped mussels (Perna canaliculus) from New Zealand can reach full size in just one year - much faster than blue mussels.

Mussels That Save Lives: Some mussel species are used in water filtration projects to clean up polluted waterways, acting as natural biofilters.

Guest: Brighton Beach, Possession Bay, South Georgia

Brighton Beach, the fourth of this column’s guest beaches, is an outlier in every sense. It is situated along the north coast of South Georgia, a remote island in the southern Atlantic Ocean some 900 miles east of the Falkland Islands. Discovered by Europeans in 1675, the island had no indigenous population due to its harsh climate and remoteness. Captain James Cook in HMS Resolution made the first landing, survey and mapping of the island, and on 17 January 1775, he claimed it as a British possession, naming it Isle of Georgia after King George III.

Throughout its history, South Georgia has served as a whaling and seal hunting base, with intermittent population scattered in several whaling bases, the most important historically being Grytviken. The main settlement and the capital today is King Edward Point near Grytviken, a British Antarctic Survey research station, with a population of about 20 people.

However, I doubt they head to Brighton Beach at the weekend! This lies between Zero and Adventure Points in Possession Bay, on the north coast of South Georgia. The name first appeared on a chart showing the results of a survey by Discovery Investigations personnel in 1926-30 - the Discovery Investigations were a series of scientific cruises and shore-based investigations into the biology of whales in the Southern Ocean, funded by the British Colonial Office and organised by the Discovery Committee in London.

South Georgia is renowned for its rugged landscapes and abundant wildlife, including vast colonies of penguins and seals, making it a significant location for ecological studies and wildlife observation. Indeed, Brighton Beach was so named to reflect the abundance of fauna, as also found on our own Brighton Beach (when the sun shines!). Access to Brighton Beach and other areas on the island is regulated to preserve its delicate environment: the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands has designated specific visitor sites (with some locations closed due to environmental concerns). ​The outline map here shows the government’s designated visitor points, each one with a code number. The code for Brighton Beach (POS01) can be found in the partial data box, and with that it’s possible to identify where the beach is located on Google’s satellite map - should you wish to visit.

Bark Europa, a tall ship adventure vessel out of Holland, has visited Brighton Beach at least twice. The expedition leader Jordi Plana Morales wrote an entry in his logbook for 4 March 2019 with this title: Possession Bay - Prince Olav Harbour and holding anchor on a blustery afternoon at Brighton Beach. His record of the trip is detailed (and is illustrated with a photograph, as above). Here’s an extract from the log.

‘Winds varying from 20 to 45 kn and snowfall made for a quiet few hours indoors, while the Europa hold her ground at anchor in front of the so-called Brighton beach. To arrive here we had to sail over a shallow reef that crosses the whole bay, that nevertheless helps dumping down the swell that enters Possession Bay. From time to time a clear area between the low clouds let us have a glimpse of the beach and the surrounding glaciers.’

The Infamous John Friend

‘The vivid green, the well kept turf of the Steine contrasted with the bright rust coloured meshes of the fishermen’s nets spread over its seaward end to dry; picturesque fishing boats were drawn up on the shingle of the beach; children were paddling and digging in the sand.’ This is from The Infamous John Friend, a historical novel by Martha Roscoe Garnett partly set in Brighton. As a Jacobite sympathiser, the title character becomes entangled in political intrigue. [This image is courtesy of Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove]

Born in 1869, Martha was a British author and biographer, known for her literary contributions during the early 20th century. She is largely forgotten today, and there is very little biographical information about her available online. She married Richard Garnett, a writer and librarian at the British Museum, and she was related, by her marriage, Constance Garnett, a renowned translator of Russian literature, and Olive Garnett, another author.

Martha Garnett wrote two other novels: Amor Vincit (1912), a romance of the Staffordshire moorlands; and, Unrecorded: A Tale of the Days of Chivalry (1931). In addition to her fiction, she published Samuel Butler and His Family Relations (1926), showcasing her interest in historical and biographical writing. She died in 1946, aged 77.

The Infamous John Friend, first published in 1909, is set in 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars and follows John Friend, a spy working for Napoleon. The novel begins with John Friend at home, where his wife Mary is seriously ill. The story then moves to Brighton, where Friend takes his family, including his young daughter Susan, for a change of scenery and to improve his wife’s health.

Brighton Beach can be seen to play a significant role in the story as it serves as the backdrop for several key events and character interactions. The seaside town is described vividly, with mentions of bathing machines and Martha Gunn, and the social atmosphere of the time. Brighton’s popularity as a fashionable resort town during the Regency era is evident in the novel's portrayal of the setting.

An American edition of the novel can be freely read online at Internet Archive. Here is an extract from the novel, from chapter II (‘At Brighton’).

‘But the usual tenor of their life was that of the quieter professional classes; and now it appeared that they were to launch into fashionable life. Friend himself was quite unchanged. He was always the same in all surroundings and with all conditions of men. He took Susan out for a walk in the morning, eager for her first view of the sea. Mrs Friend was keeping her room after the fatigues of the journey. It was a different scene indeed from the Brighton of our day. The landscape was all Downs and sea; the little town dominated by its square towered church clustered among hayfields and cornfields. But rows of houses were beginning to spread like extended fingers among the fields, and the roads showed signs of traffic beyond the uses of country lanes. Over at Hove the white tents of the military camp shone in the sun, and glimpses of scarlet and flashes of burnished metal occasionally struck the eye. But the great glittering plain of the sea absorbed all Susan’s attention. She had no eyes for the streets, delightfully clean after the filth of London, nor for the sunshine glowing on the red brick pavements and working color harmonies between them and the dappled grey flint work of the walls. The vivid green, the well kept turf of the Steine contrasted with the bright rust colored meshes of the fishermen’s nets spread over its seaward end to dry; picturesque fishing boats were drawn up on the shingle of the beach; children were paddling and digging in the sand. A row of bathing machines stood in the shallow water, while stalwart females, gowned in faded indigo blue serge, were standing waist deep in the sea and “dipping” the ladies and children who entrusted themselves to their care.’

Poor Palace Pier!

Poor Palace Pier! It hit the news headlines yesterday for all the wrong reasons, as they say, financial mostly. Brighton Pier Group PLC, which owns the pier, announced that it would delist from the London’s AIM market and return to life as a private company. If a shareholder meeting on 22 April agrees with this plan, the delisting will take place on 2 May. The group cited ‘persistent challenging trading conditions, impacted by, inter alia, Covid-19, repeat bad weather during peak summer trading periods, recent significant Budget increases in National Insurance from 6 April 2025, pressures on consumer discretionary spending and a change in consumer behaviours’. It’s worth noting that after introducing an entrance fee of £1 for non-residents last year, the fee has recently doubled to £2. 

The Brighton Pier Group PLC owns and trades Brighton Palace Pier, as well as five premium bars nationwide, eight indoor mini-golf sites and the Lightwater Valley Family Adventure Park in North Yorkshire. The group operates as four separate divisions - one of which runs Brighton Palace Pier - under the leadership of Anne Ackord, Chief Executive Officer. Chairman Luke Johnson, former Pizza Express and Patisserie Valerie boss, who owns 27% of the company’s shares (according to its website), was quoted as saying the company had faced ‘persistent challenging trading conditions’ since the coronavirus pandemic, forcing it to cut costs and sell off underperforming assets. Having risen to over £100 in April 1922, the share price has generally fallen steadily since then, slumping yesterday, and now hovering in the region of £10.

‘Brighton Palace Pier,’ the group website explains, ‘welcomes over four million visitors per year and offers a wide range of attractions including two arcades (with over 300 machines) and nineteen funfair rides, together with a variety of on-site hospitality and catering facilities. The attractions, product offering and layout of the Pier are focused on creating a family-friendly atmosphere that aims to draw a wide demographic of visitors. Revenue is generated from the pay-as-you-go purchase of products from the fairground rides, arcades, hospitality facilities and retail catering kiosks.’

In explaining its decision, the company also cited ‘the considerable cost and management time and the legal and regulatory burden associated with maintaining the Company’s admission to trading on AIM’ which, in the Board’s opinion, are ‘disproportionate to the benefits’. It believes that the lower costs associated with unquoted company status, ‘will materially reduce the Company’s recurring administrative and adviser costs by between £250,000 and £300,000 per annum’ significantly reducing its in overhead cost burden.

Last month, the BBC quoted Ackord as saying that Brighton and Hove faces a ‘very difficult future’ if more is not done to attract visitors. There is a general ‘lack of recognition’ in the city, she said, over the importance of tourism and that ‘incisive action’ is required. She added that a ‘coordinated approach, attention to detail and the belief in working towards the same goal’ were missing. Finally, she warned: ‘The pier is 126-years-old this year and I’d like to think she’ll still be here in 126 years time, but it annually costs millions to keep her standing.’

Return of the Brighton Whale

Yesterday was April Fool’s Day, so today is the day for exposes! I asked ChatGPT if there had been any historical April 1st pranks connected to Brighton Beach. Oh yes, it replied, and gave me five such news stories, as follows.

‘The Return of the Brighton Whale (2012) - A prank article suggested that a ‘rare and enormous’ whale had washed up on Brighton Beach. The story referenced the famous 1891 case when a real whale did wash ashore. Many people allegedly went looking for it before realising it was a hoax.’

‘The Brighton Floating Pier Hoax (Early 2000s?) - A local newspaper once published a story claiming that a floating, mobile version of Brighton Pier was under construction and would be towed to different parts of the UK coast depending on the season. Many readers were taken in by the idea, imagining the pier drifting up to Blackpool in the summer!’

‘Brighton’s Underground Beach (2016) - A satirical Brighton-based website claimed that archaeologists had discovered an entire ‘hidden Victorian beach’ beneath the modern seafront, supposedly preserved under the shifting shingle. The story included doctored photos of a secret tunnel leading to a pristine, sand-filled cavern.’

‘Seagull Relocation Programme (2018) - Local media joked that Brighton & Hove City Council had devised a plan to capture and relocate the town’s infamous aggressive seagulls to a remote island. The ‘news’ claimed that trained falconers would lure the birds with chips before transporting them away.’

‘The Ban on Striped Deck Chairs (2021) - In this gag it was suggested that Brighton Council had banned traditional striped deck chairs in favour of modern ‘monochrome loungers’ to make the beach look more sophisticated.’

I then asked - as any self-respecting journalist might do - for sources for each of these stories. 

‘You're absolutely right to call that out,’ ChatGPT wrote back. ‘I should have been clearer - those were plausible April Fools’ jokes based on Brighton’s quirky character, but I didn’t pull them from actual historical records.’

Shocked and deflated, I asked ChatGPT where and how it had come up with its ideas. This is what it told me:

‘The Floating Pier was inspired by Brighton’s history of structural oddities like the West Pier ruins and the Palace Pier’s ever-changing attractions. The Brighton Whale was loosely based on the real 1891 whale stranding, which seemed like perfect hoax material. The Underground Beach was a play on Brighton’s extensive underground tunnels and the urban legend that hidden Victorian structures still exist beneath the seafront. The Seagull Relocation Programme is a nod to the ongoing battle between locals and the notoriously aggressive Brighton seagulls. The Striped Deck Chair Ban idea came from real debates about modernising Brighton’s seafront, plus the city council’s occasional controversial aesthetic decisions.’

I do like to be beside the seaside

Visitors to Brighton Pier this week have been left deeply unsettled by what should have been a harmless seaside tradition. A new ‘Kiss Me Quick’ photo board - designed for tourists to poke their faces through for a fun snap - has taken on an unnerving reputation. Why? Because while one face cut-out offers a clear view of Brighton’s iconic seafront, the other is eerily, inexplicably blank. Our photographer insists his image is straight from the camera, unedited.

The effect is startling. Onlookers swear that when someone places their face into the open cut-out, they momentarily glimpse an unsettlingly pristine, slightly different version of Brighton - a view that doesn’t quite match the present day. ‘I saw the beach, the pier, but . . . there were no people. It was like Brighton, but frozen in time,’ one visitor whispered.

More disturbing still is the blocked-out side. Those who step up to the photo board expecting to see their grinning friend beside them instead report . . . nothing. The space remains stubbornly empty, as if the board refuses to acknowledge whoever stands there. Some claim they hear a faint, muffled echo of the old seaside song ‘Oh I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside’ when they press their ear to the board. Others say the cut-out briefly reflects a different figure - someone who isn’t them.

Local paranormal enthusiasts are already dubbing it the ‘Brighton Time Portal,’ speculating that it might be an accidental rift between past and present. Pier officials, meanwhile, insist it’s just an ‘unfortunate design quirk’ and have politely asked visitors to ‘tapping the board’ in an effort to detect hidden depths.

But with reports growing of people stepping away from the board with their reflections slightly altered - a new freckle, a missing earring, or (in one case) an inexplicable knowledge of 1950s tram schedules - Brighton’s newest attraction is proving to be more than just an innocent seaside joke.

So, if you’re planning a visit, remember: only one of you will see the sea. The other? Well. . . we can’t say for certain what they’ll see.