The long stretch of Brighton Beach west of the King Alfred Leisure Centre has undergone a huge transformation this year - into what might best be described as sporty sporty Hove. Where this part of the seafront was once defined by open grass, informal play and the slow rituals of bowls and croquet, it is now marked by a dense cluster of formal sports facilities laid out in sequence between the promenade and the sea.
New padel courts have been completed, their bright surfaces and tall perimeter fencing marking a fixed, competitive presence on the beachside. Adjacent, a set of tennis courts has been laid out and is already in use, extending opportunities for racket sport at scale. Moreover, purpose-built beach volleyball courts have been installed and are drawing regular play, further reinforcing a trend toward formalised sporting activity on what was once largely informal terrain.
These additions sit alongside the longstanding croquet lawn and a few traditional green bowls facilities that remain in place. However, the croquet and bowls areas, still carefully maintained and signed, now form part of the broader sequence of structured recreation.
The expansion of sport along this western end resonates with developments noted further toward the lagoon, where watersports culture has been gaining momentum. Windsurfing, paddleboarding and other lagoon activities have drawn new users to the Hove shore, reinforcing a shift in how the coast is used: not just for walking or passive viewing, but for sustained physical engagement.
Taken together, the new courts and the increased watersports activity paint a coherent picture of Brighton Beach as a multi-faceted sporting landscape. From the padel and tennis courts immediately west of the King Alfred, along to the sands and open water at the lagoon, organised sport now chains these spaces in a way that is bringing a new character to the Hove end of Brighton Beach - an increasingly active seafront where fixed facilities and waterborne pursuits bookend a continuous corridor of play.
See also: Sand between their toes; Hove Beach Park opens; Not the Mary Clarke Park; Hove Lagoon watersports.
No comments:
Post a Comment