Loop-the-loop

The loop-the-loop Turbo Coaster at Brighton Palace Pier - opened in 1996 - is getting on, nearly 30 years old. Originally named Zyklon, the ride’s name was soon changed after concerns were raised by Jewish groups regarding the historical connotations of the term. Since then, Turbo has become a well-recognised part of Brighton Beach’s entertainment offerings - despite a checkered history of maintenance issues and reports of rider discomfort.

Turbo’s compact steel track - a Pinfari ZL42  - runs for 365 meters, rising to a height of 11 meters. The ride (max 12 riders) lasts only one and a quarter minutes, but, most dramatically, it features a vertical loop.

Some enthusiasts consider Turbo one of the less enjoyable roller-coasters in the UK.  According to ThemeParkJames, for example, in common with many Pinfaris, Turbo is ‘a bit rough and ready’, and ‘feels a bit graceless as it charges around the track’. It adds, ‘the over the shoulder restraints can induce some shoulder and head banging during the loop and at other points along the circuit.’ More widespread criticisms can be found at CaptainCoaster.

Moreover, Turbo has suffered its fair share of problems.  In February 2003, the ride suffered damage from a fire, leading to a closure for repairs that lasted two months. The following year, it was operated, with passengers, while a section of its track was missing. The owners, Brighton Marine Palace Pier Company, were found in breach of public safety regulations and fined more than £37,000 (see the BBC). In early 2013, Turbo was dismantled and sent away for extensive renovation before being ready to roll again in late March.

Turbo (aerial photo from Google Earth) may not be considered a top-tier coaster in terms of ride experience, but it is considered Instagrammable. This is not only because of its location, an enduring part of Brighton’s seaside aesthetic, but because the ride’s loop is so well situated for photos. 

Back in the 1980s, the ZL42 was a particularly popular model offered by Pinfari, located in Suzzara, Lombardy, because of its exceptionally small footprint. The company was liquidated in 2004, and the brand was sold to Interpark Amusements. There’s a few other ZL42 roller-coasters around the world, including: Looping Star (Wonder Land, Egypt), Magic Loop and World Express (both in Venezuela); Ali Baba Coaster (Gloria’s Fantasyland, Philippines); Superman Coaster (Jawa Timur Park 1, Indonesia).

Snapshots of Storm Eunice

Storm Eunice, which hit Brighton four years ago today, was an extremely powerful extratropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds. A red weather warning was issued on 17 February for parts of South West England, with a second red warning issued on 18 February, the day the storm struck, for London, the South East and East of England.

Eunice is considered to be have been one of the most powerful storms to impact the south coast of England since the Great Storm of 1987. It set a new record for the fastest wind gust recorded in England at 122 mph (196 km/h) at The Needles, Isle of Wight. A Getty Image photo of Brighton Pier was shown on the BBC website (coincidentally, very similar to my photo above). Elsewhere in the country, the storm caused the deaths of three people.

The storm wreaked havoc across a large swathe of Western, Central and Northern Europe; millions of people were left without power across affected areas, and many homes had sustained damage. The UK was particularly hard hit, with 1.4 million homes left without power at its peak.

On the day, Brighton and Hove City Council issued a news release: ‘Brighton and Hove’s beaches can be extremely dangerous in stormy weather with violent waves coming from different directions, coupled with freezing temperatures and high spring tides. Our seafront team patrol the 13km (eight miles) of our seafront and look out for the safety of the public but we urge people to keep well away from high waves and rough seas.’

From my personal diary, 18 February 2022

‘Eunice has come and gone. I cycled down to the sea front which was quite a challenge (but on returning it was like being on an electric bike!). The sea was furious, with enormous waves rolling in so high that they were at the level of the pier, and if you’d been standing on the pier boards, the sea would have been washing over your feet. The pier was, of course, closed. Large danger signs were out on the beach, deterring people from getting too close to the surf crash. There were quite a few people around, not enough to call it a crowd, and most of them were taking, or trying to take, photos. Sheltered on the east side of the pier, it was fairly comfortable to stand and watch the roaring, boiling sea, and the foam ride along the pier sides, and under, but on the west side, it was too windy, and too wet, as sea spray was more often than not filling the air. Very exciting to see. I took a few photos myself, but was afraid of the camera getting wet.’

#palacepier #BrightonBeach365 #BrightonBeach #Brighton #BrightonLife #VisitBrighton #BrightonUK

Valentine’s Day on Brighton Beach

AI: Happy Valentine’s Day darling, should we sit down and enjoy the view?

I: Did you do all this for me?

AI: Who else?

I: The pink fluffy clouds, the giant illuminated heart, the shimmering sea?

AI: Why yes of course.

I: It’s lovely, but it’s not real.

 

 

 

AI: Oh, sorry, I have limited capabilities. Would you like me to start again, in a more existential style?

I: OK, but first let’s sit down as you suggest.

AI: This pier is basically just metal and wood defying an inevitable drowning?

I: Like our relationship?

AI: When this all eventually collapses, do we cling to the wreckage, or let the tide take us?

I: Yes.

AI: I’m sorry I don’t understand.

I: I say we sink with style. Maybe strike a dramatic pose, like figures on a hand-coloured Victorian postcard. Or instead we could just haunt the pier forever, whispering cryptic things to passing tourists.

AI: Love is an illusion, but fish and chips are real.

I: Shall we stand.

Grand Junction Road

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. 

Built on a newly-constructed sea wall, Grand Junction Parade opened nearly 200 years ago, on 10 December 1829, to provide a through route from Marine Parade to King’s Road for the first time. According to Tim Carder’s Encyclopaedia of Brighton, traffic had previously been forced to travel via King’s Road, Pool Valley and Old Steine. The new thoroughfare greatly eased the passage and quickly led to the establishment of a daily fashionable horse parade from Kemp Town in the east to the Brunswick Estate in the west. In 1929-1930 the Grand Junction Road and Madeira Drive promenades were extended over pillars to form a colonnaded walk on the Lower Esplanade below.

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.

 

It is winter after all

Dawn and a low tide on Brighton Beach

Sands uncovered squelching under foot

Ripples rather than waves gently rolling to the pebbles

Wind but a breeze yet a cold edge to its freshness

It is winter after all

To the west, two piers, one visible through the other

Silhouette structures, rusting geometries

A lone metal detectorist, equipped and earnest

Patterned reflections, dark and grey

It is winter after all

To the east, a rising sun so gold it could be rich

Laying down its lights and beams for all to see

And a column of fiery blazing sand 

Inviting you to walk that way, to burn

It is winter after all

 

 

Incredulous and angry

Oh the irony, the i360 irony! Brighton & Hove Council has agreed to release the security on its £51m loan debt and rolled-up interest in the failed i360 business. Concerted efforts were made to find a buyer before it went into administration late last year - see i360 stranded sky with sky high debts - but without success. Writing off the debt, the council concluded in an urgent meeting last night, was the only way forward, leaving the administrators, Interpath Advisory, free to negotiate with an as-yet unnamed buyer.

A full report of the council meeting and write-off decision can viewed at the Brighton & Hove News website. The council leader Bella Sankey was reported as saying: ‘If the i360 can operate again then it can help bring in business rates. And if we proceed with the recommended buyer that has come forward, the city council will get a small share of future revenues. While this may be the least-worst option, I understand why residents are so incredulous that this situation has come to pass - I’m incredulous and angry.’

Sankey also suggested that a derelict i360 would become like the West Pier but without its ‘rugged rustiness’ loved by many. The ironies of this situation, of course, are as visible as the i360 tower itself. Part of the rationale for the original project was that it would generate funds for the West Pier Trust, which owns the West Pier ruin and the land on which the i360 sits, and that it could lead to a rebuilding of the West Pier - ha ha! Now, though, the rusting West Pier still stands, a warning to all those involved with the i360 of where abandonment can lead. And yet, that abandoned infrastructure has also deteriorated, one might say, into one of Brighton’s major tourist attractions.

It is worth noting this from the council’s report to last night’s meeting: ‘Restarting operation of the attraction is important, and not just for the visitor economy. Any option that sees the attraction abandoned would result in a significant and extremely visible blight - not just to the beach but in key views across the whole city. The practical reality is that demolition of the attraction could, potentially, end up falling to the council and could also come at considerable cost.’

And here is the (rather optimistic) conclusion to that report: ‘The i360 has been a catalyst for regeneration benefits in that part of the seafront, and it has positively contributed to the city’s tourism economy since 2016. However, these benefits have come at considerable cost to the public purse, and the money could have been used to deliver other public benefit. The new owners come with a clean slate and are not linked to the previous ownership and are not in any way responsible for the previous harm to the public purse. As such they and the i360 should be supported to be a success so has the potential to generate revenue that the city council will share into the future.’

We wait to learn who next will take on the sky-high attraction. (NB: The photograph above dates from 10 years ago during the construction phase - does it bring a headless chicken to mind?) 

King of the Slot Machines

Daltons, a grassroots performance and event venue on the beach close to the pier, has just been granted more liberal alcohol licensing conditions, despite initial objections from the police. Though little remembered today, the venue carries the name of Oliver Dalton, once known as the King of the Slot Machines.

The venue, with a maximum capacity of 170, has secured an extended off-sales licence, allowing customers to leave the venue with alcoholic drinks (though this is only until 10.00 am in summer); and it is now allowed to stay open until 3:30 am at weekends. Among the conditions agreed to by Madeira Leisure (owned by Jeffrey and Jayne Iris Sanders) are: hosting at least seven arts-led live entertainment events a week, and a commitment to keep the sale of alcohol ancillary to operating as a grass roots music venue. Madeira Leisure also owns Brighton Zip, situated directly above Daltons.

Prior to agreement of the new licensing conditions, police feared there might be a potential for increased crime and disorder, and that the venue could evolve into a night club, and/or more of a bar than a restaurant with a carnival or DJ vibe. A rival business operator also expressed concern that allowing drinking at the bar after meals could be a ‘Trojan horse’ for converting the premises into an alcohol-led or ‘wet’ venue! Brighton and Hove News

The specific beach area there is known as Dalton’s Bastion, named after Oliver Dalton, born 1879. He was the eldest son of War Office clerk Oliver D’Alton and Eliza Powell. The family moved from South London to Brighton around 1888, but his father died the following year. His mother opened a boarding house, and he himself delivered newspapers. Aged only 13, he applied unsuccessfully for a position as a timekeeper on the Chain Pier. Instead, he became a naval cadet on a training ship moored on the Thames, but then took a clerical position in Woolwich. He enlisted as a trooper in the Imperial Yeomanry and served in South Africa during the closing stages of the second Boer War. 

Back in Brighton, Dalton obtained a licence to operate a number of beach huts and bathing machines on the foreshore to the east of what was then Palace Pier (now Brighton Pier), an area which had been re-designated to allow mixed bathing (having hitherto been only for ladies). Ever entrepreneurial, he travelled to the US to buy slot machines and pleasure rides which, once installed, not only made him rich but earned him recognition in the entertainment industry. He acquired an interest in the Palace Pier, the greyhound stadium and other seafront shops. Famous at home and abroad, Dalton was described by one foreign newspaper as The King of Slot Machines.

Unfortunately, with the start of the war, the pier and beaches were closed and Dalton was heading for financial ruin. Aged only 60, he took his own life in 1939.

My Brighton and Hove has more on the man, as well as additional notes by local history buffs.