David Whipp's West Pier

David Whipp, a renowned metal worker and sculptor from Brighton, died a year ago today. Born in 1943, he was celebrated for his vivid imagination and exceptional craftsmanship. He created a diverse range of sculptures, including intricate models of animals, vintage cars, motorbikes, and notable large-scale works. One of his most famous pieces was an 18-foot-long sculpture of Brighton’s West Pier, hence this memory of him here in BrightonBeach365.

David and his brother Brian were raised in Buckingham Road during the 1940s by their single mother, Jean, a wedding and ballroom dressmaker. The Argus did a story on her 100th birthday in 2003. David took a welding and soldering course in the early 1970s. He lived in Preston Road, and had his workshop elsewhere in Brighton.

David’s talent was recognized early on by art patron Lucy Wertheim, she who had supported famous artists like Henry Moore, Cedric Morris and Christopher Wood. According to the Whipp family website, David’s most important pieces include ‘The Suffragette’, the ‘Maria Colwell Statue’ (presented to Rev John Lambert for his efforts in preventing child cruelty), and an amazing 18 ft long model of the West Pier (for the West Pier Preservation Society as it was known until 1978).

On his brother’s death, Brian told The Argus, ‘[David] was well-regarded in Brighton, a character [and] very engaging. He could talk the hind leg off a donkey. He was on a business trip in South Africa around 1995 and was invited to a reception with Nelson Mandela. He was the sort of character who would get around and know people. A lot of his work was bought by private collectors. He used to go every weekend to Green Park in London in the 80s and would sell his sculptures to tourists.’

Whipp’s exhibitions in this country and abroad were very successful, according to a short bio on the family website. It also gives the following information. ‘In Bermuda all his works exhibited were sold on the first day. In 1986, the Director of Racing of the North American Championship ordered a model race car made by David to be presented as the Annual Trophy for the new Indy Car Series. His extensive work is in many galleries and private homes around the world. In his later years his sculptures, particularly his detailed models of pre and post war racing cars, were sought by foreign collectors.’

David was survived by his two partners, five children, and four grandchildren. The Argus noted that his family and the artistic community would remember him as ‘a true Brighton character and a genius with his hands, whose spirit and creations continue to inspire’. 

Pumping above its weight

There is an historic building, a pub, in Market Street called The Pump House. The name derives from an old timber pier with a pump house which used to pump seawater ashore to different establishments for bathing in the 18th century - for health-giving purposes. It’s a handsome building. A few hundred meters away, on the beach itself, can be found the rather less sophisticated Pump Room, presumably once named after the same antiquated business practice. 

But it’s not just the Pump Room, it’s The World Famous Pump Room - even on Google. As I snapped this photograph I wondered whether this was true, so I asked Perplexity. Ever respectful and polite, it answered: ‘While the cafe refers to itself as ‘world famous,’ this designation appears to be more of a branding choice than a reflection of widespread international recognition. There is limited evidence to suggest that the cafe is renowned on a global scale. However, it is well-regarded locally, with patrons praising its prime location, quality offerings, and friendly service.’

However, ‘world famous’ is not the only claim this brilliantly self-aggrandising business makes. A large signage board on the red brick wall next to the cafe promises ‘The Best Ice Cream on Brighton Beach by far!’, and it lists over 20 flavours (Coconut and Pineapple, Banana Fudge, Cappuccino Coffee, Pralines n Cream . . .). There are also several vegan flavors on offer (Apple Pie, Ginger Nut, Chocolate Oreo . . . ). And then, comes this: ‘Probably the most famous Beach Cafe in the world.’

Well, that IS a red rag to the likes of AI fact checkers.

Here is Perplexity’s list of the five most famous beach cafes:

Speedos Café, Bondi Beach ‘the most famous and Instagrammable beach café in the world according to travel magazine Big Seven Travel; Porthminster Beach Café - Cornwall, UK; La Petit Plage - St. Barths, Caribbean; Club Dauphin - Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France; Comal - Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

And here is ChatGPT’s list:

Scorpios Mykonos - Paraga Beach, Mykonos, Greece; La Guérite - Île Sainte-Marguerite, Cannes, France; Ku De Ta - Seminyak Beach, Bali, Indonesia; Nikki Beach Saint-Tropez - Saint-Tropez, France; The Rock Restaurant - Michamvi Pingwe Beach, Zanzibar

Sorry, even though we all love you Pump Room, you’re punching (pumping!) a tad above your weight.

The carnivorous whelk

Herewith, as promised a couple of days ago and with little adornment, is the life cycle of the common whelk (Buccinum undatum).

Whelks reproduce annually, with spawning occurring between October and May. The process begins when water temperatures drop below 12°C. Females attract males by releasing pheromones, and fertilisation occurs internally. After mating, females move to hard substrates like rocks, shells, or stones to lay their eggs. The eggs are deposited in small, spherical protective capsules, which are stuck together in a sponge-like mass. Each capsule can contain up to 2,700 eggs, and a single female may produce 80-150 capsules.

The embryos develop within the egg capsules for 2-5 months. During this time, many of the eggs serve as food for the developing embryos, with only about 1% successfully developing into juveniles. After 4-5 months, fully formed juvenile whelks hatch from the capsules in winter. Newly hatched whelks measure about 3 mm in shell length. They then grow slowly, reaching 10-15 mm after one year and 21-26 mm at two years. They typically reach sexual maturity between 4.7 and 7.5 years of age, at a shell height of 45-70 mm.

Adult whelks are carnivorous predators and active scavengers. They use chemosensors to detect food in the water, extending a tube called a siphon to funnel water into their sensory organs. Their diet includes polychaete worms, small bivalve molluscs, and carrion. Common whelks typically live for about 10 years.

Unless, of course, they are caught for eating by carnivorous humans.

Brighton & Newhaven Fish Sales operate several boats that catch whelk (among other fish). The Evie Mae, an under-10m multipurpose catamaran, engages in whelk fishing during the warm summer months. One of its fishermen, Kier Foster, was quoted recently as saying: ‘There’s not much of a market here for these [local catches]. It’s best to cook the whelks, slice them up and send them to China where they go for £30 a kilo.” 

Nevertheless, you can buy fresh whelks on Brighton’s pebbles in the summer thanks to Frazer Leigh Smith’s Brighton Shellfish & Oyster Bar where they are served with vinegar and pepper. Delicious - if you like the sort of thing!

Tales of a Victorian sewer outlet

Brighton’s Victorian sewer system, constructed in the late 19th century (more or less 150 years ago), was a remarkable feat of engineering, one that revolutionised waste management in the town. The project, designed by Sir John Hawkshaw in collaboration with Sir Joseph Bazalgette, involved building a seven mile long, brick-lined sewer to transport sewage along the coast four miles beyond the borough boundary, to Telscombe Cliffs. This extensive network, spanning approximately 48 kilometers, was hand-dug by Victorian bricklayers using pickaxes, wheelbarrows, and steam-driven cranes.

Several outfalls like this one beneath the Palace Pier Groyne were integrated into the city’s coastal structures. The groyne  was originally built in 1876 and called Aquarium Promenade Groyne (before being enlarged and named Albion Groyne). Originally designed to discharge stormwater, these outlets also carried raw sewage during heavy rains. The practice persisted, it seems, until the 1990s, when the sewage infrastructure underwent significant modernisation, one involving the construction of a huge storm tunnel, measuring five kilometers in length and six meters in width. Where once the overflow outfall discharged directly into the sea alongside Palace Pier, thereafter water dropped down a 100 foot shaft into the new storage tunnel. 

Even more recently, a £300 million wastewater treatment plant was built in Peacehaven, which now treats all of Brighton’s sewage to near river-water quality.

Subterranea Britannica (or Sub Brit) has a good history of the Brighton sewers inclusive of a first hand report of ‘a gentle stroll round the town sewers’. Much of the Victorian engineering - which of course is mostly underground - can be witnessed on these walking tours, as offered by Southern Water (though currently there is no information about them on their website). You can virtually accompany ex Green MP Caroline Lucas on one tour thanks to YouTube.

Intriguing hints of the city’s industrial archaeological heritage can be spotted above ground - such as this one under the Palace Pier Groyne. Don’t you think it has a kind of industrial beauty with its combination of rusted iron grid, hints of smooth spirals in the tunnel, and textures of rough, weathered concrete?

Joe Stoner on the MyBrighton&Hove website has shared this impish anecdote about about his father and the outlet: ‘In the early 20th Century my father and his mates used to get the tourist, on the pier, to throw coins to them as they swam which they dived down to retrieve. They dived down and used to hide in its large exit hole by the Palace Pier until the tourists thought that they’d drowned and were SO relieved that they weren’t dead they threw bigger denominations of coins!’

And then Stoner also remembers himself in the early 1960s with friends kayaking past the groyne. ‘I used to wonder,’ he says, ‘WHY there were so many durex in the sea there when ALL Brighton’s sewage was pumped under the Under Cliff Walk to Telscome Cliffs where it went out to sea. NOW I know that as an overflow it was cheaper to “let it flow” into the sea where we kayaked and swam! Some things never change, eh?’

Murders and jellyfish

How often would you think the name ‘Brighton Beach’ appears in book titles, past and present? Surprisingly, it transpires the answer is very few. The least rare of these is a play by Neil Simon, Brighton Beach Memoirs, but this does not trouble us, for it concerns Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, not Brighton Beach, UK.

The most recent work I can find is a modern American novel: Murder at Brighton Beach by Lee Strauss. This is advertised as a ‘cozy historical mystery’ and forms part of the Ginger Gold mystery series, with Ginger Gold ‘a stylish and sharp-witted young widow’.

Also recent, but undated, is Brighton Beach (Short Stories Book 1) by Samuel Cain. This is only available in a Kindle edition (for 79p) and contains but 10 pages - enough, however, to reveal the writer doesn’t know Brighton very well. For example, the narrator is on a train arriving into Brighton: ‘My sister was pressed up against the window. “Mum” she said, pointing toward water far in the distance behind a large town. “Are we going there?” she asked as excitement gripped her body making her move erratically. “That’s Brighton beach,” my mother said and I looked toward the waters sparkling in the distance. “What’s a beach?” my sister asked. “A place with lots of sand,” my mother replied.’ However, the book has a rather splendid cover by Waewdao Sirisook. There may be nothing about jellyfish in the story, but floating IS a theme.

Otherwise, I have found two crime works - both rather lost in time. From 1910 comes Brighton Beach by Alice Dudeney. This is a short story originally published in her collection Poor Dear Esme. 

And then there’s The Brighton Beach Mystery by Charles Kingston (1936) by Ward, Lock and Co. This is a second book in the Chief Inspector Wake series and revolves around a murder discovered on Brighton Beach. A review can be read at The Spectator Archive.

Of cockles clams and scallops

There seem to be an unusually large number of shells (the exoskeletons of animals) on the beach this winter. I may be wrong but I don’t recall shells vying with pebbles for dominance in so many areas along the tide line - perhaps this is because of a preponderance of winter storms and rough seas.

Here’s a photo from today with some or all of the following: 

Common whelk (Buccinum undatum) - spiral shells

Mussels (Mytilus edulis) - darker, elongated shells

Cockles (Cerastoderma edule) - rounded shells with ridges

Venus shells - smoother, rounded shells

Barnacles or limpets - possibly some of the encrusted or broken parts

The largest shells that I’ve ever found on Brighton Beach are scallops, beautiful fan-shaped objects. There aren’t many, though, because most of them, the ones I’ve seen and collected over the years, have been found much closer to Shoreham, immediately east of the River Adur (near the fab cafe, Carats).

Fun fact from BBC Science Focus. The very largest shells are of giant clams, Tridacna gigas. They can grow to well over a metre across and tip the scales at 200kg. Like all shell-making molluscs, they sculpt their protective homes from calcium carbonate and gradually expand them throughout their lives. They inhabit coral reefs and can live for at least a century. Here’s one on sale for around £3,000 (by UK Architectural Heritage).

Coming soon - life cycle of the common whelk!

10 years on, remembering Dan and Freddie

Sadly, it is ten years today since the drowned body of Dan Nichols, only 23 years old, was found. In the company of friends and in the early hours of Saturday morning, he had taken up a dare to stand close by the water’s edge near Palace Pier (as it was then known). The weather was later described as ‘gale force nine and very dangerous’. A huge wave hit Dan, knocking him off his feet. He was pulled into the sea and out from the shoreline. One of his friends, Freddie Reynolds, aged 24, dived in to rescue him, but he was also swept out and away. The others tried to enter the water, but were beaten back by the waves. They had one last glimpse of Dan and Freddie together and struggling before they lost sight of them.

Local police, the Coastguard, and Sussex Search and Rescue teams scoured the shoreline from the West Pier to Saltdean Lido during the night and the next day, aided by a National Police Air Service helicopter. But it was a member of the public who found the first body, Freddie Reynolds at Saltdean, four miles east of the pier. The following morning, Dan’s body was washed up not far from that of his friend, in Rottingdean.   

Young lives cut so terribly short. 

Freddie was a very loyal and brilliant friend, his family said. He was always looking out for his friends and family and people loved to be around him. He was incredibly funny and loved a joke and a banter. Dan’s family said: ‘Dan was very bright, he was quick and witty, loved music which he both made and produced, and he enjoyed skateboarding.

Both the above photographs appeared in the Daily Mail report: Drowned for £50: Two dead after daring each other for just a few pounds to stand at the water's edge on Brighton Pier.

DCI Carwyn Hughes was quoted in The Guardian: ‘We are relieved that the bodies of the two men have been recovered. This has been a traumatic weekend for Dan and Freddie’s friends and family. What was meant to be a bit of fun turned out so tragically with Dan snatched from the water’s edge and Freddie bravely diving in to try to save him.

Our sympathies go to their families, whom we are supporting. I want to thank those who braved the terrible conditions to search night and day for the two men. The dedicated crews include coastal rescue services, volunteers from Sussex search and rescue team, seafront officers and specialist search officers. This is a tragic incident and I urge people to think of their safety and keep away from the sea when it is so dangerous.’ Dan is on the left, Freddie on the right.

Tragically, deaths associated with Brighton Beach seem all too frequent - all four of these reports appeared in the last two years.

Woman who died in sea at Brighton was ‘passionate’ space student

Body found on beach confirmed to be 21-year-old Brighton man

Man dies after going into the sea in Hove

Man’s body found washed up on beach in Hove