Category Archives: Brighton Life

Sirena Bergman and more

Brighton Life, Eating Out, Features

Go to the pub. It’s your duty…

WHERE WERE YOU when Lockdown eased? It’ll be one of those questions that people will ask for years to come, but unlike the moments that stopped in your tracks when Elvis died, when we crossed into a new millennium, when you got your first mobile phone, you’ll probably remember the end of Lockdown as the night you stayed in. Again. 

We went to the pub, the Ram Inn at Firle, a treat of a country pub, far enough away from the madding crowd but full, we hoped, of cheerful locals raising a glass. But what to wear? Patterned cloth mask or Boots’ whitest? Gloves: blue plastic or a pastichey yellow Marigold perhaps?  

By the time you read this, you’ll gasp at the answer. Reader, we were naked.  Well, our faces were anyway. And we weren’t alone. No-one, not our friends who sat opposite us unaware of the aerosol potential of a leaky laugh, or the staff wore anything to hide our wide smiles at the sheer joy of leaving the house. 

But my vision of a delightful feast in the company of fellow foodies, was less of a warm hug and more of a socially distanced ankle rub. There was more room at the Inn than any needy traveller could have dreamed of that night. The 4th of July went out with less of a bang and more of a whimper.

By the time The Whistler hits the streets, we’ll know more about the impact of that lacklustre welcome back to the locals. The wheat will have been sorted from the chaff and the redundancies will be strewn over the pavements like butt ends after a Friday night in the old days. Or maybe not. 

Across Brighton, the gourmet scene was booked solid. Steven Edwards at etch. in Hove (beautiful plate pictured below) was ready to set off the fireworks on July 4th with not one but two openings. His new restaurant, The Bingham Riverhouse in Richmond had only just launched when Lockdown closed its doors in March, but the 2013 winner of  MasterChef: The Professionals reports both restaurants are back and firing on all cylinders. 

Brighton Restaurants have compiled an up to date list of the Brighton restaurants which are bravely marching on. 

https://restaurantsbrighton.co.uk

Do them a favour and don a mask, wash your hands and head down to your local pub or restaurant, or if you can’t leave home just yet, order a take-away. What would Brighton be without its food scene? What would life be without a pub?

Gilly Smith

www.gillysmith.com

Brighton Life, Features, The Arts

The Way We Were

Undoubtedly, one thing we will always associate with the year 2020 is the frequent use of certain words within our vocabulary: Lockdown, frontline, pandemic, social distancing. All as a result of the emergence of the Coronavirus. However, these are certainly not exclusive to this period.

Brighton Life, Environment

Jim Gowans’ West Hill Watch

ALTHOUGH DELAYED BY the Covid crisis, Brighton and Hove City Council are planning to conduct a review of the Local List of Heritage Assets – a list of local buildings, monuments, and other sites such as parks which may not be of sufficient national importance to warrant their inclusion in the Statutory List which is maintained by Historic England (formerly English Heritage), but may nevertheless be valued for their contribution to the character of the local area or for their local historical associations. 

The last review in 2015 resulted in five buildings or structures within the West Hill Conservation Area being included in this Local List. The five comprise (rather remarkably) three pubs, one chapel and one set of petrol pumps! The pubs are the Royal Standard, the Queen’s Head and the Grand Central (more of which in a later article) and the chapel is the Providence chapel in West Hill Road (pictured below). The petrol pumps are outside 19A Bath Street and date from the early 1950s. These pumps, which are unfortunately lacking their original advertising “Shellmex” globes, are of historic interest as part of one of the first (if not the first) petrol stations in Brighton. 

The host building is a 19th century residential property which was greatly altered in the 20th century to allow the ground floor to be used as a petrol station and garage. The chapel in West Hill road was built in 1894-6 by architect Charles Hewitt as the Nathaniel Episcopal Reformed Church. Acquired by a Strict Baptist congregation in 1965, it was renamed Providence Chapel before being re-opened in 2013 as the West Hill Baptist Chapel. 

Its architectural style and red brick are a pleasing contrast with the (mostly) white painted rendered facades of the surrounding streets, whilst its sympathetic scale and unpretentious design all contribute to its being a valuable local heritage asset. 

If any readers of the Whistler wish to suggest additions to the local list, please send them to the editor. Do bear in mind that a number of buildings and structures in the West Hill area are already nationally listed, the most notable being Brighton Station which is Grade II.  

Andrew Polmear, Brighton Life, Eating In, Features

Wine to go with cheese

Most of us are finding ourselves eating at home a lot more than in pre-Covid-19 times. In my household it means we eat a lot more cheese than usual, since we consider a cheese course an important part of a proper meal at home. With the cheese it’s very tempting to continue drinking whatever wine we’ve already opened. I think we can do better than that. Here are my thoughts.

When it comes to wine that goes with cheese, it’s got to be red. The only exception is a heavy sweet wine, like Sauternes, that goes wonderfully with very tasty blue cheeses. Roquefort is the usual example. That aside, any red will do, although in principle the stronger the cheese the more powerful the wine. Red is good but it’s not perfect.

To move up a notch we have to go to fortified wines. A dry austere Amontillado sherry is thrilling with any cheese, although it will dwarf a mild cheese, for which you might try a Fino. For those who get confused by the different types of sherry, remember that sherry is made at first like any white wine, but then left in barrels open to the air. If the wine develops a creamy layer of yeast on top, called flor, it becomes a Fino – dry, light in colour with a sharp yeasty tang. If the flor dies off or is killed off by adding alcohol, the wine is exposed to air and darkens, developing that distinctive, austere, almost bitter, nutty flavour with overtones of tobacco and spices from the oak barrel.  That’s an Amontillado. An Oloroso, that’s an even darker sherry which never had flor on top, would be marvellous too, but it, too, must be bone dry. They are much harder to find. Don’t use sweet sherry, not even anything with the word “cream” in the title. Save that for the pudding.

Equally wonderful would be a Tawny Port, again because it’s got that austere dry nutty, leathery tang. Ruby port wouldn’t do. It hasn’t been oxidised so it has a rich fruity flavour that goes with fruity puddings but not cheese. Ruby port is either matured in huge barrels or in tanks or even in the bottle. Tawny ports start off like ruby ports but spend longer – much longer – in much smaller barrels, slowly oxidising, turning brown and leathery, losing all that fruitiness but developing that spicy, nutty, leathery essence.

If we were really celebrating I’d ask for a glass of Madeira. Malmsey is my favourite but I’d settle for any of them. It’s not unlike port in the way it’s made but it’s from a different grape, different terroir and, unlike port, it’s gently heated while oxidising. Like port it needs to be at least 10 years old; then it’s heavenly.

But how can anyone manage to drink wine with the meal and a fortified wine with the cheese? The secret is to stick to small amounts. You only need a mouthful of the fortified wine. Then put the stopper back on and keep it somewhere cool. That way you’ll stay within your 14 units a week. And the joy of these fortified wines is they will last for months once opened. After all, at Downton Abbey they sit for years in decanters on the sideboard without going off.

Andrew Polmear

Brighton Life

Jim Gowans’ West Hill Watch, June 1

Digital Screens at Brighton Station

The proposal to install 11 digital advertising screens at Brighton Station has given BHCC conservation officers cause for concern. The station which dates from 1841 is a landmark building within the West Hill conservation area.

The officers’ report points out that the  proposed digital screens would be substantial structures and the majority would be visually intrusive; those either side of the front entrances to the main building would detract from the simple classical proportions of the grade II* listed Italianate building. These eight screens would be wider than the classically derived columns and pilasters against which they would sit and would harm the proportions of the entrance area and obscure the edge detailing of the columns, pilasters and arches. They would compete with and visually dominate these important architectural features, which are prominent on arrival and departure and which set the character of the external and internal concourse areas.

The application proposes a substantial overall reduction in the number of advertisements within the Station as compensatory benefit and an overall rationalisation of signage. However, most of these existing signs are in much less prominent and sensitive locations, mostly lining the platforms where they have much less impact on the architectural interest of the Station. The signs to be removed also include non-fixed signs which do not require Listed Building Consent and these may potentially reappear without such control.

Some Silver Lining to the Covid Cloud

Whilst your correspondent has not ventured far during the current Covid emergency he has been aware of an increase in neighbourliness as one pleasing consequence of the “lockdown”. There have been offers from younger, fitter residents to help the more vulnerable with shopping and errands and the Thursday evening applause for key workers has encouraged neighbours to acknowledge each other’s presence (at a safe distance) in an unprecedented way. In West Hill Road, for example, colourful bunting and children’s artwork at the windows has added interest to the street scene and raised the sprits of those taking their daily permitted exercise. Many residents have taken this opportunity of confinement combined with fine weather to maintain the outside of their homes by re-painting doors, polishing brass door furniture and sprucing up the front garden, all of which has improved the environment for all to enjoy especially as restrictions on movement are gradually lifted.

Flint Fall Out

Maintaining the outside of many homes in West Hill during the Covid emergency has sadly not extended to saving one attractive feature of the conservation area which is being steadily lost as the years pass. This is the flint panel which originally added interest to front boundary walls of most of the properties. After a century and a half the mortar holding the flints in place is in many cases beginning to fail, allowing weeds to penetrate which then force the flints to fall out. Regrettably, front boundary walls have often been repaired by merely rendering over the flint panel and painting the entire elevation including the brickwork with white masonry paint. If these “snapped” flints having fallen out, are not lost, it is a relatively straightforward job to reposition them. Ideally a lime-based mortar should be used as this will allow the wall to “breath”. Modern cement-based mortars may shrink on drying and fine capillary cracks can develop that admit water and cause damp internally. This can consequentially shorten the life of the repair.

Jim Gowans

Brighton Life, Features

Column: Life In Isolation

I have to say I’m amazed. Although self isolating, as a normally very active and social 75 year old, I’m coping really well, particularly as I have set myself a routine to keep me sane. I wake at 7am as usual, make a cup of tea and then return to my bed which has now become my Throne, and I love it. I read, then watch something on catchup before calling friends and dealing with paperwork. My cat thinks she’s gone to heaven, as she lies on my bed and enjoys uninterrupted attention. Finally, I’m forced to get up, if only to avoid turning into a complete bed potato.

With fine weather, I have been doing plenty of gardening. Every leaf shares equal attention, the invading moss on the cobbles is now only allowed to remain for aesthetic effect, the plants are fed, watered and spoken to  with fondness, and the patio is swept almost out of existence. Then, before I know it, the time has come for my one walk.

I alternate between the beach and the park,( each, being but a minute from my house.)  The unusual tranquility of the now deserted beach, takes me back to the words of Blake.

 

“To see a World in a grain of sand,

  And a Heaven in a wild flower,

  Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,

  And Eternity in an hour”

 

In the park I’m reminded of how I utilised my time, all those years ago, when returning home having dropped the children off at school each morning. With little time to prepare for my journey into the W, End for rehearsals, ( in those days I was involved in numerous musicals,) I would take advantage of the quiet and empty space to do my vocal warm ups.  Now that these are redundant, I converse with myself in French instead. It is good practise, and I and me always agree, never correct each other’s mistakes, and enjoy each other’s company.  Wonderful.

A further self indulgence, is rediscovering my repertoire of opera arias I learnt over fifty years ago at music college. Now, I join Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland, and sing along at the top of my voice. I love it, and I thank God that the students next door have all gone home.

Preparing my evening meal has become something to look forward to each day ,as this has been an opportunity to rediscover the contents of my freezer. I try to remember when I cooked such delicious dishes. God knows how long they have lurked in the dark, but thankfully I have not poisoned myself yet. So these delicacies are a treat to look forward to later.

In the meantime, I have a choice of occupations for the afternoon. One such is to cull my collection of paperwork and photographs.Sadly, the object of this exercise is forgotten within seconds.  This is my history, I rationalise. So all that is achieved is a small trip down memory lane, but oh what pleasure this gives me. However, with nothing discarded, it refuses to return to its dark and lonely quarters, and it is only with a great deal of cajoling and persuasion that it finally relents, in the hope that it may once again, in time to come, see the light of day

Another treat is to, re-assess the contents of my over bulging wardrobe. I am instantly shamed. Why on earth do I still have clothes I  brought with me from London 22 years ago?  It takes me only a few minutes to justify this stupidity. Some garments no longer fit, but who knows? I may lose weight, and after all, if this lockdown lasts for too long, my darling daughter may tire of doing my weekly shop, and my freezer might finally be empty.

Other clothes are in need of repair.Hooray!  As long as I’m able to see well enough to thread a needle, It will simply provide me with a new occupation. And what of the faded fabrics? Well, I may not have dye at hand, but it will be something to look forward too when the shops re open. And the realisation of this ,immediately justifies why I still have hundreds of carrier bags in the cellar.  I confess, my one concern, is that since I am unable to invite anyone to visit, my motivation to tidy up has completely disappeared.

Yes of course, I do miss my children, whom I now only see at the front door when they deliver supplies, and  I hate not seeing my grandchildren. However,( and I never thought I would hear myself this,) thank goodness for Technology which has revolutionised all our lives. There  are so many means of keeping in touch. Speaking, seeing and sharing are still with us.

And so the weeks go by.   I am happy, and I am so lucky. I  know I’m privileged, and my heart goes out to each and every person, who through no fault of their own, is finding this hard.  I am so so sorry. I just hope we will come out of this as a more compassionate and caring society.

And of course, our thanks must go to all those who endlessly help us day to day. But most of all, to our selfless, generous and tireless NHS workers.  My alarm clock is set for 7.55 pm each Thursday for the big clap. We will come out of this, but their contribution can never ever be repaid. Bless each and every one of them. May we never forget.

Kate Dyson

 

 

 

 

Brighton Life, Music, The Arts

Peter Batten’s Jazz Corner: Bird song

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Have you heard of “The Bird”? Charlie Parker, known as “Bird”, was a very great alto saxophonist and the major creative force in the jazz style known as Bebop. During WW2 he became widely admired and then idolised, in the United States, for his fantastic ability as an improviser. When that War ended his fame and the jazz style called Bebop immediately spread around the World. The effects of that explosion are still felt today. Here in Brighton jazz is enjoying a new surge of interest. Although the musicians and their music have a healthy variety, an influence from the Bebop era can be felt everywhere.

But Bebop was not the only jazz style to emerge from WW2. Something very different was born, – and much of it was hatched outside the United States. First let’s be clear about dates. No jazz of any recognisable style began before 1900. Then the early “traditional” style began to be played, most obviously In New Orleans. The first recordings date from the years of WW1. More and more bands appeared, recording began in earnest and the focal centre moved up the river from New Orleans to Chicago. Jazz also grew rapidly in importance in New York. By 1927 this early style, based on the interplay of trumpet, clarinet and trombone reached its peak. It then began to disappear into minor clubs and bars. Very few young negro musicians were interested in this style. They quickly took up their places in the new “Big Bands”. [Do not forget that racism in the USA meant that until well into the 1940s Big Bands were either white or black]

What happened in WW2 was quite a surprise. In Holland, in France, in the UK, in Eastern Europe, in Australia, amateur jazz bands often of self-taught musicians began to attempt to play in what they believed was an early and purer style of jazz, unspoilt by the commercialism which dominated the “Swing” era from 1935. By 1945 these bands were beginning to attract enthusiastic fans. It was a new phenomenon.

Peter Batten

Brighton Life, Environment, Features, Health Matters

Lockdown Ideas: Global Sharing Week

Globally, we have enough surplus food, shelter and water to end poverty, hunger and homelessness. Global Sharing Week is the largest annual mass engagement campaign to promote and enable the sharing of vital resources with those who need them most, whilst protecting the planet at the same time. Created by the Brighton-based charity I created, The People Who Share, Global Sharing Week reaches over 100 million people worldwide. This year, with the world suffering the challenges of the Covid-19 crisis, Global Sharing Week will see a phenomenal online campaign to ensure that those in need receive the resources they need to survive the crisis. Projects and vital resources from food banks, to groups making PPE for frontline healthcare workers will be listed on a global map at globalsharingweek.org

Participation is open to all, everyone can play their part by adding projects and available resources to the Global Sharing Week map and sharing what’s there. Global Sharing Week helps us to demonstrate that where we have poverty, we can have prosperity, where we have loneliness, we can have community and where we have landfill we can have reuse.

The People Who Share is currently running Covid-19 Food Relief, a campaign to ensure that nobody in the UK goes hungry during the Coronavirus crisis. Currently, 1.5 million adults and 830,000 children in the UK are not getting enough food, whilst 53% of NHS workers are concerned about accessing supplies during the Coronavirus pandemic. (The Food Foundation, YouGov Poll, March 2020).

Covid-19 Food Relief is a mass call to action and a one-stop source of information to help people find food urgently, donate or volunteer. By making vital supplies easy to access, and galvanising the UK’s population to act now, we can help save lives. At The People Who Share, we believe that a united effort can mean that nobody goes hungry during this crisis.

Covid-19 Food Relief has been created to promote and support organisations including FareShare, The Trussell Trust, FoodCycle, Independent Food Aid Network, Meals for the NHS, The Careworkers’ Charity and many other community groups working on the frontline to ensure that everyone in the UK has sufficient food.

If you are hungry to help, you can volunteer or donate to a range of organisations working to provide #FoodRelief to those who need it most during the Covid-19 crisis at www.thepeoplewhoshare.com To get involved or find out more information email: foodreliefC19@thepeoplewhoshare.com Let nobody go hungry during the Covid-19 crisis.

 

Benita Matofska

Global Sharing Week 2019, saw 540 events take place in 211 cities across 49 counties on every continent, creating massive social impact. To get involved, find or register a project or shared resource head to globalsharingweek.org

 

 

Brighton Life, Environment, Features

Lockdown Books: Generation Share

It’s official, Brits are turning to books during lockdown, with 1 in 3 of us reading more since the March directive to ‘stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives’ began. My own book, Generation Share, published last year by Policy Press has just been voted ‘top isolation read for a positive future’ by Forbes. The idea was born right here on Compton Avenue, when fed up of the barrage of negative news, I decided to embark on a journey to bring the positive stories of change-makers worldwide who are building a more caring, sharing society.

As a public speaker, changemaker and former journalist, my mantra has become, ‘to change the world, we need to change the narrative’, so I set out to do just that.

I invited Hove-based photographer and visual storyteller, Sophie Sheinwald to join me as I wanted to inspire positive change and bring these incredible stories to public attention in a way that people could connect with and feel part of. Each of the 200 change-makers interviewed for Generation Share, tell their stories in their words and along with my social commentary and Sophie’s stunning photography, it’s been dubbed ‘the big yellow book of hope.’

Each chapter showcases the extraordinary stories of social entrepreneurs and innovators who are tackling pressing issues such as climate change, poverty and inclusivity. You’ll meet the UK entrepreneur who has started a food sharing revolution, the creators of a life-saving human milk bank, a trust cafe and  the founders of a fashion library who are changing the world

The book itself is made from 100% waste materials, with fair trade, ethical production. Each copy sold, plants a tree and educates a girl in the slums in Mumbai through change-maker Aarti Naik’s Sakhi School for slum-based girls. Currently, proceeds have been helping Aarti run a Digital School ensuring that slum girls can stay at home safely during the Covid-19 crisis and run a food drive for some of India’s poorest families.

I’m proud to say Generation Share has been loved worldwide and has even sparked a global movement of change-makers. I believe, although our planetary resources may be finite, our potential to share is unlimited — inside each of us is a change-maker, just waiting to be unleashed.

Benita Matofska

Generation Share by Benita Matofska and Sophie Sheinwald can be purchased online from Policy Press with a 50% discount until the end of May using the code APRIL50 at checkout. Proceeds plant trees via the Eden Reforestation Project and support slum-based girls in Mumbai via Aarti Naik’s Sakhi School initiative.

https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/generation-share

For more information on change-making and Generation Share, Benita can be found @benitamatofska or benita@thepeoplewhoshare.com

Brighton Life, Environment, Features

Lockdown Poem: Like Riding A Bike

Like riding a bike

 

We do half-moons around each other’s

personal safety circles,

past carbuncled stumps, potholed

pavements, car bonnets.

 

Yet, pure-as-glass children

still shout out to strangers,

amidst this absence of playful

passing bys and high-fives.

 

We have to shrug it off,

this yearning for touch.

Back and forths across park fields –

must postpone hugs.

 

Where does it end?

Where is the line crossed?

If a learning-to-ride child

wobbled and then flopped

 

off their bike –

knees all scuffed –

would we stop and pick them up?

They’re learning too,

 

all these new rules,

the sliding scale of age,

teachings of temporary measures.

Would exuberant youth

 

stick out a palm to

the two-metre long

reach of help and refuse?

Picking up their bikes,

 

no shrieks, return to size-four feet

to hop back on the seat

and go again.

 

 

Christy Hall

www.mybrowblog.co.uk/