Brighton and Royal Tunbridge Wells (11 November 2024)

Brighton Pier

It was a sunny day for the first time since we arrived in  the British Isles.  It was lovely to see the sun even if it was a bit watery. 

 

Our plan for the day was to visit Brighton and then return to look around Tunbridge Wells.  Bev had never been to Brighton and I couldn’t remember whether I had many years ago.  If I did it had not made much of an impression.

 

The drive to Brighton took about an hour along an A road which was reasonably uncongested.  For much of the drive the road was lined with trees that were very colourful and losing their leaves  It was very pretty. 

 

We found a carpark very close to the Brighton Promenade.  Parking was not a problem but the cost was horrific (£11 for two hours).  We walked to the Pier but it was closed.  A little further along  there is an historic railway from which tourists along the waterfront for a mile or so on an old electric train.  It had closed for the winter months.  It was built in the late 1800s and was rather cute.  There was a coffee shop in the station building and the owner of the café provided us with a bit of information about the railway and about herself.  The coffee was actually quite good. 

 

Bev wanted to get a Brighton Hove Football Club jersey for her son and grandson and having got directions from the café owner we set out to find the shop.  The shopping spree was successful.   We were running out of time and Bev wanted to have a look around Tunbridge Wells so back in the car we got and headed back. 


Brighton Pier Palace

 

We made good time and had a substantial part of the afternoon to wander the town.  It is a very pretty place and got its Royal name as the result of a royal bestowing it because of the  so called healing properties of a spring located there.  The town became a magnet for people wanting to access its curative qualities.  The centre of town is much bigger than I thought.  Initially we went in search of the railway station as Bev had come down here to see a relative forty odd years ago and remembered the town as being very attractive.  The station was in the middle of town and then further south was a place called the Pantiles which is a Georgian colonnade where there are a number of shops and restaurants.  We found the spring in the colonnaded area. 


Colonnaded  Georgian shops Tunbridge Wells

 

It was getting dark by the time we retraced our steps to the hotel to rest from what turned out to be a very busy day.  In retrospect we could have spent more time in Bath and visited the Royal Pavillion as we were able to see the centre of the  town of Tunbridge Wells quite quickly.  

 

The spring

I





 
I liked the name of the shop

Our very cute hotel

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