I haven’t visited the British seaside in nearly 20 years, so we figured that perhaps it would be an idea to head down to Brighton for the day and enjoy what’s left of the summer. Old men with hankie bonnets asleep in canvas deck chairs, fish & chips slogged with malt vinegar, pebble beaches, penny arcades, Punch & Judy shows: the Brighton Pier is everything you would expect of a British seaside town and there is certainly something of the old Carry On Films about the place. Each year, working-class Southerners, bachelor and bachelorette parties, and foreign holidaymakers flock here in their millions to cut loose, suck down some sea air, and pour their cash into the local economy. Tourism is a big business and the locals are eager to please. The waterfront is packed with budget hotels and you can hardly move for the number of boozers offering a full English breakfast and a pint for less than a fiver.

Brighton is one of those unusual places that manages to effortlessly balance the past with the present. Take a short stroll along the waterfront today and you will find exactly the kind of goings on that inspired Donald McGill‘s famously vulgar seaside postcards of so long ago – complete with drunken husbands, troublesome children and henpecking wives. In the 1960’s, the mods and the rockers would ride down to Brighton at the weekend to knock the candy floss out of each other. The fighting may have quietened down but the old mods, with their Fred Perry shirts and fringed hairdos, are still to be found cruising around the place on their customized Vespa mopeds.

Some call Brighton the gay capital of Britain, and on every street you will spot flamboyant queens, proud transvestites and every assemblage of the LGBT initialism. Here, there is no “alternative” culture, there is only culture, and it is a remarkably open, accepting and tolerant a culture at that. Mark my words, it is one of the most peculiar places you will ever get to visit, but everybody seems to get along just fine and there is something quite life affirming about that. The underlying philosophy of Brighton seems to be that everyone has their place in this world and everyone deserves to be happy and comfortable in their own skin. We headed back to London feeling uplifted and invigorated, and, I must say, it is one of the few places I have visited that makes the capital seem quite dull in comparison.

We took some pictures of our Brighton adventure, I hope you enjoy.

A very grumpy looking seagull on the pier

Fishermen making the best of the good weather beside the pier.

Some of the soundest advice I have ever read… on a pub wall.

We loved this deco-style cafe.

The view onf the waterfront from the pier.

One of the beautiful mopeds we spotted.

One of Brighton’s Lanes in the main shopping area of town.

It is certainly an eccentric place.

I like the colour of the place

A little green beauty.

The seafront

The Brighton Royal Pavilion

The entrance to the Brighton Pier.

Some street art we found on our walk

The seafront

We made a little friend while walking through the gardens.