24 hours in Brighton and Hove

Sunday morning and we're travelling to the south coast. After a picnic lunch in the grounds of Pevensey Castle ( reliving old memories) it was onto Brighton for the afternoon. We arrived at the hotel 90 minutes early, and declining to pay an extra ten pounds we decided to take the morning paper and explore and sit in Preston Park. We've driven past the park many times, now there was the opportunity to stroll and take in the features of a fine Victorian open space. How our cities need open space and how well they are used. The park swarmed with many informal kick abouts, the tennis courts were full, dog walkers,and couples with disposable BBQs they all share this "common open space". We saw the clock tower, what chance that such a fine structure would be built in a park today. The circular tea room, the ornamental pond, the rose garden and finally the wonderful harvest garden.

The Harvest Garden really took my eye, this small piece of ground, showing how a small piece of land can grow vegetables for personal use. A scheme educational and inspiring. Our hotel room overlooked the park, a wonderful panorama.

In the late afternoon it was a twenty minute walk to Sussex County Cricket Club in time to grab some food and get in the ground in time to see Elton John.I first saw Elton John in the Royal Festival Hall in 1970. His second and third albums arrived with me when singer/songwriters were perhaps at their peak, and Tumbleweed Connection remains an album I still play frequently today.

Elton is in many ways a symbol of what is good about Britain. He's become something of a national treasure. He could have easily fled the UK in the past, but he stayed, and his position as perhaps Britain's best known gay man has I sense led to greater understanding and hopefully tolerance . The fact that the crowd had a sprinkling of both young and rather old, is testamont to Elton's longeavity as a performer.

The show was a blend of greatest hits, some stand out tracks from Madman across the Water (a great and somewhat underrated album) and three tracks from his latest album The Union.
Elton came back on stage after the performance, signed some programmes for fans and then concluded the night with "Your Song". It was a great show in a wonderful setting.

We walked back to the hotel stopping for a drink (infact two, because I called heads) in a pub. The next morning we walked down through North Laine, sat outdoors a cafe to have breakfast ( a changing habit in the UK), and then made our way to the seafront.

The sea at Brighton, the smell, the sound of the waves hitting the shingle, the sound of the occasional seagull, the sight of the iconic pier. We took it all in, before making our way back to the hotel before leaving town.