Brighton Pier

The weather is still bad, not the best time to go down to the pier. So I'm on the other side of the road with the pier behind me. It is still known by lots of people as Palace Pier even though the sign above the entrance says 'Brighton Pier'. The West Pier was Palace Piers' rival but after a series of fires (nothing to do with me!) there isn't much of it left.

The construction of Palace Pier began in 1891. It opened in May 1899. The pier has is popular with film makers. It has been in a number of films and TV programmes including Carry On At Your Convenience, Dr Who, Sweeney Todd and Midsomer Murders. That reminds me, it's about time I was in Midsomer Murders. Death by dragon must be the only method of killing someone they haven't used.

Brighton Wheel

My first visit to Brighton. Weather wasn't too good. Despite the weather I went for a walk along the seafront and found this big wheel. It's just to the east of Brighton Pier. The wheel is quite big and you can see into peoples houses, I think you are supposed to look out to sea and along the coast though. As it's 160' above sea level you can see a long way. It was built in Germany and was set up in South Africa before coming to Brighton, I suppose they just roll it along with a giant stick. I rather like it, though lots of people objected as it's in a conservation area. It looks rather jolly to me and suits the seaside. If the weather was better I would have gone for a fly over the top of it and looked at the people going round.