James Gray: The east Hove beach, in front of Brunswick Lawns, about 1912. jgc_12_051
2018: The modern image, looking east along the beach, with the remains of the West Pier just visible in the distance, shows that little has changed as families and groups of young people enjoy the sunshine by the sea. The
bathing machines have long gone; their modern equivalents, beach huts, are set further back on the promenade and currently sell for up to £25,000, quite a lot for what is in truth a partially furnished garden shed in constant need of repainting! (Photographer: David Sears)
James Gray: Three photographs of the Lawns (jgc_11_157, 158 and 159), with nothing particular about which to comment. They are all of the period between 1910 and 1914, the earliest being this photograph as it does not show the peace statue, unveiled in 1912. Additional Information: Bandstand. jgc_11_158
2018: In this 2018 image of the same east-facing view the old bandstand, refurbished in 2009, looks just the same but the magnificent West Pier in the first picture has been reduced to a a rusting skeleton.
James Gray: This is a photograph of Hove Regatta in 1893. The crowd of people on the beach are just opposite the end of Medina Terrace which can be seen at the top of the photograph. At this period several small, ancient buildings extended eastwards from the bottom of Sussex Road and backed on to the open beach. It was not until the following year that the building of Medina Esplanade was projected and this was built in two distinct stages, between 1894 and 1900. jgc_12_061
James Gray: This copy of a very old stereoscopic photograph presents something of a puzzle. If as the writing says, the boats were at Hove, where were they beached? The buildings at the rear are too small and indistinct to be of any help and nothing like this remains. The only likely area could be that part of Hove beach seen in the photograph on the previous page [see jgc_12_061, above] as all these buildings were swept away in the 1890s, but I still have grave doubts. They look like Brighton Hog-boats, but lettering resembling HASTINGS appears on the stern. I think this may well be a “photographic cuckoo-in-the-nest”. As to the period of the original photographs, the dress of the children almost certainly is of the 1870s. jgc_12_062
James Gray: This view is of a pre-Great War vintage, and may be even of the 1914 Regatta. This event, which for years had a popular appeal, died out early in the 1920s. jgc_12_063
2018: All the buildings in the background of the earlier picture have been demolished, including the central one, Medina House, a women-only Turkish Bath built in 1894 and a feature of the seafront until it was pulled down in 2018. At the time of the 2019 image a new building which echoed the original design was being erected on its footprint, commissioned by the musician David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and his wife the author Polly Samson.
James Gray: The Hove Reggata of 1920. jgc_12_064
2018: Hove regattas started in 1876 and ended in the early 1920s. The event was extremely popular, with sailing and rowing races and other entertainments on both land and sea. In the background of the James Gray picture St Aubyn’s Mansions is one of the few recognisable landmarks standing today.
James Gray: : A postcard dated 1913 titled: ‘Away from the busy crowded street a rest down here is such a treat -Hove Beach jgc_12_071
2018: There is little to identify exactly where the original postcard image was taken, although, judging by the beached fishing boats, it may have been below Brunswick Lawns, towards the eastern end of Hove Beach. The title on the card ‘Away from the busy crowded street a rest down here is such a treat’ is still true today.
James Gray: This postcard dated 1919 titled: ‘Come here if you want to enjoy yourself’ is a view of bathing machines with the baths visible in the background. jgc_12_072
2018: The original postcard, looking west along King’s Esplanade (known as Medina Esplanade until 1909), was entitled ‘Come here if you want to enjoy yourself’ – which is exactly what people still do today, with a line of parked cars along the small service road an inevitable consequence.
James Gray: This postcard dated 1919 is a view of the beach showing bathing machines and many people on the tide line. jgc_12_073
2018: It is impossible to determine the exact location of this cheerful 1919 image – or to replicate it today. The beaches, even closer to Brighton, are never now as busy and few would be seen wearing thick pullovers, suits, school caps or trilby hats! The bathing machines with their now superfluous message ‘mixed bathing’ are long gone, replaced first by bathing tents and then, in the 1930s, by the now brightly painted and enormously popular beach huts.
James Gray: Two more photographs [jgc_15_017 and, on the Hove Seafront (2) page, jgc_15_018] of the mined and wired off promenade, complete with concrete tank obstacles, though whether these would have had much effect is now doubtful. The photographs are, of course, of different parts of the Front. This view, showing the backs of the houses in Courtney Terrace, also shows a Bofors Gun beneath its protective covering. Note the empty block of houses in Medina Terrace, with all occupants evacuated. jgc_15_017
James Gray: Two photographs [jgc_15_040 and 041] showing a wreck aground on the east beaches by the Brunswick Lawns. Period unknown, probably late 1920s. This view shows the wrecked ship. jgc_15_040
2018: Finding a wreck here was relatively uncommon as most of the vessels that beached were heading for the assumed safety of Shoreham Harbour further down the coast. This must have been one of the last wrecks recorded and today, on a sunny evening in September, it is difficult to imagine such a thing ever happening again, although the sea can still on occasion be very threatening. The buildings in the far distance in the James Gray image are likely to be those of Medina Terrace. (Photographer: David Sears)
James Gray: See jgc_15_040 above. jgc_15_041
2018: See jgc_15_040 above. (Photographer: David Sears)
James Gray: About 20-25 years separate these two photographs. [See also jgc_11_203 on the Kingsway (1B) page.] This one dates from the late 1930s as in the distance can be seen Courtenay Gate [incorrectly called the Courtney flats by James Gray], built in 1935. jgc_11_202
2019: This view westwards along the much developed seafront is taken from the British Airways i360 observation tower. Courtenay Gate is still standing. (Photographer: Helen Glass)