About Hove
50 miles south of London, arguably the greatest City on earth, sits Hove, in East Sussex, on the glorious English Chanel. In its fine Victorian architecture can be found some of the very best examples of Enlish Victorian Architecture anywhere in the world, from the remarkable seafront and Hove Lawns, to it's salubrious suburbs around Hove Park, The Drive and Montpellier, Brunswick Square and Dyke Road, where Hove gives over to the remarkable and stunning South Downs, soon to be Englands 'newest' National Park.
The area is an enclave of excellent schools, both state and independent, seafront homes, excellent shopping facilities, fine restaurants, art galleries, delicatessens, tea shops, fantastic parks such as St Anns Well Gardens and other open spaces, well proportioned, tree lined wide avenues, regular French markets with retailers, bread makers, olive producers and cheese makers from across the Chanel, local farmers markets providing the very best farm produce Sussex has to offer, organic food stores, upmarket supermarkets, excellent pubs, a good nightlife, all washed in glorious sunshine for much of the year, it is not difficult to comprehend why so many people relocate here by departing London and move to Hove. Even out of season in the depths of winter Hove fails to lose its charm, providing what artists describe as bleak isolation and solitude that cannot be achieved anywhere else so close to the capital London.
Clearly distinct from it's more raffish neighbour, Brighton, and eschewing the 'kiss me quick' appeal, Hove retains its roots in the real England of old, yet is awash with cutting edge new media companies vying to get a foothold on the south coast before selling to the City of London. Affectionally known as HoveActually, it is distinguished from its brash neighbour as chalk is from cheese; enjoying the same vibrant culture of artists and excellent restaurants, Hove holds a degree of peace and tranquility that its close neighbour cannot. And this, perhaps, is what makes it thrive, Hove offers an alternative to brash Britain in the 21st century, with impeccable manners and a decent proper upbringing; it is not simply the architecture.
Hove is home to the remarkably successful Sussex County Cricket Club, arch rival to Surrey, and Championship winning Club in England for more recent years than is fair to boast about, housed in a remarkable Cricket Ground a short stroll from the seafront. A real focal point for the local community, and one of civic and sporting pride, this is where the gentlemen of Sussex are to be found on the long heady days of summer. And they epitomise England, not in the Enid Blyton fashion, but in Englands truest sense; anyone seeking to see and understand England can find all they need to know at the County Ground. It's as if, some days and evenings light permitting, Englands hallowed heart is buried beneath the hallowed turf. A remarkable place, visit and enjoy, whether you are a cricket fan or not.
HRH bestowed City status on the unified towns of Brighton and Hove in 2000. Whilst there were administration savings to be had, some mourn Hove's independence and recently, there has been a gathering pace to seperate out the two Towns again. Much anecdotal evidence exists that monies for Hove have flowed to, what some consider its brassy neighbour, and that media attention has fallen on Brighton and not Hove. Others suggest this is a good thing, that media attention brings unwelcome visitors and threatens Hove with the same themeparkishness of Brighton, which has become a carricature of itself and is losing its soul, whereas Hove, marches on into the 21st century, certainly less well healed, but with a straight back and head held high, confident of its place on the south coast, offering a charm unachievable anywhere else in the world.
Ghery's plans for the remarkable buildings on the King Alfred site, a sports centre and delapidated swimming pool complex of the 20th century, with no architectual merrit it has to be said, finally came unhinged on the 14th November 2008. A fierce battle raged for the ground for several years, protagonists and visionaries locking horns for what I'm not sure. Whilst Hove cannot be moth balled as a living museum of Victorian architecture, and it needs to be remembered that the Victorian architecture we all cherish now, was not only radical in the Victorain age but some fine examples were bulldozed in the 1960's to make way for '60's radical architecture.' Whilst it would be glib to try and understand and portray this battle here, in a few short lines, as usualy, the powers that be failed to put the horse before the cart. Whilst undoubtedly the 60's threw up some remarkable architecture now cherished, such as the wonderful Trellick Tower near Ladbroke Grove in London, it also gave us some of the monstrosities that not only blight our seafront but every town in England, grey, miserable, poorly functioning blots on the landscape so precious to all our hearts. The irony of the lovely dear old West Pier first falling into the sea during high tide on December 29 2002, somberly reported on BBC Radio 4 that morning as the lead news item, eptomised a nations failure. The West Pier had been closed in 1975, so 27 years elapsed in which we failed to restore this wonderful structure. Had we done so, Ghery's ideas may have been more acceptable and led us into a bolder 21st Century, architecturally speaking. But what value can be placed in the new when heritage sites and buildings, the West Pier and the seafront Bandstand, are left to decay so seriously that they are lost completely, despite the best will in the world? To maintain our heritage is to respect our own futures, and a future without respect, fortitude, willingness to maintain, restore, sustain and ultimately look after that which we already own, have inherited, have been gifted, does not warrant the bold new steps required for a bold new world. This is of course a personal view. If we cannot look after old gold, or look after old diamonds for example, the intelligence suggests aquiring new gems is fruitless, because one day they will simply fall into the sea, as did the remarkable West Pier. Ghery and Gough were victims, as much as we all were, of political ineptitude. How could thousands and millions be spent on soulless monstrous shopping centres in dear old Albion, whilst our heritage in the form of the West Pier was left to litterally fall into the sea?
The truth is those that fought over Ghery's remarkable plans have more in common they than realise. As things stand, the West Pier is gone, and Ghery is also gone. Both are Hove's loss, sadly. Perhaps future generations can be more enlightened, and actually get things done with the same passion for building and architecture as this generation has given to 'political spin'. And lets hope the politicans who will never be held to account decay as the West Pier did.
In 2009 the clamour for seperation with Brighton has grown considerably; Hove seeks its own future and its own will to define itself, and I believe is likely to succeed. Centralisation of administration always, without exception, seems to produce a homogonised version of what could be. Remember getting the cream off the milk as a boy? Milk no longer has cream, despite its cheaper cost in the supermarket, it has lost a crucial element of its actual composition and arguably is no longer milk. Some say Hove is at risk along the same lines, and we wont notice until it is too late, dazzled by the cost savings, a day will come when the real Hove is usurped by a young pretender lacking essential ingredients of natures original product. Well, Hove already lacks a West Pier. So they might not be wrong. There is a genune case for seperating out the two Towns again, despite the cost, the cultural benefits to England have to be measured too; simply absorbing cultural aspects of our people and heritage on a cost basis is surely no longer acceptable, the philistines rule within the political classes certainly and the charm of Albion herself is at risk; cost or not Hove is worthy of self rule and its difference to its neighbour is something to be celebrated not sneared at by the culturally inept and intollerant. What makes England so special is its diversity, and we lose that charm to our peril.
