Thameslink trains now three times longer at Brighton, Gatwick and London Bridge

PASSENGERS travelling between London Bridge, Gatwick Airport and Brighton now have brand new Thameslink trains that are up to three times longer giving more space and more seats.

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has withdrawn the last of its older trains from this off-peak service, replacing them with cutting-edge Siemens Class 700 carriages.

The 12-carriage trains replace the mostly four-carriage (weekdays) and eight-carriage (Saturdays) twice-hourly service, creating 9,000 extra seats each weekday and much more space for passengers at Gatwick and families heading for the coast.

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Science by the seaside

THE British Science Association (BSA) is pleased to announce that the British #Science Festival 2017 will take place in #Brighton September 5-9. The University of Brighton and the University of Sussex will co-host the Festival. The annual event is one of Europe’s leading and longest-established science festivals.

Visitors should expect to find talks, debates, workshops and performances about cutting-edge science from world-leading academics. Topics will cover the whole scientific spectrum including technology, engineering and social sciences.

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Brighton Fringe

BRIGHTON Fringe is England’s largest arts festival in various locations throughout #Brighton, this years event runs from May 5 - June 4.

A wide array of critically acclaimed shows and performers also appear at Brighton Fringe each year and this year’s programme includes a record-breaking 932 shows and events across a dizzying array of art forms, including the first ever Fringe All-Nighter (27 May) with shows running until dawn.

More than 200 events are free.

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Brighton & Beyond

SINCE opening in August 2016 British Airways i360 has become one of the most popular attraction in Brighton. The world’s tallest moving observation tower, conceived and designed by Marks Barfield Architects, creators of the London Eye is located at the end of the beautiful West Pier.

In a fully enclosed glass viewing pod, you can admire the views across Brighton, the South Downs and on a clear day all the way to Beachy Head and the Isle of Wight not to forget there is also the Nyetimber Sky Bar, one of the most unique bars in the UK.

Now for a chance to win four flights on British Airways i360 go to www.visitbrighton.com

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Picture credit: Antony J  Shepherd 32126266@N00/30161025221 Shiny! via photopin

Get your skates on . . .

BRIGHTON’S winter ice rink on the Royal Pavilion’s Eastern lawns is open now, and will be until January 15. 

The rink – which has a bar and restaurant – has space for 260 skaters per session, with a beginners’ area, penguin skate aids, and skate sizes from age 

3-4 to adult.

Skating tickets cost from £10 for adults (aged 12+), £7 for juniors (children under 12) and the one-hour skate times run from 10am to 10.15pm daily. There’s no charge for spectators.

Club Rinkidinks (10am-11am daily) offers children under five the chance to skate for free when accompanied on the ice by an adult paying full price. There are also season tickets for those who want to learn to skate, and great concessions for students.

The venue is also accessible to wheelchair users and wheelchair users wishing to skate are welcome to book in advance or show up to skate, Mon - Thurs sessions 7th Nov - 9th Dec and 2nd Jan - 13th Jan - including evenings - when the rink is quieter.

www.ticketmaster.co.uk/royal-pavilion-ice-rink
www.royalpavilionicerink.co.uk

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Picture Credit:Dominic's pics flickr.com/photos/64097751@N00/5227511747 Christmas Ice Rink Brighton Royal Pavilion via photopin

Commemorative Train Journey

A commemorative Poppy train is being run by Southeastern trains ahead of Remembrance Sunday, taking paying passengers on a round trip from London, through Kent and on to Brighton to raise money for the Royal British Legion.

To mark 100 years since the Battle of the Somme, the train will display a new design wrap and make a rare journey along the East Sussex coast to Brighton. It is the third year Southeastern has teamed up with UK Rail Tours to run a special high speed service.

The journey will take place on Saturday 12th November and has been organised by Southeastern's Andy Harding, High Speed Fleet Engineering Manager and Kent Evenden, a Driver Manager High Speed.

Andy said: “The Royal British Legion is a fantastic organisation. We wanted to create the Poppy train to raise awareness and money to help them support the Armed Forces community and their families. In 2015 we managed to raise more than £20,500 but this year we’re hoping to donate even more – all in aid of the Legion’s Poppy Appeal.

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August opening for Brighton’s seafront tower

BRITISH AIRWAYS I360, the world's tallest moving observation tower, opens on August 4, with tickets for the attraction on #Brighton seafront now on sale. 

Visitors will be able to glide up 450ft in an enclosed glass viewing pod with views across Brighton and the Sussex coast.

'Flights' are 20 minutes during the day and 30 minutes after 6.00pm, when the pod becomes the Nyetimber Sky Bar.

Tickets cost from £13.50 for adults and from £6.75 for children, with under 4s free.

The tower was designed by architects David Marks and Julia Barfield, who says: ‘Built at the landward end of Brighton's historic West Pier, British Airways i360 is a modern day vertical pier which invites visitors to “walk on air” and gain a new perspective on the city, just as the West Pier invited Victorian society to “walk on water”.

‘The glass viewing pod, ten times the size of a London Eye capsule and capable of carrying up to 200 passengers, will slowly rise up a slender steel tower to a height of 450ft to provide passengers with stunning views of Brighton and Hove and a beautiful panorama of the south coast and English Channel.’

To buy tickets, a) go to BritishAirwaysi360.com b) call 03337 720 360 (a £2 surcharge will be added to bookings made by telephone c) go to the tower’s ticket office on Brighton seafront, from August 4.

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London named ‘most desirable city’ for holidaying in UK

HOLIDAYMAKERS are increasingly discovering the pleasures of staycationing as Brits have named London as the most desirable city to visit within the UK, according to research by hotel group Jurys Inn. 

The survey (of 2,500 people), found that Brits are increasingly opting to holiday in their homeland instead of overseas, with more than one in 10 taking up to four #staycations a year.

The Jurys Inn study revealed the top 10 most desirable UK cities. London topped the list, with Edinburgh and Brighton taking second and third place.

The other cities to feature in the list were:

• Liverpool 
• Manchester 
• Cardiff 
• Glasgow 
• Plymouth 
• Bristol 
• Newcastle 

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Tower by the sea

WHEN it opens this summer at the foot of the West Pier on #Brighton beach, British Airways i360 will be the world's tallest moving observation tower and its first vertical cable car. 

Visitors will glide up to 450ft to get 360° views across the city, the South Downs and Sussex coastline.

The British Airways #i360 pod will house the Nyetimber Sky Bar, serving local sparkling wine and other drinks from the South Downs region. The beach building at the base of the tower will have a 400-seat restaurant with sea views and a beachside terrace, and afternoon tea can be had its heritage tea room: a re-constructed 1866 West Pier tollbooth on the upper esplanade.

www.BritishAirwaysi360.com

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They do like to be beside the seaside …

MORE than half (58%) of Britons are expected take a holiday or short break on the coast this summer, according to the annual Travelodge holiday index. The report also claims that Britons will spend more than ever on their UK holidays this year. 

It estimated they will spend an average of £729 on their breaks ‘to give the UK economy a welcome boost of almost £20 billion, up from £16.5 billion last year’.

The report – which has surveyed 3,000 British adults for the past six years – shows that 2016 is set to be the biggest year for seaside breaks since the study started.

Coastal locations dominate the list of most popular destinations, with Cornwall rated top for the second consecutive year, followed by Devon (3rd), Blackpool (5th), Brighton (8th), and Scarborough (10th).

After seaside holidays, the second most popular type of UK trip is the city break, with the top locations including London, Edinburgh, Manchester, York, and Liverpool.

The third most popular type of holiday is in the countryside. Among the rural holiday hotspots for 2016 are the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Scottish Highlands, Norfolk Broads, and the Cotswolds.

The study claims more than two-thirds (67%) of Britons are taking a staycation break this year.

The average British family is taking a one-week holiday supplemented by four short breaks throughout the year.

A Travelodge spokeswoman said: ‘A new trend we are seeing is more Britons taking a three-in-one holiday. This includes taking a city, rural, and coastal break as part of a one-week holiday.’

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York ‘safest’ city, says Brits

SHORT-BREAK tourists see #York, England, as the world's safest city with Cairo the most risky, according to a UK survey by Post Office Travel Insurance. 

Of 42 world centres, Bath, Edinburgh, and Brighton were also considered particularly safe, while Bangkok, Istanbul, and Marrakech were, after Cairo, the cities deemed least safe.

The survey – taken before the March terrorist attacks in Brussels – of 2,075 UK adults showed that 72% felt York was safe with only 1% considering the Yorkshire city risky, and 26% having no view. Second in the table was Bath, Somerset, with 69% saying it was safe and only 2% regarding it as risky. Edinburgh also had a 69% safe rating, with 3% reckoning the Scottish capital was a risky destination.

A stolen wallet (24%) was the most common occurrence for those who had experienced problems in cities. As many as 26% felt they had been ripped off on city visits, with this figure rising to 43% among those aged 18-24.

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Picture Credit: A Night in the Shambles</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin

Say ‘I do’ at 450ft

IMAGINE saying ‘I do’ at 450 feet. From September, couples will be able to do just that on British Airways i360, the world's tallest moving observation tower opening this summer on Brighton beach.

The pod, which can hold up to 198 people for wedding ceremonies, provides 360o views across the ocean, Brighton, and the coast.

There is a Sky Bar, where guests can toast the bride and groom before descending to the beach building where celebrations can continue.

Wedding reception menus will use the local ingredients from the South Downs and Sussex region. For those wanting a more informal style celebration, British Airways i360 wedding packages include a BBQ and bowl food option … and there’ll be a wedding planner on hand to help with, er, wedding planning

Wedding reception packages start at £70 per person.

weddings@britishairwaysi360.com

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Brighton, Liverpool tipped for tourism

ENGLAND and Portugal dominate Trip Advisor’s list of top ten European holiday destinations ‘on the rise’. Brighton and Liverpool are tipped, as are Porto and, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, Funchal.

Top ten …

• Porto, Portugal 
• Moscow, Russia 
• Brighton, England 
• Liverpool, England 
• Granada, Spain 
• Funchal, Portugal 
• Oia (Santorini), Greece 
• Krakow, Poland 
• Valencia, Spain 
• Cologne, Germany  

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Picture Credit: Brighton Beach and Pier by Christine Matthews. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The best view in Brighton

FIRST there was the London Eye – now the same architects are creating the #Brightoni360, opening on the Sussex coast next summer.

The structure – on the prom in front of Brighton’s derelict West Pier – will be the world’s first vertical cable car and its tallest moving observation tower. It will also be the UK’s highest viewing tower outside London.

The viewing pod will glide slowly up to 450 feet, giving guests 360-degree views, stretching out for 26 miles across the sea, Brighton, and the Sussex Downs.

The circular glass pod will be air conditioned in summer and heated in winter. There will be bench seating in the centre, and will be fully-accessible for wheelchair users.

The Brighton i360 ride includes a complimentary hand-held multi-media tour for visitors to find out more about how the tower was built and to discover the heritage of Brighton and Sussex. The guides will be available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Chinese.

At night, the i360 transforms into the Sky Bar. At the foot of the tower will be a beach building with a brasserie with a beach-side terrace restaurant. 

www.brightoni360.co.uk

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Picture Credit: www.brightoni360.co.uk

Get your skates on in Brighton

BRIGHTON’S winter ice rink on the Royal Pavilion’s Eastern lawns is open now, and will be until January 17. 

The rink – which has a bar and restaurant – has space for 260 skaters per session, with a beginners’ area, penguin skate aids, and skate sizes from ‘just walking’ to adult.

Skating tickets cost from £10 for adults (aged 12+), £7 for juniors (children under 12) and the one-hour skate times run from 10am to 10.15pm daily. There’s no charge for spectators.

Club Rinkidinks (10am-11am daily) offers children under five the chance to skate for free when accompanied on the ice by an adult paying full price. There are also season tickets for those who want to learn to skate, and great concessions for students.

www.ticketmaster.co.uk/royal-pavilion-ice-rink

www.royalpavilionicerink.co.uk

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Rugby World Cup worth almost £1 billion in tourist spending

TRAVEL search engine GoEuro.co.uk has calculated that the 2015 #RugbyWorldCup (September 18-October 31) will generate almost £1 billion for the transport and tourism industry. 

The UK will host 20 teams, more than 440,000 international visitors, and 2.2 million Brits in 11 cities. London will be the biggest winner, with 17 matches earning the city more than £197 million in transport, accommodation, merchandise, and food and drink spending.

The calculation excludes the cost of match tickets in the host cities, which are: London, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham, Leeds, Leicester, Gloucester, Exeter, Milton Keynes, and Brighton.

www.goeuro.co.uk

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Bournemouth tops seaside search league

TRAVEL interest to UK coastal destinations has increased by up to 64 per cent according to new data from hotel comparison site trivago.co.uk.

Hotel searches made during the hottest days (June 29-July 1) were compared to searches made the previous week. #Bournemouth emerged as the UK’s favourite seaside resort, followed by Blackpool, Brighton, Scarborough, and Whitby.

The most expensive coastal destination in July was St Ives in Cornwall, where an overnight stay cost an average of £160. This was followed by Poole (£140), Portsmouth (£127), Newquay (£117), and Brighton (£116).

The cheapest prices were found in Blackpool (average of £60 per night during July 2015), followed by Skegness (£62), Scarborough (£79), Weston-super-Mare, and Southend-on-Sea (both £82).

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33143245@N02/20232427329">Ocean City NJ</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)

Dotty for dinosaurs?

Dino Encounter at SeaCity Museum, Southampton … to September 27: Come face to face with some of history's most fearsome beasts, be greeted by moving #dinosaurs, discover more about man's obsession with these gigantic creatures, and learn about new techniques that are helping experts to understand more about dinosaurs. 

Fossils Rock at Winchester Cathedral … to November 1: A family trail will lead visitors through the cathedral to discover the stories within the stones. The cathedral is almost 1,000 years old, but the stone used to build it is millions of years old, created during a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Interactive and hands-on, it is an opportunity to 'find and feel' the cathedral's ancient history.

Dinosaur Isle, Isle of Wight: #DinosaurIsle is Britain's original dinosaur attraction. Meet life-size models of the Isle of Wight's famous five dinosaurs – Neovenator, Eotyrannus, Iguanodon, Hypsilophodon, and Polacanthus, and follow in the footsteps of these beasts on one of the museum's family fossil walks along the beach.

The Jurassic Coast, Dorset: Studland beach near Bournemouth is the easiest place to access the eastern end of the #JurassicCoast, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The spectacular, unspoilt coastline at Purbeck offers four miles of golden beaches. The gently shelving waters, designated trails, and fossil hunting opportunities make the beach a magnet for families.

Booth Museum of Natural History, Brighton: Originally founded as a Victorian collector's private museum, the museum brings natural history to life with interactive displays spanning three centuries plus a number of special exhibitions and hands on activities.

Planet Earth at Paradise Park, Newhaven, East Sussex: Discover the world of animals and plants from millions of years ago to the present day, and see life-size dinosaurs and a collection of fossils, minerals, and crystals.

Dinos in your Garden, Gosport Museum … October 10 to December 5: Discover how meat-eating dinosaurs evolved into birds, their nearest living relatives. See feathers, claws, teeth, eggs, and footprints, and you'll never look at a magpie the same way again.

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15013772@N00/357140322">Hedz</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license), http://www.flickr.com/photos/12842055@N03/12472205164">Dinosaurs Alive! Brookfield Zoo 2013</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license), http://www.flickr.com/photos/76917657@N00/16122434272">Ammonite</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)

End of the British two-week holiday?

THE NUMBER of people taking a two-week holiday has decreased by 46% over the last five years, according to a study by Travelodge, which surveyed 3,000 British adults about their holiday plans for 2015.

It found that UK holidaymakers are opting for one week away, with four shorter breaks spread out throughout the year. This year, 70% of Britons are planning a domestic break, with less than one in five (19%) taking a two-week holiday.

But the traditional #seasideholiday is back in vogue as more than half (56%) of Britons are heading to the coast this summer, with top destinations including Cornwall, Devon, Blackpool, Brighton, and Bournemouth.

The next most popular type of holiday is the #ruralescape, with 35% exploring the UK countryside in places such as the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Scottish Highlands, Norfolk Broads, and Cotswolds.

The number taking #citybreaks has fallen this year to 25%, from 37% last year. Top city break destinations for 2015 include London, Edinburgh, York, Bristol, and Liverpool. 

A Travelodge spokeswoman said: ‘Our 2015 holiday index has revealed an interesting trend, with Britons taking more multiple breaks throughout the year, which suggests the end of the traditional two-week break.’

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The golden age of the British seaside

David Kernek has been enjoying a new book about a long gone British institution

SOME of the most unclouded memories of my childhood in a gritty, post-war inner London borough were of annual one-week holidays in Great Yarmouth on the Norfolk coast. I remember the beaches – most of them newly-cleared of WW2 mines – the end-of-the-pier shows, the ice cream and hot dog stands, the tea stalls on the prom, candy floss, chips served up on pages from yesterday’s Daily Mirror, the stench of boiling hops from the town’s brewery and, of course, because it was July, the relentless east wind, rain, and the icy sea.

Great Yarmouth’s brewery has long since gone – there’s a supermarket on the site now –just as the world of the Great British #Seaside experience has vanished. It was the product of the 19th century railway boom that carried the toiling masses and their children from the dark, satanic cities to their weeks by the sea, creating a coastal network of towns – many of them previously small fishing ports – whose principal business was the provision of pleasure. Its end came a little more than a century later, done in – year by year – by the growth in the 1960s of the foreign package tour industry. The toiling masses could have their funfairs, hot dogs, chips, and tea in Benidorm, plus the things the Blackpools, Brightons, and Butlins’ couldn’t guarantee: sun and a warm sea.

Beside the Sea: Britain’s Lost Seaside Heritage by Sarah Freeman is an affectionate and informative history of the rise and protracted decline of this island’s coastal pleasure towns, from #Blackpool, #Brighton and Bangor and Scarborough and Southport – the towns that gave us holiday camps, donkey rides, knobbly knees and beauty contests, deckchairs and funfairs, and the great piers stretching out into the oceans. It was in the pavilions at the end of the piers that the entertainment stars of the 20th century laid the foundations of their fame.

Max Miller began his career on Brighton’s – now destroyed – West Pier. The Rolling Stones played the Tower Ballroom in New Brighton in 1964. By 1963, the Beatles had played at that venue 27 times. My first adolescent crush was on Helen Shapiro, a very young blues and pop singer. She topped the bill at a variety show in Great Yarmouth to which I was taken. I’ve never forgotten her!

Beside the Sea: Britain’s Lost Seaside Heritage by Sarah Freeman. Aurum Press, £25.

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Picture Credit: Eastbourne Bandstand - geograph.org.uk - 256414 by Colin Smith. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons, Courtesy of Beside the Sea: Britain's Lost Seaside Heritage.