Trees, dragons and other stories (#12)
TL;DR of local press and stories from Brighton and surrounding areas.
News
The controversial ‘Liveable Neighbourhood’ scheme in Hanover, which led to the creation of a website and a radio station to protest against it, won’t be going ahead after all because of lack of budget. The original budget planned for this had to be diverted to keep the public toilets opened, after much protest.
A lot of the local press over the last month was understandably dedicated to the candidates for the upcoming local election. We found at least 50 articles on various subjects, probably a good summary are the “candidate profiles” articles in Brighton and Hove news. Many, many articles were also published in the Argus. A redditor curated an anti-Tory tactical vote guide.
Did you know that 13.2 percent of Brighton and Hove is covered by trees?
The new e-bike scheme has launched! And they are largely considered expensive for the service. Pedal-only bikes should be added to the fleet this year, and their price is expected to be similar to the previous ones.
The King Alfred Leisure Centre was re-opened after a boiler failure caused it to close for several weeks. While it initially sounded like the leisure centre will be majorly renovated, it turns out that it will likely sadly be demolished and replaced with housing. Meanwhile works begun on Kingsway to the Sea.
Seal! (for five days in a row!)
It’s been 20 years since the West Pier erupted in flame following an arson attack. Here are some pictures from that day.
Filming of Grace series 4 started.
The Brighton Marathon happened at last and it was a success! See here for some stories.
Ducklings being escorted to the pond.
The Hanover pub in Queens Park Road is closing down and is going to be replaced by houses. An interesting podcast called The Brighton Pub Odyssey dedicated their latest episode to this pub and other two that are about to close.
A water leak is causing a delay on the reopening of Saltdean Lido. They are also recruiting lifeguards for the season!
Volk’s Railway reopened for the season! This is its 140th year and we can’t wait to jump onboard again.
The Argus is shamelessly publishing articles generated by ChatGPT, dubiously newsworthy: see here, here and here. Another gem is the photo composition in this article about an already bizarre mystery of the Sussex Fruit and Veg Thrower.
Snacks and the City
The Salt Room
High prices and tiny portions left us feeling a little... salty
After having one of the best vegetarian starters I've ever tasted there last year, I was excited for another visit to The Salt Room. It felt like a seafood restaurant that put as much care into its veggie dishes as it did its omnivorous ones. Sadly, that was not the case this time. My leek and potato soup with celeriac and autumn truffle was delicious, but arrived so late that my companions' starters were going cold (or warm). There's only one veggie main; a tempura flower stuffed with whipped ricotta on a bed of pearl barley and Korean-spiced courgette. The tempura flower was nice enough (though it was mostly mouthfuls of fairly bland ricotta) but the pearl barley was undercooked and underseasoned, like eating a bowl of lukewarm porridge. The Korean-spiced courgette was watery with an aftertaste of heat in place of any flavour. My pescatarian friends didn't fare much better, one paying £32 (!!) for what looked like half a fillet of dover sole. Bonus points for the ribeye steak and a really beautiful hibiscus parfait with caramel tuille and compressed blackberries. Beyond that, I couldn't get over the poor cost-to-taste ratio. The salt in the wound came in the form of an unidentified cube that the waiter brought out for our companion's birthday. "I'm sorry it's so small," he said with an apologetic shrug. "What is it?" I asked. "I don't know!" he laughed, before adding helpfully "It's sweet?". The Cube, as it was thus known, turned out to be half a teaspoon of salted caramel - apropos of nothing. At least we ended the night with a free laugh.
5/10
Cryptic crossword
Solution to crossword in issue #11.
Music
“Jed Wright, who goes by the name Jed, lost someone he knew to suicide and made the pledge to check up on friends and open up to them more himself. Despite his intentions, the 23-year-old, from Brighton, did not do this and felt he let his pride win rather than open up and be vulnerable to friends.
Jed wrote the song [called Pride Will Win] around a year ago and said he felt “frustrated” at himself. He released snippets of the songs on social media platform TikTok which garnered around 100,000 views and plenty of positive feedback. Now, Jed has released the full track […] and hopes people enjoy the “completely honest” lyrics.
Jed, originally from Devon, told The Argus: “Someone I knew passed away from suicide and I remember thinking at the time that I needed to message everyone, message all my friends. I’m not good at telling people how I feel or people telling me how they feel. Me and my mates aren’t that good at that, never have been. So I planned to message everyone, checking in on everyone every few weeks. A few months passed and I realised I messaged one of them once. I was annoyed with myself, frustrated at not being able to open up. That’s why the song is called Pride Will Win because you think you’re strong dealing with your own s*** but really it’s just weak, you’re too scared to tell anyone how you feel.”
History corner
“[The Pepper Pot] building at the junction of Queen’s Park Rd and Tower Rd is a relic of the Attree Villa. […] Its original purpose is uncertain, but it may have been a water or observation tower for the villa, or even a sewer vent. One popular myth about the building was that it was built by an Italian who smuggles spirits and tobacco, and built a tunnel leading from the tower to Sussex Square. From 1863, George Duddell used it for printing and publishing the Brighton Mail. During WWII, the Pepper Pot was used as a military observation post, and was once used as a scout headquarters and an artist’s studio. In 1952, the Corporation carried out extensive repairs to the Pepper Pot, and were considering opening it up to the public. […] The Friends of the Pepperpot formed in January 2010 to promote its conservation and find a new use for it.”
About The Argus, I have to say that I find the idea of using ChatGPT to write news articles to be lazy and unprofessional. As someone who values the craft of writing and the importance of accuracy in journalism, I would never consider taking such a shortcut. It seems like a disservice to the readers and to the integrity of the news industry as a whole. While I can appreciate the advancements in technology, I strongly believe that there is no substitute for the human touch when it comes to writing compelling and informative news articles.