On the 10th August the Weekend Group enjoyed a day in Brighton. Six of us were all ready and waiting for the departure of the coach from Kingsthorpe at 8.15 am, enjoying a Bucks Fizz en route.
Having arrived at about 11.30 am, and having all had a very early breakfast, we decided to start with lunch in an Italian restaurant. Refreshed we headed for the Royal Pavilion. It is a Grade 1 listed former royal residence. Beginning in 1787 it was built in three stages as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales, who then became George IV in 1820. It is built in the
Indo-Saracenic style prevalent in India for most of the 19th century. In 1850 Queen Victoria decided Osborne House should be the seaside royal retreat and it was sold to the city of Brighton. The Queen didn’t like Brighton and the lack of privacy saying “The people are very indiscreet and troublesome”. Very interesting but very quirky and can understand why Queen Victoria decided Osborne House might be a better option.
Having taken in a lot of historical info it was decided to head for the pier and a much needed ice cream. As you will see from the photo we refrained from putting on our “Kiss me Quick” hats as it was too breezy!!
To finish off our visit we then enjoyed a sedate ride on the Volks electric train that runs along the seafront. The first section was completed in August 1883 and, according to Wikipedia, it is the oldest operational electric train in the world.
We thought we would have time for tea and cake but had to make do with a very hasty cup of tea before boarding the coach at 5.00pm for our journey home. A good day was had by all.