Brighton Group Holiday

by David Wolfe and Rosa Milne

When we were considering where we could go for a group holiday, Brighton immediately came to mind, as from experience it was a vibrant and interesting city and we thought the sunshine and seaside would make for a great summer trip.  So, we asked Spencer, David, Lesley and Emma if they liked the idea and they said yes. From there, we planned and discussed and finally on the 26th of June we set off.

Tillmann drove us down to Crewe, near Manchester, where we stayed the night in a hotel. The next day we headed to Brighton, stopping on the way in Oxford to have a look around. It was very beautiful and we walked past people punting on the river and playing cricket. Finally we arrived in Brighton, and despite all the weather forecasts predicting rain it was glorious sunshine nearly every day. We stayed in a guest house in Rottingdean, a town steeped in history and home to Rudyard Kipling’s gardens, which we walked around and where we smelled the lovely roses.

Being next to the sea, we enjoyed fish and chips and walks along the famous pier. We browsed and meandered through the lanes, looking at market stalls and boutiques. We watched musicians play in the park outside the Pavilion and tried lots of different and delicious foods at the beach front restaurants.

In the surrounding areas there were also many things to see and do. We went to London one day and visited Kew Gardens. Some people in the group went on a tree-top trail, a 200 meter high walkway over the gardens. Spencer, Rosa and Lesley also climbed the pagoda and we visited the ‘Medicine Man’, a huge planter in the shape of a human with medicinal plants growing where they were most effectively used in the body. We saw lots of Calendula there! We also saw urban knitting around some trees and David said he would like to try this in Newton Dee.  We met Rosa’s sister and her fiancee for lunch and tried some special gins in one of the Botanical houses.

Another day, we went to the cinema and also to the aquarium, where you could ride a glass- bottomed boat above the turtles and stingrays. Some of the group also went on the Brighton Wheel, similar to the London Eye, giving great views over Brighton Pier.
We also went to Port Lympne, a huge conservation park in Kent, which was really amazing; we all got to go on a safari truck and saw elephants, tigers, lions, giraffes, zebras, rhinos and lots of other animals. There were also beautiful gardens and a manor house which we saw there. On the way home we stopped in Hastings for an Indian meal.

On the 4th of July we left Brighton and stayed a night again in Crewe. On the way back to Newton Dee we stopped in Yorkshire for lunch and to take in some beautiful, sunny views.
I think we all enjoyed our holiday – there are so many things to do in and around Brighton. The city is welcoming, accommodating, warm and eclectic. David said he thought it was a “nice place” and he enjoyed it very much. His favourite bits were going for fish and chips on the seafront and being in the safari truck and seeing giraffes. We would recommend Brighton to anyone who likes ice cream, music, seafood and sunshine.