Sense of belonging
Were you born in Brighton or did you come here ? If you came here , why did you ? Brighton Bound is a new book where local people tell the tales behind their decisions . Cath Senker , one of the authors , picks out a few of those stories
You might have moved to West Hill from London so you could commute to work . When I lived in Alexandra Villas , my partner was on that train every day .
As a coastal city with a mild climate , Brighton has been a magnet for migrants for centuries . Brighton and London have been strongly connected since the 19th-century development of the railways turned the seaside town into a popular destination for leisure and pleasure . The London to Brighton train line was electrified in 1933 , and the ‘ service was considered to be fast , frequent , clean and reliable .’ The journey took 60 minutes – little longer than the fastest trains today .
With the ability to commute to work , alongside comparatively lower rents and house prices , many Londoners have opted to move to Brighton , particularly in recent decades .
“ I didn ’ t want to spend the rest of my life in London , and there were various reasons for choosing Brighton , one of them was … that it wasn ’ t terribly far from London , another was that my parents lived in Sussex .” Rachel
The growth of the creative industries in Brighton from the 1980s has brought migrants to the city .
“ I had a job in London working for the Arts Council , but the daily commute was exhausting and I was searching for a Brighton-based role .’ Alongside Chris Bailey , I set up Same Sky , which became the largest community arts charity in the south-east , and is best known for the annual winter solstice festival Burning the Clocks .”
Pippa Smith , moved down in 1986
Brighton has been a destination for gays and lesbians for nearly a century . In the 1950s and 1960s – before the legalisation of male homosexuality in 1967 – many LGBTQIA + people moved to the city . The relative freedom was a revelation .
“ When I came to Brighton I discovered that there were real bars only for men who liked other men . And that there were a lot of these kind of men here . And so I suddenly found myself like a pig in clover . I was here in paradise , a paradise which in my wildest dreams I ’ d never seen as possible ” Pat colourful Pride Parade every August , icecream parlours provide a welcome space for non-alcohol drinkers , and there is a greater ease with difference . The city has drawn migrants from outside Brighton , too . Many have come for jobs or have set up small businesses . Italian couple Eugenio and Enza run Buon Appetito in Western Road , Hove . Eugenio moved to England in 1995 to learn English and work in a pizza restaurant to see if his dream of opening a restaurant was realistic . He decided it was .
He and Enza married in 1997 , and five days later , they moved to England , where they frantically saved money to buy their own restaurant . The first restaurant the couple owned was in Haywards Heath . They set up two other successful restaurants in the South East , and then established Buon Appetito near Palmeira Square .
“ It ’ s still run as a family business . My wife is involved , my brother , my brother-in-law . So we are a big family . Everybody cooking in the kitchen …. And all the staff around like to work with me because they feel like their own home . Some [ of ] them call me Papa ” Eugenio
Nowadays , Brighton is full of eateries established by entrepreneurs like Eugenio and Enza .
One of those places is right on our doorstep . Luqman Onikosi , originally from Nigeria , helped
to establish the Jollof Café at the West Hill Community Centre . Every Wednesday lunchtime , refugee volunteers cook a hearty , nutritious vegetarian meal on a ‘ pay as you feel ’ basis . Local West Hill residents are most welcome to come along .
Brighton Bound features these and other stories , the stories of people and communities who have made Brighton their home over the past 100 years .
l Brighton Bound : Stories of moving to , around and out of the city , 1920s – 2020s By Cath Senker , Ben Rogaly and Amy Clarke ( QueenSpark Books , 2024 ) is available from Kemptown Bookshop , City Books and from QueenSpark Books : https :// queensparkbooks . org . uk /
The settlement of newcomers has helped to create a Brighton and Hove multiculture . Thousands line the streets to watch the