Brighton possesses all of the trademarks of a city that’s past its glory days. Its grand Victorian townhouses overlooking the sea are dirty and desperately in need of a new lick of white paint. The Brighton Pier looks tired & tacky, although the West Pier, which was set on fire in 2002 and whose skeleton now remains jutting out of the water, has a (wistfully) mesmerising and spooky air to it. The city is by no means deserted, although it does seem it on a winter’s day. It actually has two universities and 155,919 inhabitants.

          It gained its fame back in the 18th century when high society used to flee the capital in favour of a sea breeze. When the railway was built from London to Brighton in1841, it became affordable for everyone else to holiday there too. In the days before mass international travel, Brighton was the holiday destination to visit. It was England’s version of France’s Le Touquet. Nowadays at only 1 hour from London by train, the city does still bustle in summer, and the seafront is almost exclusively made up of hotels. Brighton’s other attractions include the maze of adorable alleyways and independent shops & restaurants which make up The Lanes, and the Indian-inspired Royal Pavilion, built by King George IV in the 19^th century.

         This postcard shows Brighton at its most colourful and rather sums up what Britain used to look like 100 years ago, as I’m sad to say that not much has changed in 100 years. Brighton is still a charming city to visit for the day, but I wouldn’t recommend spending a week’s holiday there.