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Riots on Brighton Beach over the weekend? Hardly

A pair of sunbathers on Brighton Beach last week - getty
A pair of sunbathers on Brighton Beach last week - getty

Yesterday afternoon I received a message from a friend who lives in rural Costa Rica: “I’ve heard there are riots on Brighton Beach. Are you okay?”

After I’d recovered my composure I began Googling to find out what was going on outside my front door. I learnt a bit more about the legendary mods and rockers skirmishes in 1964, and saw some eerily familiar pictures of people crammed onto beaches by the Palace Pier (the same photos of crowded shores in Bournemouth and Brighton often get recycled).

Eventually I found a story about two women who had got into a drunken brawl on the third hottest day of the year. A picture shows the pair being restrained by a non-mask wearing security guard and three members of the public – one of them carrying a wig.

With or without the wig it was a scenario quite likely being played out in town centres across the country. Which begs the question – why are we so obsessed with punishing beachgoers? Are the people that write these stories cross because they’re not at the beach? Can’t they be bothered to go and find an alcohol-induced fight in town centres in Wimbledon, Oxford or Sutton?

Visitors to the Sussex coastal town cool off - getty
Visitors to the Sussex coastal town cool off - getty

This would’ve been Pride weekend in Brighton – one of the busiest and most fun-filled weekends in the city’s annual events calendar. The sentiment was there, in rainbows across the city, but Pride played out virtually this year, leaving visitors with the run of beaches. It was busy – but no busier than on numerous other days this summer (none of which heralded the start of any second wave).

However, if you’re planning a seaside trip to Brighton this weekend, consider the alternatives.

Most people dumped themselves on a stretch of pebbles at the end of an arterial road (Queens Road) that links the railway station with the promenade and nearby Palace Pier. The beach stretches for miles from Brighton Marina in the east to Hove Lagoon in the west, but this bottleneck is convenient for bars and fast food, ice cream and bucket-and-spade shops. And loos.

There's plenty of room for everyone on this long stretch of coast - getty
There's plenty of room for everyone on this long stretch of coast - getty

Easy alternatives include picking up a smart bike (via the SoBi app) from one the ubiquitous docking stations and cycling east or west of the pier, at a cost of 3 pence per minute, to a quieter beach in Kemp Town or Hove.

The number 12 bus runs from the station to Rottingdean Beach – great for low-tide rock pooling. You can also reach Rottingdean via the Undercliff Walk from Brighton Marina. There are direct trains from Central London to Hove, from where it’s a 15-minute walk or five-minute cycle to the shore. Hove Lagoon offers wakeboarding, wind surfing and paddleboarding.

Last night I cycled from Hove to Whitehawk Hill, a Local Nature Reserve, to watch the sunset over the Downs and the city. There were six people there. Cycling home, I passed Legends Hotel, where a dulcet-toned Drag Queen entertained alfresco drinkers. A minute later, outside a pub opposite the West Pier and feet from where the girls’ brawl had occurred, two blokes raised their fists like bears.

Sunshine and crowds; too much to drink – it’s as much a part of our culture as brewing tea in huts.