Changes Through the 20th Century

By the mid 19th century, swimming had become a popular pastime. Brighton Swimming Club, founded in 1860, provided ‘aquatic entertainment’ ranging from swimming races and water polo matches to diving displays, all of which could be viewed from the pier. Many of the club’s traditions have survived, including the annual Christmas morning swim, which has been taking place for more than 100 years.

The end of the Victorian era coincided with a gradual relaxation of the more formal codes of behaviour. Mixed bathing was finally sanctioned in Brighton in 1901, giving greater freedom for couples and families to enjoy a day at the beach together. Swimwear became less restrictive – and a whole lot more stylish – while the 19th century obsession with retaining a pale complexion became a thing of the past. Instead, holidaymakers sunned themselves on the terraces of the Aquarium and the Palace Pier, at the outdoor pool at Black Rock and the Art Deco lido at Saltdean. Beauty pageants, such as the Bathing Belle competition, reflected the carnival atmosphere of the period, while photographs taken during the 1920s and 1930s capture the sense of fun and frivolity. In contrast, Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock, which was published in 1938, depicted a darker side to life.

Brighton’s beaches were closed during the war and, in the years that followed, the effects of rationing and of financial hardship were clearly felt by the town and its inhabitants. An air of optimism returned in the 1950s, as people flocked to the piers and beaches once more - in 1957, 95,000 people were reported to have visited the Palace Pier during the August Bank Holiday weekend. This was the age of helter skelters and slot machines, rock shops and paddle steamers. The introduction of the Promettes - chic, uniformed young women who were employed to answer questions and provide assistance to weekend visitors - was one of the more memorable initiatives of the 1950s. Described in one local paper as ‘walking information bureaux with sex appeal’, they added a touch of glamour to the promenade.

But the holiday industry was changing and, in the 1960s and 1970s, the English seaside faced competition from package deals to the Mediterranean. Coastal resorts were forced to reinvent themselves in order to survive, and Brighton was no exception. Key developments that have come to define the town include the establishment of Sussex University in the early 1960s, the annual festival, which first took place in 1967, and the Marina, a controversial idea that came to fruition in the 1970s. Since then, Brighton – along with Hove – has been awarded city status and, while much has changed, much has remained the same. People are drawn by its unique character, and there is still a sense, as you step off the train and head down the hill to the beach, that this is a place where anything might happen.