Coming to Brighton

'If you love good roads ... be so kind as never to go into Sussex' Horace Walpole, ex-Prime Minister's son, 1749

Many early travellers came to Brighton to cross the Channel. The journey from London could take days. Brighton has no natural harbour, so passengers were rowed to their boats.

In 1762 a same-day service to London by horse-drawn carriage began. Improved roads and Brighton's rising fame as a fashionable resort meant that by 1822 dozens of carriages were arriving daily. Stock-traders even commuted from Brighton, spending two and a half hours a day in the capital.

In the 1840s the railway started bringing five times as many passengers to the resort. Some felt this lowered the tone of the town. However, the train that became the Brighton Belle was one of the most luxurious in the world.

In 1896 54motorcars set out from London to Brighton to celebrate a law permitting them to travel at 14 miles per hour. 13 cars completed the journey. Today, the event is celebrated annually by the famous Veteran and Vintage Car Run.