Over the weekend of July 20 and 21, Newhaven plays host to the first ever Cornish gig rowing regatta in Sussex.
MEMBERS of the Newhaven Gig Rowing Club have been busy putting together a busy schedule of races which will take place on the sea and the river — and the club is keen for people in Newhaven to enjoy the excitement and perhaps be inspired to give gig rowing a try themselves.
Cornish gigs are 32 foot long, six-oared rowing boats built to a specific design which dates back to 1838. They were used as pilot boats to guide larger vessels into harbour and also as seagoing lifeboats. They’re now rowed competitively, and local rivalries abound — the Newhaven regatta will see around half a dozen visiting clubs from across England compete, including Lewes Rowing Club and the newly-formed Lewes Pilot Gig Club.
Spectators will get a good view of the sea races on Saturday, July 20 from the East Pier and tide mills and Seaford beach.
There will be six races between 1-7pm. On Sunday 21 there will be a series of sprint races upriver from the harbour mouth from 11am.
The weekend will culminate in the Head of the Ouse river race starting from Southease bridge at 3pm. There will be good viewing spots from the riverbank and on Huggett’s Green.
The club is also hoping to live stream drone footage of the races via Facebook.
Bear-Patrol the social networking group, hold reception at the Old Ship hotel to thank the city Mayor for her support during her year holding the Mayoralty.
IN one of the last official duties of her year as Mayor of Brighton and Hove, Cllr Dee Simson spoke with feeling of her happy memories of being Mayor of the city and thanked Bear-Patrol for inviting her to their events which she said she had “throughly enjoyed.”
She was presented with flowers by Nick Lane and a framed photograph of the Mayor by Carole Todd taken by Ian Courtier.
The reception was hosted courtesy of Jason Bramwell, The General Manager, at the Old Ship, a big supporter of Bear-Patrol who provided bubbles, soft drinks and nibbles for the Mayor and guests who included two previous Mayors of the city, Cllr Pete West and Cllr Mo Marsh.
Bear-Patrol supporter runs Half Marathon on the other side of the world for Local Mental Health Charity.
KIERAN Fitsall who moved from Brighton to Australia last year for two years with his husband Rob Stevens took part in the Sydney Half Marathon on Sunday May 19 2019 to support MindOut the Brighton based Mental Health Charity.
Kieran, a keen supporter of Bear-Patrol has been a part of their running team for the past three Brighton Half Marathons. Despite the heat and different running conditions Kieran completed the Sydney Half Marathon in 02:01:42
Kieran said:“Moving to Sydney last year meant I missed out on running with my fellow Bear-Patrol runners in the Brighton Half to help raise awareness and money for MindOut. This is my way of doing my bit for the team to continue my support for the good work that they do.”
To make a donation to Kieran’s Fundraising page, click here:
In a deep, dark and eerie cellar under the Old Ship hotel in Brighton, we take our seats in a candle-lit vaulted space, seated on three sides of a small acting space.
LYING on a chaise lounge, is Betsy, a self-confident self-confessed whore, plying her trade near Brighton’s clock tower and Quadrant pub in the early 1800’s.
From the outset she verbally attacks audience members literally spitting out her vituperative defence, telling us not to judge her by our standards – which in any case are no better than hers.
For the next 75 minutes Isabella McCarthy Sommerville as Betsy takes us through her sordid but profitable life and the many characters who have interacted with her – from benefactors to lovers, nuns to murderers, all the people jumbled up in her befuddled dreams.
She lives in this cellar – under a house owned by the famous entrepreneur Thomas Kemp, who has done a bunk abroad to avoid his creditors. She is put in charge of his house till he returns, and when he doesn’t she is given the cellar to live in as her reward.
There are many other rewards for the young woman, including the on and off attentions of George Bintshaft – overseer of Brighton’s poorhouses, from which he skims a percentage of profit.
The plot is intricate but believable and it leads us from homes for the penitent to the mansions of Brunswick, the murderous beach at Rottingdean, and the doorstep of even the Prince Regent.
It’s a dark and vicious tale of illegitimacy, power, corruption, loveless sex, betrayal and despair.
In the claustrophobic setting of the Old Ship’s former wine cellar, we are trapped in Betsy’s life and ultimate doom. Isabella plays it full-on, sparing us no details of her sexual encounters. In a startling physical performance she even simulates her savage beating by George’s henchman, writhing under his punches and kicking so vividly we can imagine we can see him.
In her dreams she believes herself underwater – a premonition which all too really comes true, and again the actor’s physical contortions are mesmerising.
Betsy, written and directed by Jonathan Brown, is part of Brighton Fringe and plays at the Old Ship until June 1.
Presenting physical theatre at its very best, BAME company The Pappy Show use playing games and physical training as the basis for an hour of music, dance , acrobatics and dialogue exploring what it is to be male.
FOCUSSING on the child within, this highly agile and talented company of nine, directed by performer Kane Husbands lead us through the complex maze that growing from boyhood to manhood can create.
From its opening choreographed dance with balloons, stage fight, and fatal stabbing, the company pose questions to one another to tease out the conflicts within and then play them out in intricate balletic sequences, some of which are just visually stunning.
They take us through a series of statements, which may or may not be true, but which are always entertaining and thought-provoking, about race, gender, beliefs and ancestry.
Their main game is called Map of The World – where they emphasise their own geographical and historical backgrounds. The nature of their rehearsal and performance techniques is fascinating. What seems totally improvised is obviously not so, as it involves such intricate patterns of movement.
But it’s entirely believable that their words are their own and come from their hearts and minds.
Most moving for me was a short section where a father writes a letter of advice to his son, “Let your good be better and your better be best” and the son replies, with the telling line “you need to let me be my own man. I’m no longer a boy”.
At one point a particularly disturbed young man acts out his inner demons which are causing him to hate himself, but in the end the group show their brotherhood, immense friendship and sense of fun.
It’s a joy to have experienced.
Boys played at the Old Market on May 25 and 26 as part of the Brighton Festival.
The company perform shows around the UK and run workshops based at the National Youth Theatre in London. Seek them out .
A ten-foot tall creature wearing flowing robes unveils a shabby bus from which disembark a group of ragged men, women and children. It’s certainly an arresting image, the first of many from Poland’s Teatr Biuro Podrozy which looks at the lives of these civilians both before and after the military takeover.
Culture is constantly contrasted with brutality. A large sculpture of a head (Jesus? Plato? I’m not really sure) is lifted up on to the bus as plaintive violin music eerily envelopes the wasteland at Black Rock. A man is later seen producing the music by moving a bow across the stems of flowers but then a bucket of blood is thrown, staining his white shirt red. So, yes, it’s not exactly subtle. Then the military are back with their pounding industrial rock, terrifying the population with wheels of fire or riding at them on motorcycle-driven chariots. A death-like figure on stilts rings a bell whilst pulling a child’s wooden horse. It looks fantastic but if it’s trying to tell us about a child’s loss of innocence during war it’s perhaps a tad simplistic.
Silence is an amazing experience which works at the level of pure spectacle. Though the philistine in me would advise against applying too much thought and instead just revel in its beautiful, violent theatricality.
Fundraiser for the Peter Tatchell Foundation raises £1,012.14.
Mr Tatchell was the special guest speaker at the fundraising night on April 26 at the Unitarian Church, New Road, Brighton at A Night Of 21st Century Folk Music.
Live music was provided by Naomi Bedford and Paul Simmonds – Brighton based BBC Radio Folk Award nomineessinging Appalachian songs of English and Scottish origin, Lisa Knapp – English folk singer and BBC Radio Folk Award winner, Robb Johnson – English political folk singer-songwriter, folk, blues and indie singer-songwritersSarah Clarke Kent, Sue Tyhurst, Michele Allardyce and Brighton based folk group Bird in the Belly whose debut album The Crowing was heralded as ‘Folk Album of the Year’ in the Daily Express.
Pictured with Peter from left to right is Sarah Clarke Kent, Sue Tyhurst and Michele Allardyce.
Just a few minutes in a hot car can be fatal for dogs, so Brighton & Hove Council’s enforcement officers will join Dogs Trust to help prevent dogs dying in hot cars this summer.
DOGS Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, will be working with officers on patrol in the city to keep any eye out for dogs left in vehicles on streets and in car parks.
Every year animal welfare charities and the police receive thousands of reports of animals being left alone in cars on warm days.
Brighton & Hove has been identified as a ‘hot spot’ when it comes to calls received by the RSPCA concerning dogs being left alone in cars over the summer months.
That’s why this year, together with Dogs Trust, the council’s civil enforcement officers will be taking action if they spot a dog in distress in a hot car.
If an officer spots a dog in distress they will call 999 so the dog can be removed from the car quickly and safely.
Cllr Anne Pissaridou
Councillor Anne Pissaridou, chair of the environment, transport and sustainability committee at Brighton & Hove City Council, said:“We want people to enjoy the summer months in Brighton & Hove with their dogs, but to keep them safe. Nobody ever thinks it’s going to happen to them or their much loved family pet yet every year many people still gamble with their dog’s life by leaving them alone in a car on a warm day.
“Working with Dogs Trust we hope to make people aware of the dangers, so that dogs and owners visiting the city return home safely.”
Civil enforcement officers will report any incidents while carrying out their standard enforcement patrols. This ensures citywide coverage, including council car parks.
Lee Paris, Senior Campaigns Officer at Dogs Trust, says:“Many people still believe that it’s okay to leave a dog in a car on a warm day if the windows are left open or they’re parked in the shade, but the truth is, it’s not.
“A car can become as hot as an oven very quickly, even when it doesn’t feel that warm and a dog can die in a hot car in twenty minutes. When it’s 22 degrees outside, in a car it can reach an unbearable 47 degrees within the hour.
“We are delighted to be working with Brighton & Hove City Council to raise awareness of the dangers and to try and prevent the heartbreak and distress caused when a much loved family pet suffers, or dies, because they have been left in a car on a summer’s day.”
Dogs Trust and the council advise anyone who sees a dog in distress in a hot car to call 999 immediately. Signs of heat stroke in dogs include heavy panting, excessive drooling, vomiting, being drowsy, unco-ordinated and collapsing.
To help a dog in this condition, place them in the shade, pour small amounts of tepid, not cold, water onto their body, help them to drink small amounts of tepid water and once their breathing has settled, call the nearest vet.
Dogs Trust is the UK’s largest dog welfare charity and cares for 15,000 dogs across its network of 20 rehoming centres in the UK and one in Dublin. Dogs Trust has a non-destruction policy, and will never put a healthy dog to sleep and work towards the day when all dogs can enjoy a happy life, free from the threat of unnecessary destruction.
For more information about Dogs Trust, click here:
I had to look up the definition of epicene. It means ‘having the characteristics of either sex’. This is important for the story which singer/songwriter Paul Diello tells us with his wonderful acoustic band and backing singers.
HE tells his packed audience that he felt as a child he wasn’t in the right body. His identification is with the female singers whom he clearly worships. The stage is festooned with tee shirts showing images of Madonna, Bjorn, Joni Mitchell and many more.
And his show pays tribute through a wide range of cover versions – everything from It’s in his kiss to I feel the earth move under my feet.
Put up a parking lot is one of my favourites in this show which has a kind of Boy George feel to it, but the highly talented band which includes saxophone, violin and guitars amongst its line up takes it all to another level. The sound and the harmonies are electric and powerful.
Paul, complete with glittery butterfly embossed jacket and large red hat is much larger than life, and clearly at ease with both his identity as his tremendous voice carries us through this highly enjoyable repertoire.
In between the songs, we get very funny stories about his childhood and adolescence in Worthing – including the time when he had “fun” with a schoolboy friend and somehow their adventurous encounter ended up on his father’s telephone answering machine. This is rendered even funnier because his father was in the audience and hadn’t worked out what the boys were up to.
I had to leave at the end of the first half as my alarm was going off at home, but Paul is well worth a visit. If you miss him at the Brunswick pub in Hove during the Fringe, (until Sunday, May 26), you can catch him with his backing singers the Harlequeens, at Ye Old Black Horse, Rottingdean on July 5.
Review by Brian Butler
To book tickets online for performance on Sunday, May 26, click here:
Teams of lifeguards take up posts on Brighton & Hove’s beaches this weekend kicking off the summer season.
TWENTY three new recruits will be joining Brighton & Hove City Council’s seafront team, to help ensure millions of visitors enjoy a safe and happy time on city’s beaches this summer. Many of the lifeguards will be familiar to regular beach goers as they return to the job they enjoyed last year.
The new lifeguards will be patrolling the city’s beaches from the Marina to Hove Lagoon. During the summer holidays, from July 20, lifeguards will be patrolling the beaches at Saltdean, Rottingdean, Ovingdean and further into Hove.
The team of male and female lifeguards, have all successfully completed a beach lifeguard qualification and induction course acquiring a wide range of skills from assessing sea and weather conditions and dealing with beach hazards, to carrying out first aid and water rescues.
Every summer, Brighton & Hove’s lifeguards deal with hundreds of incidents and save many lives.
During last year’s summer season they:
♦ carried out 86 water rescues – around one every five days
♦ saved 24 lives
♦ administered first aid to around 238 beach goers
♦ helped find 226 missing people
♦ tackled 117 incidents of anti-social behaviour
♦ handled 127 wildlife incidents
♦ dealt with 24 mental health incidents
♦ provided 36,101 preventative actions – one every 11 minutes
Easily to spot in their red and yellow uniforms, the lifeguards will be on duty each day from 10am to 7pm, supporting the council’s year round seafront team.
Cllr Alan Robins
Councillor Alan Robins, Chair of the Tourism, Development and Culture Committee, said:“Once again we are delighted to have recruited a dedicated team of lifeguards to patrol our popular beaches. “The new lifeguards are committed to supporting our regular seafront officers in ensuring the millions of visitors from all over the world who flock to our beaches every summer return home safe and happy.”
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