Floral Clock, Palmeira Square
'Hove' is a town on the south coast of
England immediately to the west of its larger neighbour,
Brighton. It forms a single
conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast. As part of
local government reform Brighton and Hove were merged to form the borough of
Brighton and Hove in 1997. In 2000 the conjoined towns officially attained
city status.
Hove is between Brighton on the east and
Portslade-by-Sea on the west. The pre-1997 borough of Hove, formed in 1974, included Portslade-by-Sea.
Commercial
The town centre received substantial renovation in the late 1990s when the popular George Street was partly pedestrianised. These small shops have recently been joined by the centre's first large supermarket (a
Tesco), built on the site of a former
gasometer in what has traditionally been an area populated by small locally-owned businesses and smaller branches of national chains. Much concern about the development and its impact was expressed by residents, the local newspaper
The Argus, and small locally-owned shops.
Transport
:''Main article:
Transport in Brighton and Hove''
Road transport
Hove benefits from a comprehensive public transport system including buses to all districts, a bus monitoring system accessible via the internet and with displays at some bus stops (a system integrated with Brighton), and taxis which are able to pick up across the city (''i.e.'' in Brighton as well as Hove).
Railways
Hove has two railway stations.
Hove railway station has access to the
Brighton main line and on to
London without the need to go through
Brighton railway station. It is also on the
West Coastway Line, as is Hove's other station, Aldrington. Additionally, there was briefly a "halt" between Hove and Brighton, at Holland Road.
Branching off close to Aldrington was formerly a branch line to
Devil's Dyke The route of the line may be followed along a path alongside West Hove
golf club; the path leads all the way to Devil's Dyke, and railway sleepers once used under the tracks may be seen to either side of the path, plus the remains of two of the stations still exist in places but are on private land.
Rail Transport
Hove railway station is located on the
West Coastway Line. West of
Brighton and east of
Aldrington.
The station offers frequent services to
Brighton which then offers very frequent services to
London. The journey from
Brighton to Hove takes only a couple of minutes.
The station is located at the end of
Hove Park Villas.
Education
Hove is home to a number of
primary schools, and three major places of
secondary education: ''Cardinal Newman Catholic School'', ''Hove Park Secondary School'' and ''Blatchington Mill Secondary School''.
''Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College'' (BHASVIC) is a dedicated place of
further education, along with the ''Connaught Centre'', ''Hove Park Sixth Form Centre'' and ''Blatchington Mill Sixth Form College''.
A notable feature of Hove is the number of schools for foreign students of the English language.
Sport and leisure
The home of
Sussex County Cricket Club is at
County Cricket Ground, Hove. It is used for county, national and international matches, and has found resurgent popularity with the introduction of
Twenty20.
Until 1997 Hove was home to the
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.'s
Goldstone Ground. Since this time the football club has been without a permanent home ground.
There are a number of parks in Hove including
Hove Park and
St. Anne's Well Gardens. The
King Alfred Centre which is currently a leisure centre with swimming pool on the seafront, however in March 2007 Brighton and Hove City Council gave planning permission for a £290 million pound development on the site. It has been designed by the renowned Canadian architect
Frank Gehry who also designed the
Guggenheim in
Bilbao.
History and development
Pre-Roman evidence
During 19th century building work near Palmeira Square, workmen removed a significant burial mound. A defining point on the landscape since the
1200 BC, this 20 feet-high tomb yielded – amongst other treasures – the
Hove amber cup. Made of translucent red Baltic Amber and approximately the same size as a regular china tea cup, the artefact can be seen in Hove Museum.
[2]
Second millennium AD
Hangleton Manor is a 16th Century
flint manor building, very well preserved. It is believed to have been built circa 1540 for Richard Bellingham, twice
Sheriff of
Sussex, whose initials are carved into a fireplace, and whose
coat of arms adorns a period plaster ceiling. It is rumoured to be haunted. The Manor is currently serving as a pub-restaurant and is surrounded by the 20th Century
Hangleton housing estate.
Regency and Victorian developments
The
Brunswick estate on and near the seafront in the east of Hove is made up of large
Regency houses. This area was developed far from the original settlement, deliberately on the edge of Brighton, as a fashionable resort in the early 19th Century, during the period of influence of
George IV who famously commissioned Brighton's
Royal Pavilion. The Brunswick estate originally boasted its own police, riding schools, and a theatre, which it retains. Further west, the seafront forms the end of a series of avenues, named in numerical order beginning with First Avenue, which are mostly composed of fine
Victorian villas built as yet another well-integrated housing scheme, featuring mews for artisans and service buildings. Grand Avenue, The Drive, and the surrounding avenues were developed through the 1870s and 1880s, with many of the buildings in this area constructed by
William Willett.
Hove's wide boulevards are in contrast the bustle of Brighton, although many of the grand Regency and Victorian mansions have been converted into flats. Marlborough Court was once the residence of the
Duchess of Marlborough, aunt of
Winston Churchill.
Modern era
Much 1950s housing redevelopment in Hove took place on the outskirts of west Hove,
Hangleton and the Knoll estate. This was mostly in the form of terraced and semi-detached
council housing.
Hove's seafront and beach, particularly the area starting on the west side of Brighton's West Pier (actually the first 300 metres are in Brighton) have recently become fashionable after some years of decline during the 20th Century. The same is certainly true of the houses of the developments mentioned above, most of which now command relatively high prices, having been in some cases very run down during the 1950s and 1960s.
Miscellanea
★ Hove is sometimes referred to as "Hove, actually". According to popular lore, when a questioner asks a Hove resident where they live, they are met with the slightly apologetic response "Brighton... well, Hove actually". It is alternatively used slightly more proudly; when asked "Do you live in Brighton?" one might reply, "No — Hove, ''actually!'' " The phrase is used in the 1979 film, ''
The Lady Vanishes'', in which the lady of the title states, "I'm on my way back to Brighton. To Hove, actually. It's down the coast a bit!"
★ Cricketer
Ted Alletson enjoyed his notable moment of success at Hove's cricket ground, with two of his shots damaging the pavilion clock and bar.
See also
★
Landmarks and notable buildings of Brighton and Hove
★
List of notable Brighton and Hove inhabitants
External links
★
''Brighton & Hove - delivering 24hr city council services'', official website
★
Official City Transport site with live bus times, car parks, and further information
★
"The weird cycle lanes of Brighton and Hove"
References and notes
1. National Statistics - Neighbourhood statistics by ward
2. Hove Museum is free to visit and the Amber Cup is on display. Along with the cup were also found three objects, with the four denoting a king. The remains of the king, who was buried in the magnificent burial mound, were cast unceremoniously into a deep hole to form the grounds of a rosary. It is claimed this man was the first king of Britain, recorded as Brutus by Geoffrey of Monmouth, although modern writer R. Darlow calls him Brythos.
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