Brighton Getaway

Light rain. High humidity. 90% chance of precipitation.

Those were the expectations that we first carried along with us once we stepped out the door of Arthur Tattersall House. Brighton is prominently known for its beaches. And going to a beach on a rainy day is definitely not a really good idea. But we sticked to the plan anyway, since it’s going to be a bit nasty to do the refund process for our train ticket (and I am just a bit too lazy to do that tbh). At 7.20 in the morning, it was drizzling when we left the house and set our journey to Euston Underground station. After half an hour, we arrived at London Bridge Underground station, just about 15 minutes before our train’s departure time. The journey to Brighton took about an hour, but time flew so fast that we didn’t really feel like it was that long as we were planning our trip for the day throughout the whole period of travelling.

Brighton Clock Tower

It was around quarter past nine when we reached Brighton train station. We passed by Brighton Clock Tower on our way to the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. The tower is located at the junction between North Street and Queens Road. Since the museum will not be opened until 10am, we decided to walk around and take pictures at Brighton landmarks nearby. It’s quite nice to find out that there are actually a lot of landmarks near the Royal Pavilion Estate, where the museum is. From North Street we went into the estate through the India Gate on the south side of the Pavilion Gardens. The Royal Pavilion itself, is actually a very beautiful palace with a stunning Indian architecture, which I later found out to be the Indo-Saracenic style that is prevalent in India. I can’t deny that the palace reminded me of Taj Mahal, with the domes and minarets being the significant features of the building. There is also an ice rink behind the palace that I think might be a famous visitor’s attraction in this winter season.

Royal Pavilion

We then walked out of the estate to see the exterior design of Brighton Dome, but got a little disappointed as we saw some construction or renovation work going on. We didn’t go in, but as far as I know it is an art venue, with a studio theatre and maybe a few other theatre facilities in it. Nevertheless, what appeared to be thrilling to me is the fact that it was once made into a temporary military hospital! The dome (as well as the Pavilion) was used to house injured Indian soldiers in the First World War, which explains the existence of the India Gate as a gift of India to commemorate their soldiers who were tended in the Pavilion in 1914 and 1915.

Brighton War Memorial

From Brighton Dome, we went to Brighton War Memorial. It is actually a large memorial pool, located in front of the Pavilion Estate. The pool is enclosed in a black gate, which is decorated with big poppy flowers. And after that I started to realize that a lot of people that I bumped into today has a cute poppy flower pinned to their coat, blazer, dress or shirt.

The fountain

Bluntly having no idea of what all these poppy flower means at that moment (even though my friend tried to explain it to me XD), we went to a fountain located exactly opposite the memorial pool. The fountain is built to commemorate the President of the Fountain Society (I am not sure why do they have a fountain society though). But anyway since there are a lot of benches provided around the fountain, we had our brunch there since I didn’t have time to have my breakfast before we went out from my house. After finishing our mac and cheese and tea, we went to the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, totally unaware of what does the building has in store for us on that day.

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery

“The admission is free today,” said a lady in front of the reception counter. I was a bit confused, as I thought the admission was meant to be free. But apparently, the museum offers a free admission day on one Saturday in a month for a free admission. I could not describe how lucky we were to be in Brighton on that day! The ground floor of the museum is a gallery of modern art. Not even halfway through, I was actually quite surprised that I eventually lost interest in viewing all the (modern) material culture laid on the exhibition panel. So I told my friend I want to see something related to Brighton (and I just realised how I can’t get over 'history' anywhere I go!). As the story goes, we left the modern gallery and try to explore something ‘Brighton-ish’. We saw the ancient Egypt section but what popped up in my mind was, “oh man, no, can I just have those kind of things in my class?? XD”

Modern Gallery, Ground Floor

So we decided to go upstairs instead, after we passed by an archaeology gallery that will only be opened in 2018 L. I was actually looking for a map of the museum, trying to find out what this museum has to offer, but I could not find one. So we just wandered around that top floor, and was looking down to the ground floor when suddenly a man came and approached us, asking us where we come from. I am pretty sure I heard the word “Respect” from his mouth after we introduced ourselves. Leaving me puzzled, he then started to talk to us about a banner, which was just next to where we stood up. The banner is printed with a story about Brighton and Hove Black History. I was simply amazed by how he went on telling us about the Black History from square one. It would be a very looooooong post to talk about everything he told us, but in brief, he was telling us about the Sikh, Muslim and Hindu soldiers who served and fought for Britain in the First World War. Words after words that he said simply made me feel like crying, as he told us on the history of that war in Brighton.

The India Gate - entrance for Royal Pavilion Estate

He even told us about the Remembrance Day, which is observed on every 11^th November of the year. (I am actually rephrasing what he said) “The moment of remembrance’, which is actually a 2-minute ‘moment of silence’, starts at 11a.m. to commemorate the soldiers that have died in the line of their duty.” I found out that this sometimes being referred to as ‘the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month’.  So now it just simply explains why do I keep seeing these red remembrance poppy flowers all over Brighton; it’s the Remembrance Day! The red artificial flower, or the remembrance poppy, has been used since 1921 to commemorate military personnel who have died in war. This man, Bert, is exactly not an unexceptional man. Before we end our conversation, he pointed out his name on a booklet that he gave to us on ‘Brighton and Hove Black History’. Bert Williams MBE. MBE means Member of the Order of the British Empire, and this title is definitely awarded to someone which is no ordinary; he must have been a man with an outstanding service or a remarkable achievement! He was honoured by the Queen! It was definitely a great honour for us to get the chance of meeting him!

After listening to the insightful story, we went around the museum, and visited the museum lab (because Bert brought us there haha) as well as the remaining galleries on that level. There's a gallery on transology and another one for costumes. Before we left we bid Bert goodbye and walked out of the museum at around half past twelve.

Our lucky day :)

To be honest, I have no idea how I ended up in such a great place, on a great day, with a great figure. I didn’t even care about the weather not being great anymore, I was as happy as I could ever be! Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. Our day trip went more than just good enough!

Suddenly it hit me that it has been quite a while since the last time I reminisced my childhood time, spent with one of the RAMD (Rejimen Askar Melayu Diraja) member, which is my beloved late grandfather. I am pretty sure it won’t take us even two minutes to recite al-Fatihah in the remembrance of our loved ones that has passed away, as well as the soldiers who have made a lot of sacrifice, fighting for our dearest and beloved country :’)

Al-Fatihah