Zip Down to Brighton For Thrills and Excitement!

The latest tourist attraction is taking flight in Brighton!

Design courtesy of @BrightonZip

Leaping!

Now, we thought that a zip wire along the seafront was a gag, rumour like the waterslides we read about and the fast lanes on Oxford Street, a fun idea that would never happen. But we were wrong! Walking past the bottom of The Stein your intrepid correspondent saw the tower through the mist and murk of a June afternoon.

The tower appears to be completed, and it must have gone up in a matter of only a few days at the most as I had been in the area the previous week and seen nothing but the workmen clearing up the last of the Brighton Wheel, which has trundled on to pastures new. But now there is a tower, and soon to be a landing pad adjacent to the Steve Ovett statue some 300 metres along the seafront.

It’s great seeing so many new and exciting adventures opening up in Brighton. I must admit, I had become used to the Wheel and was rather disappointed to see it go. The i360 has garnered a lot of attention and different points of view. Some love it while others prefer to scoff. The revamped Volks Railway will be re-opening soon too, with its new visitor centre, refreshed rolling stock and conservation workshop at Peter Pan Playground. It does seem funny, walking down to the Marina in summer and not having the trains trundling by, making their incongruent ghost-train like wails!

Brighton Zip, it is said, will be open from 10am until 11pm all year round. While we can see a ride

Landing!

being fun and exciting on a summer’s afternoon, we’re a little more dubious about how we feel about going down in a gale in the depths of a winter’s night!

The spiral staircase leading to a zip wire isn’t an altogether new idea. We found pictures of a similar amusement that was installed in Gorki Park in the 1930s. And we were shocked at how much fun, and ridiculously dangerous it looked! Russian thrill seekers didn’t so much ‘zip’ down the line though, they leapt from the top of the tower in a semi-functioning parachute which was directed to the landing point, and prevented from blowing away, by a line. The tower also had a helter-skelter to slide back down on for people who got to the observation deck and decided that they didn’t quite fancy leaping from the top of a spiraling column, notwithstanding the parachute they were equipped with.

I’m looking forward to the opening of the Brighton Zip very much and can’t wait to go on it!

Dr Who exhibit now on display

EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!

A collection of Daleks

"Is There A Doctor In The House?"….. "Yes There Is!"

Those of you lucky enough to have visited the museum this summer will have seen our latest exhibition: a wonderful display of Dr Who Memorabilia.

Following a surprise phone call from Brighton Palace Pier, who explained to us that the sheer quantity of items destined for inclusion in their Dr Who Exhibition was too large for the available space, it was mutually agreed that the remaining exhibits should come to us.

The exhibits in question are in fact the renowned private collection of David Howe, a long term fan of all things Doctor Who and an author and publisher of several authoritative books on the subject including Transcendental Toybox (the complete guide to Doctor Who memorabilia).

They are professionally displayed in two showcases which formerly housed our Brighton seaside-themed display and Britain's garden models. They range from the expected Dr Who related books, posters, jigsaw puzzles, games, badges and figures right through to the more obscure items such as frisbees, watches, yoyos, painting sets, slide-projectors, bubble bath and even pants… no, you're not seeing things, pants. And naturally, there are quite a few of our old friends the Daleks.

Dr Who memorabilia

But WHO has come to the display (if you'll excuse the pun)? Well, our volunteers have booked in a vast array of visitors who have come specifically to see the exhibition. We've seen everyone from young children and their families recently acquainted with the Doctor through the new television series, to people wanting to re-live their memories of the original television programmes from the 1960's and 1970's, and last but not least the die-hard Dr Who fans, often wearing their prized Dr Who T-shirts and badges.

The exhibition will remain in place until the end of January 2006, so there's still plenty of time to catch the Doctor and his memorabilia. Don't leave it too late though as the Tardis never stays in one place for too long!