News

10th August – 25th September 2023 A celebration of legendary aquatic entertainers (and a bit more).   West Pier Centre 103-105 King’s Road Arches, Brighton BN1 2FN Admission free. Open every day 11-5pm except Tuesdays and Wednesdays.   Don’t miss the fun!

Some new West Pier stories In the 25 years since Walking on Water was published, we have discovered much more about the history of the West Pier. In this talk by Fred Gray, the West Pier Trust’s honorary historian, he explores new material about the pier from its 1860s design to the present day. Ticket ... Read more

The next exhibition at the West Pier Centre, Pierspace, runs from 6 July until 25 September, and showcases work by members of Artspace. This volunteer-led arts and mental health charity provides a community-based studio for people with experience of mental health issues to engage with art activities in a stable and supportive environment.The charity was ... Read more

A talk by Jackie Marsh-Hobbs  The life of the West Pier beautifully illustrated in art and photography. Showing the West Pier through art in early photographs of its construction to over a hundred years of fame and success until its decline and closure in 1975. Despite the ravages of time, subsequent decades saw the defiant, ... Read more

Andy Garth of Brighton and Hove Stuff presents an interactive mosey through the news, non news and events of the time via the archive of black and white photographs and negatives of which he has guardianship and reminds us of what was going on in an age where the local paper was the king of ... Read more

A study of social, cultural, local and seaside pier history, characters and events within Graham Greene’s 1930s novel, showing the seedier side of life in the town, slums and racecourse razor gangs.   Morning session will be followed by a short seafront tour. After lunch there is an illustrated powerpoint sideshow showing the history of ... Read more

An afternoon study at The West Pier Centre of social, cultural, local and West Pier history, characters and events within Patrick Hamilton’s excellent novel set in 1920s Brighton. Morning session will be followed by a short seafront tour. After lunch there is an illustrated powerpoint slideshow showing the history of Brighton and its people in ... Read more

Exhibition runs until 3rd July 2023 The next exhibition at the West Pier Centre is a new departure – an open exhibition of depictions of the West Pier which has been organised and curated by West Pier Centre volunteer Peter Sofroniou. “We put out an open call for artists in autumn last year, asking anyone ... Read more

For the last couple of centuries Brighton and Hove’s history has been defined by the Prince Regent and a noisy cast of male characters who followed him. Busying themselves in their shadows, however, were a host of women, quietly making history in all sorts of different and unique ways. Did you know, for example, that ... Read more

From the first nudist camps of the 1920s to the launch of the first official naturist beach (in Brighton) in the 1970s, social disrobing in Britain operated in a hostile environment. This revealing talk looks back to nudism’s hardy pioneers and their utopian ambitions, and reflects on nude conditions today, a hundred years after the ... Read more

Welcome to Year of the Pier 2023! Since the early 1800s, piers have been a ‘must- have’ attraction at British seaside resorts.Throughout 2023  The National Piers Society  are celebrating that legacy and highlighting the vibrant state of the nation’s piers today. As well as promoting a programme of Year of the Pier events taking place ... Read more

A talk by Kathryn Ferry Thursday 29th June 2023. Orientalism became a key theme in seaside architecture during the nineteenth century and this was most evident in the design of piers. Toll houses, kiosks and grand entertainment pavilions were all built with copious domes that gave them a uniquely exotic flavour. For Victorian holidaymakers, strolling ... Read more