Escape to the South Downs for free during National Parks Week

While Brighton & Hove is well known for being a city by the sea, you may not be aware that we are also very close to the countryside. The city is an access point for the stunning South Downs National Park, and as this week is National Parks Week it's the perfect time to visit.

The park are encouraging visitors to Discover Another Way to visit instead of driving, so this week (29th July - 4th August) you and your family can travel to the Downs by bus for free! It doesn't get much better then that, so pack a picnic and hop on a bus and go to Devil's Dyke, Stanmer Park or Ditchling Beacon. To download your voucher go to: www.southdowns.gov.uk/discover But if you can't go this week then you can still enjoy half price bus travel for the rest of the summer holidays.

Watch this video to see how easy and fun it is to get to the Downs by bus:
For more tips on visiting the South Downs follow @SDNPA and you can also find walks and cycle routes on the Countryside section of our website.

Charlotte

Culture in the City

While it is very easy to get to London from Brighton it seems there are fewer and fewer reasons to leave. For example the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery is currently hosting an exhibition of Jeff Koons work, the first showing in England outside of Tate.

But there are also things coming to Brighton before they go to London, for example this weekend I am going to see a new production of Noel Coward's Relative Values starring Patricia Hodge, Caroline Quentin and Rory Brenner at the Theatre Royal Brighton. While I'm looking forward to seeing this I have to confess I'm even more excited about seeing Jeeves & Wooster later in the year. I've been a fan of the books and the TV series for as long as I can remember so it will be interesting to see how it will have been adapted for the stage.

Matthew Macfadyen (Jeeves) and Stephen Mangan (Wooster) in Perfect Nonsense Photo by Uli Weber

 

Being such a fan I may have been wary about seeing anyone other than Fry & Laurie in the roles, however I think Stephen Mangan and Matthew Macfadyen will both be excellent. Anyone who has seen Macfadyen in Death at a Funeral will know he plays the straight man very well, and Mangan often seems to be the lovable buffoon.This production will only go to Richmond and Brighton before it's West End run - so see it in Brighton and then feel smug when everyone starts trying to get tickets for it in the West End ;)

While nothing beats the thrill of the live performance sometimes - wether it's time, money or energy - it's not always possible to see these shows or exhbitions live. Which is why I love the new trend for cinemas to start screening theatre shows and behind the scenes looks at exhibitions. For example tonight I am going to see Twelth Night filmed at the Globe starring Stephen Fry as Malvolio. In the coming weeks the Duke's at Komedia will also be showing the National Theatre's Macbeth; The Globe's Taming of the Shrew and the Victoria & Albert Museum's David Bowie exhibition.

So there is really no excuse not to enjoy a bit of culture by the sea. Let us know what takes your fancy...

Charlotte