Another weekend at the seaside but this time on England’s south coast visiting Worthing and Brighton in Sussex. My day began with a short train ride into Leeds followed by a longer journey into London King’s Cross Station. From there, I took the underground across to Victoria Station for the last leg of my journey down to Worthing. On my way along to the platform free sandwiches were being handed out from one of the stalls who were launching a new filling, so I gratefully accepted one and then ate it on the train.
Although I frequently take trains down to the south coast, it was the first time I’d been on this line any further than Gatwick Airport so I had my eyes peeled to the windows looking out for anything interesting. As it happened, there was little of note for me to see until near the end of my journey when the train reached Hove and from there onwards I was treated to a few glimpses of the English Channel.
On exiting Worthing station, I realised that the town centre and seafront were about a mile away so I checked Google maps and set off pulling my case hopefully in the right direction. The town is pancake flat so I was able to make good progress and before long was on the high street which still retains some of its historic buildings. The first one I came across was the Assembly Hall, now a concert venue with a claim to fame of having the largest Wurlitzer organ console in Europe.
A few steps down the road brought me to the Worthing Museum & Art Gallery and with a sign indicating free admission, I couldn’t resist taking a look inside. One of the helpful girls at the information desk offered to look after my case so I picked up a leaflet and started my self guided tour.
This stunning Edwardian building has a permanent display of internationally renowned costumes which I found interesting with some garments similar to those that I’d viewed at the Fashion Museum in Bath. There are also galleries dedicated to archaeology, toys and fine and decorative arts.
Returning outdoors it didn’t take me long to reach the seafront but I could hardly believe how windy it had become and at times I could barely stand on my feet. I’d booked a room at the Premier Inn which was much further along the seafront than I’d anticipated but eventually I found it. The hotel is quite new and my sea view room had views across the shingle beach into which large waves were crashing.
After having a short rest I decided to brave the strong winds once again and take a walk along the seafront towards the pier. Visiting Worthing Pier is free of charge and is accessed via curved paths on either side of the Pavilion Theatre. My visit was very topical as a few days later Worthing Pier was voted pier of the year for 2019 beating 55 other piers to the title.
The pier was first constructed in 1862 at a length of 960ft (291 metres) but was slightly modified 26 years later. There were few people about probably due to the inclement weather but I did spot two men fishing and also a middle aged couple near the amusement arcade in the middle section. At the sea end I came to the Southern Pavilion and peering through the windows noticed that it had an attractive art-deco cafe.
I returned to the promenade along the pier’s western edge taking in the views towards the hotel. Along the windbreak running down the centre of the pier was an eye catching art installation called ‘Art on the Pier’. The perspex windows displaying work by local artists and talented school children.
Continuing into town, I glanced in some of the shops and the impressive Royal Arcade which was built in 1925 and restored to its former glory 20 years ago. Some British seaside towns have gone into a state of decline in recent years but gladly Worthing has retained much of its Victorian elegance and continues to flourish.
It was 9.00 p.m. when my son arrived into Worthing and as it was so cold we decided to go for a curry and finalise our plans for the weekend.
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Other posts in this series:
A short break in Worthing and Brighton
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Brighton has long been on my list to visit but can’t say I’ve ever given any consideration to going to Worthing. It looks like a nice little place and best pier is encouraging so perhaps I’ll do as you did and combine a visit to both.
Shame the weather wasn’t slightly better for you though!
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Yes, I did get almost blown off my feet but they were both nice places to visit
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Worthing is my home town, I never thought I would see it in a blog 🤣 the Warwick in the first picture we used to drink in.
The pier also I’m not sure if it still does but the building on the end used to be a nightclub. Many of days we used to get nearlly blown over the side after a night out.
Thanks for sharing
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It was so windy the day we arrived in Worthing that we almost got blown over as well. It was a lovely weekend and I really enjoyed our evening at the Connaught theatre. Thanks for your interesting thoughts, it’s so nice to hear from you.
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The Connaught theatre I wasn’t there in about 20 years. Saw many of shows as a child there. Great to see Wprthing getting a mention 👍
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I think we often take places near to home for granted so it’s good for us all to see them through different eyes.
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Yes exactly and I haven’t lived I England for nearly 12 years now so it is great to see.
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Out of interest, whereabouts are you based now if you don’t mind me enquiring?
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We just recently moved to Ireland, but we were living on the Gold Coast Australia for the last 12 years. A bit of a change but both our families our based in England And Ireland we felt it was time to come back.
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Thanks for letting me know, both interesting places. We’re based in the north of Yorkshire.
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No worries both interesting and very different. I hear Yorkshire is lovely. Look forward to reading more of your work
Have a great day 👍
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Thank you, you too!
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Love this! The photos are awesome and I love the commentary, can’t wait to visit! Thanks for sharing the world with me!
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Thank you for your kind words Victoria, it’s so nice to hear from you. I hope you get an opportunity to visit Worthing and Brighton soon.
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Your writing is captivating! It’s been a very long while since my wife and I visited England. I was so engrossed and was actually picturing walking besides you while you were narrating your story. The moment you mentioned Kings Cross Station I started to chuckle. We had driven past Kings Cross on a buss and the first thing I thought of was of course: Harry Potter..
Thank you for the Like on my page.
Looking forward to reading your next Post.
Mark
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Thank you also Mark for taking the time to comment on my post, it’s so nice to read that you enjoyed it and it brought back fond memories of your visits to the U.K. Kind Regards, Marion.
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You’d probably enjoy Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48862.Brighton_Rock
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An excellent idea, I’ll download a copy soon! Thank you.
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It’s a chilling read.
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I didn’t even know Worthing had a pier! It looks a nice little town and I love the arcades. 🙂 🙂
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Thank you Jo for your much appreciated thoughts. Worthing is a very pleasant seaside town but is often overlooked by Brighton, its bigger neighbour along the coast.
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Welcome to Sussex. I’m one of those that lives south of Gatwick. On your way down to the coast, you will have gone over a really impressive viaduct which is well worth looking up: Ouse Viaduct which, according to Wikipedia, has been been described as one of the most elegant in Britain. It’s just a shame that you don’t get to see it from the train! xx
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Thanks Sarah for bringing this viaduct to my attention. I’ll definitely look out for it next time I’m south of Gatwick!
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I was born in Worthing and went to college there (I live about 20 minutes inland) so it’s funny to see it written about from a travel bloggers perspective! Did you get to visit The Dome cinema?
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Thank you so much Amelia for making contacting, it’s so nice to hear from you. We saw the Dome cinema but didn’t get an opportunity to visit but did spend an evening at the Connaught Theatre which was great!
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I was disappointed to learn some of the English seaside towns are not being kept up. What is the reason for that? Are the English travelling abroad for their holidays more than in the past? Those towns are heritage! You found a free sandwich and free entries. That is really something in this day and age. You have to pay for everything in our modern world so you lucked out this trip.
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Thank you for your interesting observations on my day at the seaside in Worthing. Since the emergence of cheap, package holidays with guaranteed sunshine people have preferred to take their holidays in Barcelona instead of Blackpool and further afield to resorts such as Phuket rather than Prestatyn in Wales. The fortunes of British seaside resorts changed with most visitors now taking shorter breaks or day trips. Hopefully, nostalgia for the traditional British seaside holiday and smart yet affordable new accommodation will see more people returning, but of course it is also very weather dependent.
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Great views and commentary. There doesn’t seem to be anyone about in your photos. Do you think it was the wind? Or is that generally a quiet area?
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I think it was the strong winds causing people to stay indoors as the town is of a reasonable size with several hotels but it was mid April, just before Easter so the holiday season hadn’t really got underway. Thanks for your much appreciated thoughts.
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Pretty arcade…its so good when the architecture is preserved…
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The Victorian arcade was indeed lovely and I was pleasantly surprised how attractive the town was. Thank you for your much appreciated thoughts.
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It’s so strange to see my local town looking so pleasant in someone else’s blog post! I’ve lived here my whole life and I’ve never thought much of it for a town as there’s really not loads to do and it’s getting quite run down – but these pictures definitely highlight its gems and shows you the architecture a lot of people tend to overlook!
I hope you enjoyed your time in Worthing 🙂
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Thanks for taking the time to comment, it’s much appreciated especially from a local! We genuinely enjoyed our stay in Worthing and had a lovely evening at the theatre on our third day which I’ll be writing about soon.
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Ah brilliant! I do love our theatres to be honest, it’s nice to have independent ones instead of chains.
I’ll be on the look out for your next posts!
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Thank you!
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Must have been a great trip.
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Really lovely places to visit on the south coast, thank you for your much appreciated thoughts.
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You are welcome.
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Really? The best pier in the country? Impressive.
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Yes, it was announced the day within days of our departure. There are over 50 U.K. piers and it has been runner up previously. It was so nice to find that there was no entrance charge too. Thanks Tanja for your welcome thoughts
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I am surprised that there’s an entrance fee for piers. I have only visited the one in Southwold years ago and it was free.
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I had relatives who lived down that way whom we would visit over one of the English bank holidays where the weather was usually disappointing and looking at these photographs brought back fond memories of that time. Enjoy the rest of your trip.
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Thank you, a lovely weekend away despite the blustery weather Sheree!
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A delightful trip @ 0430, no traffic, no cost and, a great cup of coffee. Thanks for taking me along.
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It’s my pleasure, I’m pleased you enjoyed this post .
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My family are all based in W Sussex and it’s an area I know quite well. For a variety of reasons, Worthing has not had a particularly exciting reputation and I would never think of spending any time there. However, your blog has really opened my eyes to another side of Worthing so, I think, I will go and visit some of the places you have mentioned.
On the other hand, I love Brighton and Hove and have blogged about it myself. I’m looking forward to future posts from you about the city!
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Thank you for your welcome thoughts June. Sometimes when we live or are from a place we tend to take it for granted and don’t always see it as a visitor might. We genuinely enjoyed our stay and even spent an evening at the local theatre which you might like to read about on the third post of this short series. Marion.
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