Hove

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name= Hove
population= 91,900 [cite web|title=National Statistics - Neighbourhood statistics by ward|url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/areasubject.do]
latitude= 50.8352
longitude= -0.1758
unitary_england= Brighton & Hove
region= South East England
lieutenancy_england= East Sussex
constituency_westminster= Hove
post_town= HOVE
postcode_district= BN3
postcode_area=BN
dial_code= 01273
os_grid_reference= TQ285055

Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with whom it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast. As part of local government reform Brighton and Hove were merged to form the borough of Brighton and Hove in 1997. In 2000 the conjoined towns officially attained city status.

Hove is between Brighton on the east and Portslade-by-Sea on the west. The pre-1997 borough of Hove, formed in 1974, included Portslade-by-Sea.

Commercial

The town centre received substantial renovation in the late 1990s when the popular George Street was partly pedestrianised. These small shops have recently been joined by the centre's first large supermarket (a Tesco), built on the site of a former gasometer in what has traditionally been an area populated by small locally-owned businesses and smaller branches of national chains. Some concern about the development and its impact was expressed by residents, the local newspaper The Argus, and small locally-owned shops.

Transport

Road transport

Hove benefits from a comprehensive public transport system including buses to all districts, a bus monitoring system accessible via the internet and with displays at some bus stops (a system integrated with Brighton), and taxis which are able to pick up across the city ("i.e." in Brighton as well as Hove).

Railways

Hove has two railway stations. Hove railway station has access to the Brighton main line and on to London without the need to go through Brighton. It is also on the West Coastway Line, as is Hove's other station, Aldrington. Additionally, there was briefly a "halt" between Hove and Brighton, at Holland Road. Direct train journeys to London take just over an hour, and to Brighton, a few minutes.

Branching off close to Aldrington was formerly a branch line to Devil's Dyke The route of the line may be followed along a path alongside West Hove golf club; the path leads all the way to Devil's Dyke, and railway sleepers once used under the tracks may be seen to either side of the path, plus the remains of two of the stations still exist in places but are on private land.

Hove Museum and Art Gallery

Hove Museum and Art Gallery houses a permanent collection as well as holding temporary exhibitions [http://www.hove.virtualmuseum.info/]

Education

Hove is home to a number of primary schools, including Goldstone Primary School, and three major places of secondary education: "Cardinal Newman Catholic School", "Hove Park Secondary School" and "Blatchington Mill Secondary School".

"Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College" (BHASVIC) is a dedicated place of further education, along with the "Connaught Centre", "Hove Park Sixth Form Centre" and "Blatchington Mill Sixth Form College".

A notable feature of Hove is the number of schools for foreign students of the English language.

Sport and leisure

The home of Sussex County Cricket Club is at County Cricket Ground, Hove. It is used for county, national and international matches, and has found resurgent popularity with the introduction of Twenty20.

Until 1997 Hove was home to the Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.'s Goldstone Ground. Since this time the football club has been without a permanent home ground. In September 2007, planning permission was confirmed for the club's new ground, which will be at Falmer, still within the city limits but on the Brighton side. The new stadium is due to start development in late 2008, with the first game being held in August 2010.

There are a number of parks in Hove including Hove Park and St. Anne's Well Gardens. The King Alfred Centre which is currently a leisure centre with swimming pool on the seafront, however in March 2007 Brighton and Hove City Council gave planning permission for a £290 million pound development on the site. It has been designed by the renowned Canadian architect Frank Gehry who also designed the Guggenheim in Bilbao.

The Monarch's Way long-distance footpath threads south-eastwards across the town from the Downs, before heading west along the seafront towards its terminus at Shoreham-by-Sea.

History and development

Pre-Roman evidence

During 19th century building work near Palmeira Square, workmen removed a significant burial mound. A defining point on the landscape since the 1200 BC, this convert|20|ft|m-high tomb yielded – amongst other treasures – the Hove amber cup. Made of translucent red Baltic Amber and approximately the same size as a regular china tea cup, the artefact can be seen in Hove Museum. [Hove Museum is free to visit and the Amber Cup is on display. Along with the cup were also found three objects, with the four denoting a king. The remains of the king, who was buried in the magnificent burial mound, were cast unceremoniously into a deep hole to form the grounds of a rosary. It is claimed this man was the first king of Britain, recorded as Brutus by Geoffrey of Monmouth, although modern writer R. Darlow calls him Brythos(Although his reasons are rather sketchy).]

Second millennium AD

Hangleton Manor is a 16th Century flint manor building, very well preserved. It is believed to have been built circa 1540 for Richard Bellingham, twice Sheriff of Sussex, whose initials are carved into a fireplace, and whose coat of arms adorns a period plaster ceiling. The Manor is currently serving as a pub-restaurant and is surrounded by the 20th Century Hangleton housing estate.

Regency and Victorian developments

The Brunswick estate on and near the seafront in the east of Hove is made up of large Regency houses. This area was developed far from the original settlement, deliberately on the edge of Brighton, as a fashionable resort in the early 19th Century, during the period of influence of George IV who famously commissioned Brighton's Royal Pavilion. The Brunswick estate originally boasted its own police, riding schools, and a theatre, which it retains. Further west, the seafront forms the end of a series of avenues, named in numerical order beginning with First Avenue, which are mostly composed of fine Victorian villas built as yet another well-integrated housing scheme, featuring mews for artisans and service buildings. Grand Avenue, The Drive, and the surrounding avenues were developed through the 1870s and 1880s, with many of the buildings in this area constructed by William Willett.

Hove's wide boulevards are in contrast the bustle of Brighton, although many of the grand Regency and Victorian mansions have been converted into flats. Marlborough Court was once the residence of the Duchess of Marlborough, aunt of Winston Churchill.

Modern era

Much 1950s housing redevelopment in Hove took place on the outskirts of west Hove, Hangleton and the Knoll estate. This was mostly in the form of terraced and semi-detached council housing.

Hove's seafront and beach, particularly the area starting on the west side of Brighton's West Pier (actually the first 300 metres are in Brighton) have recently become fashionable after some years of decline during the 20th Century. The same is certainly true of the houses of the developments mentioned above, most of which now command relatively high prices, having been in some cases very run down during the 1950s and 1960s.

See also

* Landmarks and notable buildings of Brighton and Hove
* List of notable Brighton and Hove inhabitants

References and notes

External links

* [http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk "Brighton & Hove - delivering 24hr city council services"] , official website
* [http://www.citytransport.org.uk/ Official City Transport site with live bus times, car parks, and further information]
* [http://www.mapofbrighton.com/ Map of Brighton]
* [http://www.weirdcyclelanes.co.uk/ "The weird cycle lanes of Brighton and Hove"]
* [http://www.ukattraction.com/south-east-england/hove.html Hove attractions]