The Starling Spectacular, Brighton and Hove Beach
I am fundamentally lazy and, while not fashionable to say so, pretty urban. So, for those of you who want to picnic in isolation, following an arduous trek up hazardous hills and along narrow trails, the following is not for you. My family and friends live in Brighton and Hove. Most evenings after work in Summer, we picnic in Adelaide Crescent gardens. If we have a late tennis lesson booked, we will head off for St Ann’s Wells. At the weekend, we usually picnic on the Royal Pavilon lawns - not least because there are often some seriously up-market buskers playing hauntingly beautiful music. If, on the other hand, we want an early picnic supper, we will head for the beach and sit on the shingle. Soon, as day changes to early evening and the sky becomes a mix of orange and midnight blue, thousands and thousands of starlings arrive to settle for the night on Brighton’s collapsed West Pier. As the starlings sleep and night falls, fires are lit all along the coastline as people bar-b-q. So many people see a picnic as a work of art: we don’t. We usually have simple food e.g. nice bread and cheese, and don’t mind the shingle or sharing space with lots of others. We leave the ‘work of art’ for nature: the ’starling spectacular’ over Brighton’s West Pier is simply awesome, the perfect romantic accompaniment to any picnic, no matter what age the lovers . . .
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