I can remember the Aquarium as a great place to visit.
There was also the glass animal man’s shop nearby, where my parents had a Scotty dog made when it was too rough for a boat trip.
Does anyone remember the glass animal man?
Photos and articles about Brighton and Hove in the time of coronavirus. See our collection and add your own!
I can remember the Aquarium as a great place to visit.
There was also the glass animal man’s shop nearby, where my parents had a Scotty dog made when it was too rough for a boat trip.
Does anyone remember the glass animal man?
Comments about this page
Sue, Yes I remember the glass animal man, fantastic skills he had. I remember spending time watching him work his miracles with bits of glass rod. There was also Eva Petulengro, the palm reader. When was the picture taken? I would guess at about 1962 as the amusement arcade is short; after about ’63 it extended further east.
Prior to 1970, when both the Sussex County tower block was opened, and the Marina was under construction, neither are in view!
One memory rekindled is the line of coaches on Marine Parade all with a blackboard advertising that day’s destinations. Mystery tours always held a fascination for me in my youth , but on reflection they werent mysterious destinations, just that you didnt know where you were going.
Hi Sue, what an interesting picture. So much yellow. Cars, buildings, and it kind of gives the impression we had a lot of sand. WISH! Yes, the animal man seems a favourite with many of us and you can see him under ‘People’ on the main list and then go to ‘Local Folk’. Thanks for sharing.
Was the glass animal man at the aquarium the same one who had a shop in Queens Road? As a child I used to watch him sitting in his shop window working and was fascinated.
This would have been definitely taken prior to 1963, as I left Brighton during that year. Thanks for all your comments it is great to read them.
I think I remember seeing parrots in the aquarium which seems strange now.
Another great aerial colour view, Sue. Thanks for sharing it with us! Doubtless taken from an upper floor of the Royal Albion Hotel’s eastmost extremity. No buses to help date the picture this time, but the cars, van and lorry all suggest late 50s to very early sixties – Ford Consuls, Austin A30s or 35s, Morris Minor, Morris J2, Thames Trader, etc – and the likelihood is that it was taken around the same time as your last offering, ie. 1962, and presumably summer as the sky is so blue. The yellowness is probably down to the primitive colour film available at the time.
Great to hear from you Len but I’m afraid this is probably one of the last views, sadly my parents had a great clear out of family photos etc leaving me with very few to look back at. I will keep searching though. Fortunately the reaction to my uploads has unlocked many memories which has been wonderful.
Hi Sue, I well remember dancing to Ted Heath & Joe Loss in the ballroom in the 50s, and the mystery tours – Southdown buses mainly. There was a crocodile in the Aquarum – don’t remember ever seeing it move! The clock above the pier entrance was moved from above the aquarum – front centre of your photo.
Can’t help with a date for this but I would have been a child living in Hove when this was taken. My guess is that it would have been taken in the early 60s rather than the 50s, simply because it’s in colour. Colour photography was in it’s infancy, at least for the general public, at about that time and colour photos were relatively rare. I remember the Aquarium well though, including the parrots! I think you’ll find though, that the “crocodile” was an “alligator”.
Thanks for reminding me about the ‘alligator’ – the memory had got completely buried in my memory. I can remember looking at it willing it to move – but it never did!
Who can tell me what the name of the lady who worked with Eva Petulengro on the aquariam shop promenade was? My Dad Fred Hall was a chef at the aquarium and he used to visit Eva, his sister was also a Medium there sometimes. This would be around 1962 ish. I was born in 1956 and used to sit on the wall outside Eva Petulengro’s whilst dad went in to chat. I’d be very interested in anyone having any info on Dad’s sister of when she was a Medium. I think she also worked on the Brighton pier, (Rose) and Dad also had a stall there sometimes – wooden horses – and us kids had to wind this handle to make em run across the wall, to take bets on who would win the race.
Spanish John 31/03/10 asks whether there were parrots in the Aquarium. Yes there were. I was taken there several times in the 1950s and just to the left inside the entrance were the cages, two or three I think. One or two contained Macaws and I think there was an African Grey as well. That one would ‘wolf whistle’ back to you if it was in a merry mood. A few years later the highlight of the place was the Macaw thought to be about 100 years old called Robert I think. Then it laid an egg. This made headline news in the Brighton and Hove Herald and the parrot had to be renamed Roberta!
Add a comment about this page