In our regular series, household names revisit the favourite holiday destinations of their youth. This week, actor Steven Berkoff returns to Brighton…
I’ll never forget my first trip to Brighton as a child of eight in the summer of 1945, just a few months after the country had celebrated VE Day.
My tailor father, mother, older sister and I travelled down from our home in Luton, and for the first time I excitedly saw this great sheet of blue water stretched out in front of me.
Unlike London’s East End, where I was born, Brighton suffered comparatively little bombing, and had the feel of a fun-time seaside resort – everyone wanted to enjoy themselves after the sacrifices of the war years.
We stayed in a little B&B in a Victorian terraced street leading to the sea.
One of my abiding memories is of the whole street smelling of breakfast – bacon, eggs and toast – when you opened the window in the morning.
It was quite wonderful.
Every day I would spend hours swimming in the sea or the magnificent open air pool, Black Rock, down by the seafront. Miraculously I avoided getting sunburnt too.
Actor Steven Berkoff returns to Brighton, where he recalls first holidaying as a child, a few months after the country had celebrated VE Day
Steven Berkoff is an English actor, author, playwright and director. He is best known on screen for his portrayal of villanous characters, such as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy
Steven recalls how he and his mother would always take a stroll along the seafront and head for Palace Pier, which remains in operation today
Later in the day, after a simple afternoon tea – kippers or beans on toast – at our B&B, Mum and I would take a stroll along the seafront and head for Palace Pier (Dad returned to work after a week but we stayed on), which was always an adventure.
Fairground-style amusements lined the famous pier – my favourite featured cut-out horses, which moved a few inches if you threw a ball into a hole, netting you a silly little prize.
The sun seemed to shine for the entire fortnight, and ever since I’ve associated Brighton with fun times and blue skies.
As a young actor in my 20s, I struggled to find work at times.
One day, feeling a bit down in the dumps, I said to my lady friend of the time: ‘Let’s go to Brighton!’
So we jumped on the train at Victoria, caught the train down and as soon as I saw the sea my spirits lifted.
In my acting heyday, when I was making big Hollywood films like Octopussy, Beverly Hills Cop and Rambo First Blood Part II, I was just too busy working to find time to visit the seaside resort.
But a few years ago I returned to Brighton with my partner Clara, fell in love with it all over again and ended up buying a holiday flat by the sea.
‘A few years ago I returned to Brighton with my partner Clara, fell in love with it all over again and ended up buying a holiday flat by the sea’, says Steven
Yes, today’s Brighton is a bit tatty here and there, and my beloved Black Rock pool is now just a ruin, but the resort has never lost its charm and still has the Royal Pavilion and the Lanes, with all their little antique shops.
When I pop down with Clara for a few days I love to have breakfast or afternoon tea at my favourite café, the heavenly Marmalade, and then take a walk by the sea.
Every now and then I’ll even take a ride on the Volk’s miniature railway line, which dates back to the 1880s.
When I do, I get just the same thrill as I did as an eight-year-old all those years ago.
As told to York Membery.
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