New Brighton puts me in a good mood the moment I arrive.
The salty tang in the sea air creates expectations and the beautiful remnants of its art deco past show the futuristic aspirations of the pre-war seaside architects.
Originally built as a Victorian summer retreat for the rich mercantile families in Liverpool, New Brighton flourished until the 1970s when cheap Spanish holidays became the thing, and it fell into decay like many British seaside towns.
Sadly, that’s where it remained for thirty years until the day Daniel Davies of Rockpoint Leisure came along and gave New Brighton a new lease of life.
I’d been watching his redevelopment plans with interest from the comfort of the now legendary Baltic area in Liverpool.
It’s an area I’d been instrumental in developing, having moved in twenty years ago when it was a disused industrial estate.
Daniel is a fiery character. He invested his own money and took a massive risk which I totally respected.
I liked his focus on keeping his development independent and his use of visual arts as a regeneration tool which, by coincidence, was the starting point for the Baltic.
I came over numerous times to do the ‘Street Art Tour’ which I highly recommend, and I watched his progress as he slowly turned the derelict buildings on Victoria Road into trendy independent bars, coffee shops, art galleries and restaurants.
By the time I turned up to have a meeting with Daniel he had hit a plateau. He was over worked and ill with cancer.
I stepped in to help and spent a delicious summer reacquainting myself with a town that had been a favourite childhood haunt.
With its magnificent promenade, sand dunes, wild swimming and yoga on the beach, I fell in love with the place all over again.
To support his regeneration efforts I decided to take over Rockpoint’s last undeveloped site and create District House.
It was a derelict three-story building with a disused banking hall on the ground floor that we’ve turned into a DeliArtBar.
It has a dedicated art gallery and glorious interconnecting outdoor spaces.
On the upper floors of the building, Focal Point Media, who followed me in from the Baltic, are creating a digital technology hub with shared workspaces that have incredible sea views along with state of the art media studios.
New Brighton is just a fifteen minute train journey from Liverpool and it offers creatives new places to work, exhibit and play. It also offers a totally different work/life balance.
In the summer we take our lunch and picnic on the beach. In the evenings we take our cocktails and bathe in the amazing pink sunset that hangs over the beautiful Liverpool skyline. The soothing sound of the waves has an calming effect and staring at the reflection of the city lights in the water, our minds are free to ponder on the infinite possibilities that now await this once forgotten seaside town.
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Find out more about the development of New Brighton and its street art and follow the work of Rockpoint and their Victoria quarter project here: www.rockpointleisure.com/victoria-quarter
Words, Jayne Casey, Creative Director