Madeira Drive

When you drive to Brighton from London there is a point where you meet the sea at the Palace Pier (in the distance in the top photograph). There is a roundabout that leads to the coast roads in either direction and an extra road heading east that is Madeira Drive. This road absorbs events that end up in Brighton, today’s example being a pride(?) of Jaguars. The coast road and a promenade look down on Madeira Drive and a series of staircases and a lift (elevator) join these levels. When nothing is happening, they provide alternative routes along the beach without the melancholy of, say, the boardwalk at Colney Island out of season. When an event is taking place the various levels provide both the infrastructure and a ready theatre for things to take place.