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famous during the English Civil War. With his father executed, Prince Charles fled to Brighton, awaiting
    a ship to France. Seeking an inn to take refuge, he was offered the King’s Head. Later, regulations were imposed on street souvenir vendors to prevent them selling body parts.
    Much of the southern town had to be reconstructed following the disastrous sea floods of 1705, and this is commemorated in place names such as ‘High Tide Alley’, ‘Basking Shark Blocking the Chimney Street’ and ‘Where’s my Snorkle? (I Need to Use the Outside Toilet) Lane’. Although ‘Where’s my Snorkle? (I Need to Use the Outside Toilet)’ was a quite common expression in 18th Century Brighton, even before the floods.
    At the end of the 18th Century, Brighton became fashionable thanks to the patronage of the Prince Regent. As many homes in the Old Town were demolished to make space for the Royal Pavilion, the Prince ordered his soldiers to build a new road for the displaced. A competition was held amongst them to choose a name for the new road, and it was duly named ‘New Road’. Second place went to ‘Tell Him Where to Stick his New Road Street’.
    In the 1780s the Prince Regent began to spend heavily on drink and womanising, to the deep dismay of his wife, Caroline of Brunswick. Parliament soon passed an act to prevent the Prince of Wales wasting public funds on frippery and adultery, one which has been studiously ignored by every heir to the throne ever since.
    When Queen Victoria came to the throne, the Pavilion became her favourite holiday home. However, in 1841, the London to Brighton Railway was built close by, and she ordered that whenever she was in residence, trains should stop outside the town until she left. Perhaps someone should tell Network Rail she’s not still there.
    It was in Victorian times that the writer Lewis Carroll regularly visited his sister in Brighton. He was inspired by watching his niece at play to write both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland , and Alice’s Adventures Doing Cartwheels for Uncle Lewis .
    It wasn’t until the advent of cheap rail travel that Londoners began to flock to the city in their thousands, when Brighton became known as ‘London by the Sea’, much in the same way as nearby Eastbourne became known as ‘Kick the Bucket by the Sea’.
    Brighton was heavily bombed during World War II, but Adolf Hitler ordered that the Royal Pavilion should be left intact, as he intended to use it as a base following a successful invasion. Hitler held a particular affinity for the building, as it only had one ballroom.
    Brighton’s first modern shopping centre was built in the 1960s. Called ‘Churchill Square’, it was named in memory of the great wartime leader, and was modelled on his concrete bunker.

    Brighton still shows evidence of the disastrous sea floods
    Brighton’s cultural heritage is well known, and never was the elegant seaside town more in the cultural spotlight than when it was immortalised unmistakably in Graham Greene’s novel Our Man in Havana .
    Proud of its heritage, Brighton City Council has taken tonaming its buses after local landmarks and people, such as the Boxer, Chris Eubank, the Devil’s Dyke, Julie Burchill and a nice couple from Hove: Mr and Mrs Notinservice.
    Other famous Brighton residents include Jordan and husband Peter Andre. Rumours abound that their marriage is in fact a sham, and the paparazzi are constantly trying to get photos of the pretend pair falling out.
    Anita Roddick opened her first business in Brighton during the early 70s. She offered such alternative delights as ‘jojoba and sesame oil’, ‘tea-tree bark with nettle extract’, ‘seaweed and willow-sap tincture’, plus over thirty varieties of Brazilian tree frog creams. However, after six months the restaurant folded, and she went into skin care products instead.
    Chris Eubank lives near Brighton in part of a converted monastery. He is often seen driving his famous truck, but