A playground for philandering princes, rebellious moneylenders and generations of artists, writers and poets, Brighton and Hove is not short on Blue Plaques. They are everywhere.
Under Arts and Culture, you will find Doreen Valiente, the “Mother of Modern Witchcraft”, and poet and author Sir Lawrence Olivier, founder of the National Theatre.
Below Science and Industry, the Magnus Volk, “the world’s oldest operating public electric railway”, still runs along the waterfront at Kemptown.
The Civil, Political and Military category lists Russian prince Pyotr (Peter) Kropotkin simply as “Anarchist”, and the Sports category features the little-known Mercedes Gleitze, a pioneer of long-distance swimming.
On the thin wall between a tailor’s shop and opticians in the North Laine (Laine comes from the Old English word describing meadow or field), Brighton’s bohemian heartland and independent shopping centre, there is another plaque honoring “Founder of the Body Shop, Environmentalist” . and Animal Rights advocate,” Dame Anita Roddick.
“The Body Shop, along with Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s, were pioneers of ESG [environmental, social, and corporate governance]says Justin Francis, president of Responsible Travel and Nature Projects.
“The Body Shop and its founders Anita and Gordon Roddick were the inspiration for Responsible Travel and also the seed investors.”
The late Roddick’s first store, offering animal-free beauty products in refillable bottles, opened at 22 Kensington Gardens in 1976. When my mom came here to buy hemp hand cream, I felt dizzy from the tropical scents. It smelled like the world in an exotic room.
The North Laine, a grid of residential and attractive commercial streets, is supported by Brighton Station and the Royal Pavilion.
On a rainy Tuesday, Resident Music was in Kensington Gardens, a pedestrian promenade home to local businesses such as Bert’s Homestore, Kennys Rock and Soul Café (known locally as the “balcony café”), as well as the esoteric, Tardis-like vintage store Snoopers Paradise. Busy.
Passionate and principled, Roddick and the likes of University of Sussex students Ian Loeffler and Peter Deadman founded a macrobiotic cafe on campus, which later grew into a store called Infinity Foods, which sells “real bread” among other things, helping breathe new life into it. to the residential neighborhood.
“North Laine is where you come if you want to start a business,” says Zena Thompson, owner of Snoopers. “Because it was cheap.”
It’s so cheap that the year Roddick launched it, North Laine was nearly killed by a flyover. But it didn’t happen.
Today, a pastel-painted, curved-windowed country house big enough to house two fairies could set you back £500,000. So has Brighton’s golden goose extinguished the spirit of England’s most bohemian corner?
“There’s still a great community here,” says tailor Gresham Blake of the stylish shop he runs with his wife, Fal. Blake started cutting fabric 25 years ago in a neighborhood room he shared with a biodegradable coffin and ceramic toilet seat maker.
If you watch The Masked Singer, you’ll see Blake’s suits on host Joel Dommett and this year’s special, limited-edition Peaky Blinders line.
“It’s still diverse, young and inclusive, and people are passionate about what they do,” he adds. “You can’t just create that kind of energy.”
Not far away are the Gak (guitar, amplifier, keyboard) music store, the Vegetarian Shoe Store and Dockerills, a hardware store that has been in business for 90 years. The store is run by fifth generation “Dockerill” Jo. The service is perfect.
An endless rabbit hole, Gak started as a market stall in 1992 and is now one of the UK’s largest independent musical instrument retailers.
The Vegetarian Shoe Shop opened in 1991 and operates a worldwide mail order business, but visitors still come from Kenya, Japan and Russia.
Its bags and popular Boulder Boots (£179) are available in a variety of colours, and the new trainer range features corn, Piñatex from the fibrous leaves of pineapple and apple leather.
Pubs like The Basketmakers Arms and The Great Eastern won’t disappoint. North Laine Runner It’s still in print for 48 years. Although it’s infiltrated by Gail’s, Costa and Starbucks, North Laine is cocoa bean (and bubble tea) heaven.
Dave’s Comics and Starfish, the decades-old vintage clothing store that grew out of a stall at a local car boot fair, are going strong on Sydney Street, and one of Pelicano’s eye-watering brownies will help clear any traces of incense from your throat.
You can walk into a cafe in the North Laine in full Regency regalia, or with a parrot on your shoulder, and no one will judge (although bird flu is around, now’s not a good time to test that hypothesis).
“You have to be different to survive here,” says Snooper’s Zena Thompson.
The biggest threat to this community and its livelihoods are the rates and rents that every business owner I spoke to, including local agency Dockerills, mentioned. Roddick would look to improve here today.
Passersby didn’t notice the plaque outside 22 Kensington Gardens, home to Ditto Fabrics (“a treasure trove of gorgeous fabrics”).
When I pointed this out, although most people knew of its recent woes, only one customer, a Ditto customer of 30 years, knew of the Body Shop’s Brighton origins.
“I follow Mary Portas and read her post on Instagram. It’s so sad,” said Lucy, from Southampton.
Inside, I headed up a narrow staircase into a small room where owner and founder Gill Thornley was sketching at a large measuring table. Thornley purchased the lease from Anita Roddick and her husband.
The space is full of bolts, but it’s not hard to imagine Roddick refilling his distinctive, green-labeled bottles here.
“It wasn’t easy being a woman in business back then,” she said. “My landlord was the ‘oh, not another flashy fart woman’ type. Anita understood this and gave me time to solve the problem.”
Thornley has been here for 40 years; long enough to remember the greengrocers and specialty mushroom and foam shops. “We offer good service and we really know what we are doing,” he says.
As the Body Shop empire collapsed yesterday, the rain felt entirely appropriate. There was nothing but an eye-watering cake.