The London and Surrey Mini owners club rally on Sunday saw stacks of minis and crowds of people at Madeira Drive. Lots of people stopped to enjoy and comment on the green wall, which looks wonderful in late Spring.
Coming soon…a cultural and environmental history of Brighton’s seafront road, Madeira Drive
Building Green is very interested in Madeira Drive – ‘Maddy’ – the seafront along East Brighton.
Home to unique Victorian engineering, major public events and a great beach, it’s also the greenest part of the seafront in Brighton & Hove, and is home to rare ‘vegetated shingle’ habitat and the longest, oldest green wall in the country.
For that reason we think it’s worth special attention, and we will soon post a special page dedicated to this miracle mile (and a bit).
In the meantime, here are some more old photos along Madeira Drive…showing the historic development of the seafront, the planting, the tearooms and lift, and the elevated ‘Madeira Terrace’.
Looking east – the Chain Pier, bathing machines and Victorian traffic. You can clearly see planting established on the cliff face. Dated 1890 but Shelter Hall, built 1890, not visible so this is probably earlier
Looking west towards the Chain Pier, with the railway laid out. Japanese spindle trees look around 12 feet tall here. 1883? Lawns were laid out in 1884 and are not visible here. Railway established 1883
The Aquarium, Brighton 1889 – 1896, again with the Chain Pier in the distance and plants well established on the East Cliff. Part of the Gravelroots UK Vintage Trail
Madeira Lift showing the lawns in front and the planting climbing behind the terraces.
Planting along the East cliff – showing the Concorde tearooms but the rest of the elevated walkway not yet built. Less shingle, and loads more sand and reef at low tide. 1890
St Mary’s Hall and Kemptown 1926 showing the planting on Madeira Drive and Duke’s Mound. Pre-Carlton Hill and Whitehawk
Early planting on the front of Sussex Square, Duke’s Mound – the walls recently cleared and replanted by the Council. After the enclosed Esplanade was opened to the public in 1952
Madeira terraces, Kemp town with cyclist. ‘The famous sheltered walk’
Great work(out!) by the Green Gym at Madeira Drive green wall today
The Portslade Green Gym were in action again today, flexing their muscles to improve the health and appearance of the vegetation growing at Madeira Drive green wall.
Councillor Gill Mitchell greets the Portslade Green Gym volunteers at Madeira Drive green wall. With Brighton & Hove Building Green.
They worked to help protect the biodiversity of the wall, make sure plants weren’t in the way of pedestrians, and have fun and get fit doing it!
Ivy, dock and thistles were targets, and the results are plain to see. A big ‘thank you’ from Building Green for everyone involved.
Councillor Gill Mitchell came by to see what we were doing as well, and was pleased to see the community improving an important local green space.
Madeira Drive green wall was established by the Victorians in the early 1800s, and is the longest and oldest in the country. 100 species of plant have been recorded growing here, and it is a candidate Site of Importance for Nature Conservation in the city plan.
Our thanks to the Council, Portslade Green Gym and the Ecology Consultancy. I’m sure Green Gym will be back again in future!
Now booking – DIY green roofs training weekend, 29-30 October
We are now taking bookings for our DIY Green Roof weekend this October.
Based at Organic Roofs HQ on the south coast near Brighton, and involving site visits to some superb green roofs and living walls, the course is run by experts from Brighton & Hove Building Green and Organic Roofs, and administered by Brighton Permaculture Trust.
More information here.
Building Green DIY Green Roof workshoppers taking a tour of the Velo Cafe, Brighton
Happy green roofers with their green roofed bird boxes
Building Green DIY Green Roof workshop crew hearing about the special green wall at Madeira Drive, Brighton
Over a thousand visitors a month visit Building Green
April marks the 8th month in a row our website Building Green has received over a thousand unique visitors.
This is great news! Awareness of our work is growing, which provides more opportunities to promote green roofs and living walls and their role in healthier, more sustainable places.
Please link to us, and promote via Twitter @buildinggreen1 and Facebook pages.
Building Green joins Twitter
We’ve finally joined the Tweetosphere, thanks to one of our more tech-savvy volunteers!
You can follow us at @buildinggreen1
We’re also on Facebook at Building Green public group.
Help us spread the word!
The lopping and chopping continues! Green Gym party at Madeira Drive Green Wall
Next Thursday 5 May, Portslade Green Gym’s wonderful team of energetic volunteers will be sprucing up the Victorian green wall at Madeira Drive.
Armed with ‘loppers and choppers’ they will be clearing weeds and rubbish to improve biodiversity and tidy up this part of the seafront.
The work is organised by Brighton & Hove Building Green, and is supported by the Council.
– Including a strong environmental focus in local policy development, especially BHCC’s City Plan Part 2 and the Open Spaces Strategy
A UK first at West Quay, Brighton Marina
The first ‘vegetated shingle’ green roofs in the UK are currently being built at the West Quay development at Brighton Marina Village.
West Quay is a significant development, with 853 flats. Green roofs are being established at each level by contractors Midgard for developer Brunswick.
As the natural ecosystem in this location is the vegetation that grows in beach shingle (ie vegetated shingle), the aim is to mimic this habitat. Planters at podium level will also incorporate this habitat.
Bird boxes for swifts, sparrows and peregrines are also being put up.
There is natural vegetated shingle at Black Rock, next to the marina, and west along the Volks Railway. This is one of the rarest habitats in the UK, and a large proportion of the world’s vegetated shingle is found in Hampshire, Sussex and Kent.
Much of the shingle habitat in Brighton is in poor condition, and a management plan is being drawn up with funding from developer contributions. A new shingle garden is planned as part of the Volks Railway redevelopment.
Continue West to Shoreham beach, or East to Dungeness, and in the summer you’ll see what a glorious and special habitat this is.
Building Green is planning a visit to see the roof works in progress.
Green architecture day is coming up – 19 March
We have an amazing event coming up next month in Brighton – an inspiring day of cutting-edge talks on green building design – Green Architecture Day 2016!
Saturday 19 March 2016, 10:30am to 5pm
Sallis Benney Theatre, University of Brighton, Grand Parade Building
Brighton BN2 0JY
Our theme this year is Approaches to design and we have excellent speakers including Michael Mehaffy on pattern language, Nic Pople on architecture inspired by nature and sacred buildings, Ben Law on building with our woodland resource, Turner Prize winners, Assemble, on their collaborative building approach, and more!
Design by Nicolas Pople Architects
See the Brighton Permaculture Trust website for more details and to book: https://brightonpermaculture.org.uk/gad
Green gym did a great job down at Madeira Drive green wall
15 volunteers from Portslade Green Gym have given the foliage at the Madeira Drive green wall a makeover. They cleared huge piles of weeds and ivy that were smothering the bed, getting onto the pavement, and crowding out the more attractive wild plants. Over 100 species of plant have been found at the Madeira Drive green wall. The Green Gym were supervised by Building Green member The Ecology Consultancy.
The Council cleared away the green waste the same day, and this end of the green wall is looking much smarter.
Building Green will be seeding the bed to encourage more wild flowers. We will also be working with the Council to establish new Japanese spindle planting in front of the freshly concreted stretch.
The rest of the Victorian green wall is currently out of bounds due to the instability of the antique ironwork of Madeira Terrace.
Approximately 100 years separates these photos, showing Madeira Drive, the Volks railway, Kemp Town and the Madeira Drive green wall
Brighton & Hove Building Green 