Inside looking out

Inside Don Quixote, eating lunch and watching shoppers hunting for bargains in George Street.

Seagull

Photo taken at the beginning of December when the weather was as crisp, bright and sunny as it is today.

A little light lunch

Otello Restaurant, 122 Church Road, Hove

Vallance Gardens

Late afternoon sunlight lends warmth to a terrace of red brick houses in Vallance Gardens.

Plant pots

Plant pots outside a cottage in Brunswick Street East.

Boxing Day

The world and his wife were out in force this morning, strolling along the seafront and enjoying a beautifully crisp and sunny Boxing Day.

Season's greetings

I took this photo on Christmas Eve last year. I'd been wandering around Brighton trying to find something festive to photograph for Project 365 and ended up taking some shots of the pier (nice photos, but not particularly Christmassy). Walking back home to Hove along the seafront, I came across this beautifully spelled out message.

A happy and peaceful festive season to everyone!

Name that bus

Some of Brighton & Hove's buses are named after famous people with connections to the area. Dame Anna Neagle runs on the number 5 route between Hangleton and Patcham.

Strange sky

There's been heavy cloud cover all day apart from a narrow horizontal slash of brightness. As the day's worn on, the bright slash has deepened and a band of dark clouds has appeared on the horizon.

Getting the message across

Garage doors, Hove Street.

Last night's sunset

Signs of the times

Woolworths, Blatchington Road, Hove.

Libraries

Brighton & Hove libraries are brilliant; their free-to-use internet access was a life-saver when I first moved here. Hove Library in Church Road celebrated its centenary this year and it's just round the corner from where I live.

Seafront railings

St Andrew's Old Church

St Andrew's Old Church in Church Road - called 'Old Church' to distinguish it from the newer St Andrew's Church in Waterloo Street, Hove.

Changing cranes

The crane in December 3rd's Daily Photo was dismantled piece-by-piece this morning and replaced with the one on the right of today's photo.

Beach huts

There are several stretches of brightly-painted beach huts along Hove seafront - these ones border Hove Lawns at the end of Grand Avenue.

Piers

Looking along Hove seafront towards Brighton's derelict West Pier; the Palace Pier* is in the background.

*Although the Palace Pier was renamed 'Brighton Pier' in 2000 by the present owners, most local people refer to it by its original name.

Stormy weather

Cold and grey

It's so cold today! Sky and sea are leaden and the wind is getting stronger.

Brockways

EC Brockway at 166 Church Road are one of Hove's oldest established businesses; the shop has sold electrical supplies since the premises were built at the beginning of the last century.

Winter trees

The view down St Aubyns towards the sea.

Sunlight sparkling on the sea

Hove Manor

Hove Manor, a huge E-shaped block of 1930's flats on Hove Street.

Walking by the sea

Hove beach looking west towards Worthing; the seafront is usually deserted early on Sunday mornings apart from a few joggers and dog walkers.

Banking with gingerbread

Free balloons, gingerbread men, Brighton rock and shopping bags outside Barclays Bank in George Street, Hove. Is this is the new public-friendly face of banking?

Sanctuary

The Sanctuary Cafe, Brunswick Street East, is one of Hove's nicest places to meet friends, drink coffee, relax and eat delicious vegetarian food and homemade cakes. Two local knitting groups meet upstairs every week - Brighton 'n' Hove Stitch 'n' Bitch on Tuesday evenings (7-9pm) and Brighton Safari Knitters on Friday afternoons (2.30pm onwards during winter).

Cold and grey

This is the view from my balcony looking down Hove Street across Kingsway towards the sea.

Build 'em high

Unlike the seriously fugly Seafront Towers, some of the planned buildings in Hove are still going ahead despite the so-called credit crunch; this block of flats is shooting up on Kingsway, the main coast road through Hove.

Princes Avenue

looking west towards Princes Crescent