Refreshed gateway to the North Laine encourages Brighton visitors to take the scenic route to the sea

A revitalised entrance to Brighton is encouraging visitors to take a new route to the sea, exploring the city’s vibrant independent shops in the North Laine.

Train company Southern has partnered with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, artist SinnaOne and the Brighton Toy and Model Museum to create a large-scale mural at the top of Trafalgar Street, underneath Brighton station, in a bid to bring more foot traffic to the city’s cultural district.

The eye catching glow-in-the-dark mural features local fauna and flora, wildlife and attractions – best representing the city’s identity and biodiversity, and painted by a group of young people from across the city. The project was part of Grow Wild on the Railway, aiming to build connections between local young people and station partner groups along the Southern Rail network, whilst championing UK native plants and fungi. It is supported by Grow Wild, the national outreach programme of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Most visitors arriving in Brighton from the station will walk straight down Queens Road, directly towards the seafront, missing out on some of the city’s best independent shops and foodie spots along a route starting from Trafalgar Street, underneath the station.

Tom Easdown, Southern’s Head of Stations, said: “Arriving into Brighton by train is an occasion in and of itself, from the sweeping views of colourful houses out of the window to the stunning blue iron train shed you’re under when you first step foot in the city.

“The sea is in sight from the moment you leave the station, around a ten minute walk down Queen’s Road, but tucked away underneath the station is a gateway to the independent, creative shopping district Brighton is famed for.

“Our partnership with Kew through the Your Station, Your Community scheme is a great way to celebrate communities like those in the vibrant North Laine, and this mural does just that – adding a splash of colour which will not only look fabulous but hopefully encourage people to take the scenic route to the sea.”

Kew’s Grow Wild on the Railway scheme was made possible through Southern’s £479,988 Your Station, Your Community fund, having received £27,250 to support a range of creative projects led by young people at stations across the Southern network, including at nearby Haywards Heath, Hove and London Road stations where artists Esther Lower and Mia Jones have spruced up a disused hut on the platform with colourful floral spray paint, forming part of a newly created “pocket park” at the station.

Artist SinnaOne (Daryl Bennett), who has recently worked on a huge mural at the front of the Brighton Youth Centre, worked with a group of young people aged 18-26 through several workshops teaching key spray paint and mural techniques. For some of them, like 19-year-old Reggie Rai Lacey (pictured above), it is their first project in public.

The work coincides with the Toy Museum’s huge project, also part-funded by Southern, to revamp the main entrance and underpass with improved lighting and a much brighter, more open entrance to the museum.

As Brighton Station partners, the Museum submitted the project bid to RBG Kew’s Grow Wild on the Railway programme, and also received an additional £1,000 from the Community Rail Network to make the plans a reality.

Brighton Toy and Model Museum Manager Jan Etches said: “This project is about inspiring local pride and creativity while continuing to brighten the area.

“The new mural complements the wider regeneration of the museum frontage and underpass beautifully. It will make the station approach a place that feels alive, positive and welcoming.”

Peter Wingate-Saul, Trustee of the North Laine Community association added”: As we celebrate fifty years since our neighbourhood was saved from wholesale demolition to make way for a flyover, it is cheering to see this colourful mural taking shape at the portal to the North Laine, at the top of what has historically been a rather gloomy underpass, now much-improved by the Toy Museum's new facade and lighting.”

The mural is due to be completed on Monday, February 23 after three weeks of painting by Daryl Bennett and his team of young artists Amber Lucia, Ellie McNair, Lucy Zini, Myla Murray and Reggie Rae Lacey.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

A small media event to celebrate the mural’s completion will be held on Monday, February 23 at 11am. Journalists are invited to interview artist Daryl Bennett, Southern’s Community Engagement Manager Rob Whitehead and Jan Etches, Brighton Toy and Model Museum Manager.

RSVP to andrew.gardner@gtrailway.com or call the Southern press office on 020 3750 2031