The seaside resort, whose name was immortalised by George V, is ripe for reinventionWhat’s going for it? Bognor is still waiting for its Brighton moment. Or its Margate moment. Even an Eastbourne moment would do. A House of Lords report demands that seaside resorts reinvent themselves, and Bognor’s local council has promised future creative digital hubs and, doubtless, co-working spaces and yuzu juice for all. Bognor is a curious beast. To the east, Butlin’s. To the west, the private estates and get-orf-my-land of Aldwick Bay. In the middle, a humdrum town centre. Alas, Bognor Regis is used to being the butt of jokes, by fortune of its name, a magnificently British combination of highfalutin Regis, undercut by lavatorial Bognor, perfectly encapsulated in George V’s fabled “Bugger Bognor” cry. The town seems destined for self-mockery and understatement. It stars in Don’t Forget The Driver, the Toby Jones comedy about coach parties; ’nuff said. The International Birdman Competition takes place on its pier, a celebration of plucky, inventive failure. But, dammit, this is where James Joyce wrote part of Finnegans Wake, where William Blake lived. This is where the magnificent Picturedrome is. With form like that, bugger Brighton!The case against With gumption it could make more of itself. It has the usual seaside despond slapped beside the regal mansions of Aldwick Bay. Butlin’s dominates the town. Continue reading…
Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Let’s move to Bognor Regis, West Sussex: it’s used to being the butt of jokes
