9th December - Hut 177

The Inn tonight was beautifully set up but was too full for anyone to be able to get in.
Fortunately there was plenty of room outside for us all to sit around on the straw bales with the added advantage of a real fire to help keep us warm.







The signs on the door said 'No Room At The Inn' and if you went up to the doors and listened you could hear a great crowd of people laughing and joking inside.

It gave us a little glimpse into what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph that first Christmas as they travelled around Bethlehem trying to find somewhere to stay.

We were treated tonight to home made mince pies courtesy of Gemma, one of the mums who has been coming along each night with her children who wanted to show her appreciation of all that we do with the calendar by using her talents to produce these tasty gifts.

The next hut is number 374 and is memory of Janette one of the first ever artists to get involved with the Beach Hut Calendar who died this year.

8th December - Hut 225

Tonight we were in Heaven, in all sorts of ways.  A Heavenly Hut, heavenly company, heavenly weather, it couldn't have been a more perfect night.

The White family turned their hut into a vision of heaven with myriads of angels made from toilet rolls and doilies, each one created by a family or made in memory of a loved one.  This was a special time to remember Felix White, much loved son of Matt and Colleen and brother of Grace and Elliott, now playing with the angels.

Each angel had its own personality and some had heartfelt dedications written on labels attached to them.


The whole scene was set on a gauzy backdrop lit by an enormous star of tinsel and Christmas lights.


The weather continued to be kind to us and so many people turned up that we ran out of refreshments about halfway through the hour, even though we had prepared a double amount.

Our next hut will feature the Inn and the Innkeeper as the letter for the day is I.  The number to come to is 177.

7th December - Hut 362

G IS FOR GLORY

Tonight was full of glory as we beheld a hut full of beautiful cardboard sheep and shepherds created by the art club at Aldrington school under the supervision of Kirsty Tyler.

They were all giving glory to God following the lead of a little angel hanging from the sky.

Kirsty is part of the Beyond team and has specialised in cardboard artwork before having produced a marvellous moving nativity scene on the theme of I saw three ships come sailing in to Brighton.  She is doing a hut of her own creation on Friday 13th December.

All these animals were made from scratch using old cardboard boxes.






There was even a black sheep brazenly sitting out in front of the others.

Loads of people came down and we were also treated to the children singing some Christmas songs as part of the entertainment.






Earlier in the day we had a slight panic when we realised that we had got the hut number slightly wrong as we thought we were going to 364 but actually we were in 362.  Fortunately they were close enough together for no-one to notice the difference (we hope!).

The next hut is down near The View - number 225 and will feature Hordes of Herald angels, including some made in memory of those who are no longer with us.

6th December - Beach Hut 399

The creativity tonight was brought to us by Synergy Creatives headed up by artist and poet Tamsin Williams.  Synergy Creative is a group which is led and run by people with an interest in and experience of mental health care, in particular facilitating creative exchange website  

Their overall themes for the night were Friday, Father and Family and lots of families came down with lots of children who were all running around enjoying the calm night air on the beach, quite a contrast to last night.

 

The centrepiece of the hut was a nativity set created by the father of one of the participants which came with it's own piece of poetry about the family and its relationship to catholicism.

To create some spoken word pieces to be performed tonight they used a Dadaist creative process.  They  created a pile of words beginning with F and a pile of words about spirituality and the participants had to take a word from each pile and create a poem or spoken word piece using those words.  So for example we had pieces about the Fridge & Mary or Flying Bibles.

The next hut features the artwork of children from Aldrington school and is number 364.

5th December - Beach Hut 425

Tonight we were treated to an artistic extravaganza by London artist/photographer/makeup artist Mel Winning.

The E had hints of Egypt in some of the imagery created by Mel but principally stood for Advent Examination.  The imagery in the hut included fantastical figures who represented the people of the world looking for ways to meditate on Advent.

Advent is the perfect time to clear and prepare the Way. 

Advent is a winter training camp for those who desire peace. 

By reflection and prayer, 

by reading and meditation, 

we can make our hearts a place where 

a blessing of peace would desire to abide 

and where the birth of the Prince of Peace might take place.

Daily we can make an Advent examination. 

Are there any feelings of discrimination toward race, sex, or religion? 

Is there a lingering resentment, 

an unforgiven injury living in our hearts? 

Do we look down upon others of lesser social standing 

or educational achievement? 

Are we generous with the gifts that have been given to us, 

seeing ourselves as their stewards and not their owners? 

Are we reverent of others, their ideas and needs, and of creation? 

These and other questions become Advent lights 

by which we may search the deep, dark corners of our hearts.

Whilst the rest of the country was lashed with 100 mile an hour winds and threatened by the possibility of some of the worst floods for 60 years, we got off lightly with a sharp rain shower at 5.30 and a stiff breeze throughout the evening.

It was extraordinary to experience this lovely rich, warm retro environment in a hut on Hove seafront and was a great example of the wonderful variety we see from hut to hut during this event.

You can see more of Mel's work here http://www.melwinning.co.uk

The next hut is number 399, also close to Hove Lagoon and will feature local arts and mental health group, Synergy.

4th December - Beach Hut 194

The fourth letter in the alphabet is D and of course the best character in the  Christmas story that begins with D is the donkey.

Mary and Joseph may have only had one donkey to carry them to Bethlehem but we had two real live donkeys and one cardboard cutout as well as a perfect little Mary perched in the middle of the hut embracing her very own baby Jesus.  There were plans to have a Joseph as well but unfortunately he was sick this evening and couldn't accompany his intended.

The donkeys came courtesy of Mile Oak Farm and were called Mabel and Victoria.  

They seemed very happy meeting everyone in the crowd, especially when some carrots were brought out although Mary was a bit nervous about feeding such big animals or maybe she was a bit nervous about her baby.

Mary was surrounded by bales of straw and beautiful little light up bunnies who helped to make the stable a really magical place.




The next hut will be number 425 and will take us to Egypt where the holy family fled to escape the wrath of Herod.

3rd December Beach Hut 311

The hut tonight was full of C words as St. Christopher's School in Hove pulled out all the stops to create a fantastic display.

We had Camels, Christmas Cards, Christingles, and Children (done as little laminated self-portraits complete with school uniform).  

Hanging from the Ceiling was a Candelabra along with clouds containing words appropriate to the season - Care, Celebrate and Create.  

The Junior Choir came along and led the Crowd in a selection of Christmas Carols while we all Chewed away at mince pies and consumed cups of steaming hot drinks.  

There was even a Crib with the Christ-child even though Jesus wasn't born until Christmas day.

The next hut is number 194 featuring the letter D and we'll have a real live donkey coming to join in the celebrations.

2nd December Beach Hut 357a

The second night in our calendar focussed on the letter B for Brighton & Hove and local artist Nick Sayers gave us a unique insight into our city through very different holes from the ones we were looking through last night.

Over the last year Nick has placed a number of homemade pinhole cameras around Brighton & Hove and left them recording imagery for 6 months. 

The most striking result of this was seeing the changing track of the sun as it varies through the seasons. 

It gave us a new understanding to say that Jesus as the light of the world or God is light and in him is no darkness at all

Here is one of the images of the Brighton wheel.

The next hut is number 311 which is being created by St. Christopher's School in Hove who will be presenting us with a plethora of Christmas words beginning with C.

1st December Beach Hut 395

Tonight was the launch of the sixth annual Beach Hut Advent Calendar and it really feels like we've come of age.  Hundreds of people turned up at Hove Lagoon to see the first of this years huts and to continue an annual tradition which has become an essential part of Christmas for many.

The theme this year is the Alphabet of Advent and we aim to work our way through the alphabet in order (omitting X and Z) until we arrive at Y for Yuletide which begins on Christmas Eve.  Tonight of course we started with A for Advent and hut 395 was set up like a giant advent calendar with four intriguing doors to open and peer into.

Inside, the back wall of the hut was completely covered with a giant mirror so that the viewers could see themselves looking through the hole behind the calendar door, and they discovered that they had become part of the nativity.  The inside of the advent calendar had a beautiful nativity scene and the holes where the doors were became the faces of Mary, Joseph, a cow and a cat depending on which door you looked through.

To some the true meaning of Christmas is hidden behind all the glitter and tinsel of consumer commerciality, but if you look hard enough you will always find the God who joins us in our human condition.

So many people turned up and wanted to see through the advent doors that a long queue formed outside the hut - the first time that has ever happened, but somehow very appropriate on Advent Sunday when we begin the season of waiting for that which is to come.

Tomorrow we're at hut 357a with the letter B.