Beach Hut 17

The hut this evening was so taken over by the theme that it was hardly visible as a hut anymore. Helen created an enormous singing angel which completely dominated the front of the hut and was visible a long way up and down the beach front due to the flashing lights on its halo which stood high above the roof.



As the music of Hark the Herald Angels sang out, the many children that came could feast on angel themed cakes while the adults ate mince pies and kept themselves warm with mulled wine.











News of the Advent Beach Hut Calendar is spreading thanks to the power of radio and we had people along tonight who had heard about us in Kent as well as the furthest reaches of Sussex.

A select few got to take home a little homemade angel of their own to keep as a souvenir of the night.



The next hut is almost next door to todays as it is number 315.

Beach Hut 16

There are no surprises for guessing the theme carol for tonight - a complete carpet of sheep made it fairly obvious that we would be singing While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night.

Hut 7 was decked out with the full shepherd experience as it not only had the sheep but two shepherds to look after them and an angel in the sky announcing the good news of Jesus birth.




Amanda and Diane had completely repainted the inside of her hut just for this event so that it was a fantastic deep blue nighttime colour and lined the floor with artificial grass to make the sheep feel at home.

There were even some little stone sheep to keep the doors open.



Of course we had to sing the carol with such a strong theme and we were lucky enough to have one of the family to play this and some other carols for us on her cello.


Folk from a variety of churches attended as well as a number who have just picked up leaflets or heard about it through friends or on the radio. Two Japanese visitors were here in Hove to learn English and we spent some time explaining what an Advent Calendar was and it is part of our tradition to have mince pies and mulled wine.

The next hut is back towards the lagoon at number 312.

Beach Hut 15

The beach huts in Brighton & Hove are all built to the same design and could be described simply as reasonable sized sheds on the beach (which is why popular website www.shedworking.co.uk has kept track of each night on their site throughout December).

The similarity between a beach hut and the cattle shed in which Jesus was born has not gone unnoticed to a few of our hut owners and some have fully exploited this.



Eileen at hut 382 saw this potential early on and booked Away in Manger as her carol and gave us the full stable experience tonight, with a manger, the baby Jesus, Mary and even a donkey peering out from the back of the stable.

Sadly Mary, Joseph and Jesus didn't have mince pies and mulled wine to keep them warm as we did, but the wise men and the shepherds did bring them lots of other gifts to celebrate the holy birth.

The next hut is the furthest East of all the huts involved in the calendar as it's number 7.

Beach Hut 14

Tonight was the first night when it was actually raining as we opened hut 203 at 5.30 but the rain was fairly light and sporadic and it didn't deter people from turning up and we had a good number of visitors from Brighton & Hove, Sussex and London.

Clare and Angie had set up a star themed brazier blazing away with timber from the summer wreck which covered our beaches with wood for a few months.

As well as the mince pies and mulled wine they'd also baked special beach hut biscuits complete with their beach hut number. These were so nice some people were taking them home as souvenirs rather than eat them there and then.

The theme was Silent Night and the families connected with this hut were great at leading us in singing that and a few other carols during our hour at the beach.

The next hut is at the lagoon end and is number 382.

Beach Hut 13

Miraculously the storms and floods of earlier in the day abated about an hour before we were due to open Beach Hut 13 and 5.30 came around serene, dry and relatively warm compared to many nights we've been out at the beach so far.



The strong winds, rain and super high tide had left their mark on the seafront though, with pebbles strewn across the promenade even though the low tide waves were a long way away as we gathered around hut 425.










The theme was I Saw Three Ships although we would have been hard put to see any ships tonight with the weather being so wild. The ships theme along with the weather gave us a chance to meditate on the dangers that fishermen go through in the course of the daily work.







Continuing the travel theme we had visitors tonight from Cambridge to Australia and it was great to share a little with them about the storms and journeys we all undertake as we travel through life and the way God's angels accompany us on that journey.


Next hut is right in the middle of the seafront at number 203.

Beach Hut 12

Deck the halls with boughs of holly was the inspirational carol for tonight and hut 19a was framed by holly on either side as people were welcomed in to their cosy re-creation of a hall.


It was a windy night, with the tide out and wild white horse waves crashing angrily onto the beach. But this didn't deter the 50 or so people who warmed themselves by the light of a full size mock coal burning fire and marvelled at the silver stars on a blue back drop with candles that flicked in the wind.




Many folks rolled up from City Gate Church and gold gift boxes of sweets were given to everyone who came along.

Beach Hut 11

We got two themes for the price of one tonight at Beach Hut 425, right up by the lagoon and the furthest west we've been so far with the calendar.

Not only were we meeting at a beach hut by the sea but we were presented with a tableau of beach huts by the sea as the theme for the night was the carol I Saw Three Ships. Christine had used a photograph she had taken of the beach huts as her inspiration to paint a wonderful backdrop of our seafront.





In front of the beach scene were suspended three ships and a host of angels praising God in the beautiful Hove sky. The lead ship had Mary and her child riding in it while all the ships had a little Christmas tree on their mast which apparently is a tradition for sailors at Christmas all over the world.




Local landmarks such as the Big Fish cafe featured in the scene although we had some discussion about which direction the Bethlehem signpost should point as there was a little disagreement about whether Israel was to the South-West or South-East.

We know that we have to go East from this hut to get to our next one on the list which is number 19a by Hove Lawns.

Beach Hut 10

We had a slightly quieter night at the beach tonight as we gathered at hut 381 for day 10 of our Advent Beach Hut Calendar. The hut featured a high concept theme as the carol was Come Thou Long Expected Jesus which is all about the suspense of waiting for Christ to come at Christmas.






Flo suspended a variety of musical instruments in the hut to remind us of the heavenly choir that sang at Jesus birth and will sing again when he returns.

The next hut is the furthest to the west right up by the lagoon as we head to number 425.

Beach Hut 9

There was real peace at the beach hut tonight as people came to see the ninth of our openings. The hut shone out as a beacon of light in quite a dark part of the beach as the light from the candles and lanterns was reflected in the metal foil ceiling and the many different types of glass that were decorating the hut.




We had our first complete nativity in this hut with an angel looking down on the shepherds, wise men and stable animals all gathering around to see Jesus.

We had more new visitors tonight as some who had been to an opening before wanted to share the experience with their friends. One group of friends brought some sparklers and the light from these added to the beautiful glow from the hut.













Right at the end we had a special visitor as a little mouse appeared from under the next door hut and busied himself clearing up the mince pie crumbs. We couldn't tell if he was a church mouse but he was very determined to take part and stayed around even when people got quite close to him.

Next hut - number 381 (not 181 as it says on the printed flyers)

Beach Hut 8

Day 8 of the Calendar was probably the warmest night we've had so far and hut 27 created a lovely cosy atmosphere to complement that with the hut festooned with candles and an antique candelabra as the centrepiece of the display.

The publicity over the weekend drew new people along tonight as most attendees did not seem to have been to one of the openings before. We were also supported by the local community police who have been popping along to most of the openings to check that we're OK and to see what we're doing.

Next hut is 227 - see you there!

News Coverage

We got some more news coverage over the weekend on Meridian which we're attaching here. This nicely complements the BBC coverage earlier in the week which you can see here

The news reports have been great at letting us emphasise our aim to get people to think about the true meaning of Christmas.

The Times Online is also running pictures from us here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5288892.ece

The local paper also did some pre-publicity which you can see here http://www.theargus.co.uk/search/3879441.Make_a_date_at_huts/
and is listing us every day along with information about which hut is opening.

We're getting up to 100 people a day coming through our blog site and if you want to go linking crazy try putting Advent Beach Hut Calendar into Google and see how many people have picked up on this and linked to us so far.

Beach Hut 7

Day 7 was a perfect night following on from a beautiful sunny, crisp day which brought out the crowds for both the day and the night. Over a hundred people turned up to see beach hut 410 and share in the Christmas experience, so many that we ran out of mulled wine and mince pies.







Karen themed her hut around the Christmas tradition of the Christingle. This is made from an orange representing the world which has a red ribbon wrapped round it to represent the blood of Christ, four sticks have sweets placed on them to represent the fruit of the earth and the whole thing is topped off with a candle to represent Christ, the light of the world.

The centrepiece of the display was a giant size Christingle surrounded by candles and lanterns and the children were invited to make one of their own during the evening.

We also had more singing as members of St. Andrews Community Choir led us in the carols Away in a Manger and Silent Night.

The next hut is right down by Hove Lawns - number 27.

Beach Hut 6

Day 6 of our calendar really pulled the stops out with loads of things to see and do.

The hut was visible up and down the seafront as it had lighted stars mounted on it and in the air above it, guiding visitors to a recreation of the holy stable.








The theme was O Come, O Come Emmanuel and Caroline and Steve had covered their hut with different names that are used to describe Jesus and people were asked to put a little star on the name that meant the most to them.

On top of all this there were games for the children to play and for the first time so far this month we got to sing some carols together.


Next hut is also by the lagoon - number 410.

Beach Hut 5

Beach Hut 5 in our Advent Beach Hut Calendar brought Joy To The World in more ways than one. Not only was it the carol for the night but there was also a real sense of joy amongst those who turned up as the kids ran backwards and forwards and the adults chatted while sipping their mulled wine and eating mince pies.



Annalise gave people a chance to actually sit in her hut which was a great way to shelter from the cold but also created a very cosy, intimate feeling for the night. Many people commented on how they had never been inside a beach hut even though they had lived in Brighton & Hove for a long time, so it was great that there was an opportunity to experience that on this night.




The hut decoration had a glass theme, with an enormous mirror in the back of the hut, installed especially for tonight and little stained glass candle holders arranged all along the back to give some light.

Now we move up to the lagoon for the next few days - next hut 399.