Beach Hut 8

Tonight Mandy and John turned hut 225 into an Inn, complete with pub background soundtrack, bar and even a pub quiz. Of course a hostelry like this needs a pub sign and it was easy to find our inn/beach hut thanks to the beautiful sign hanging above the door inviting people to 'pier inn' and connecting the tavern of 2,000 years ago with modern day Brighton.



This is the first time that mulled wine has been served from inside the hut as John set himself up as Innkeeper and took over bar duties for the night.


To really give the flavour of a traditional pub, Mandy had organised for local all female Morris Dancing troupe Cuckoo's Nest to come and provide some entertainment. The squeezebox and violin music along with the jingling of bells and crack of their sticks as they danced created a wonderful atmosphere. You could just imagine Mary and Joseph sat in their stable round the back of the inn in Bethlehem, listening to the jollity next door as they prepared for the birth of their son.

Next hut is number 403 and is being put together by the White House children's home.

Beach Hut 7

Babies was the theme for tonight and there was an interesting juxtaposition of images as Karen created a nursery/manger/beach hut. Of course we're still in Advent when we wait for the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day so the manger/cot was empty in preparation for the birth of the Son of God.

It's thought provoking to put yourself in the position of Mary and Joseph as expectant parents who would normally at this stage be preparing for the arrival of their baby by setting up the nursery but instead were trying to make their home in a poor stable. These thoughts brought Karen to thinking about the plight of some babies born in the winter here in the UK and the needs of the Trevor Mann baby unit at the Royal Sussex hospital in Brighton.

She has started to collect mittens, socks and bonnets for the unit and we would like to encourage anyone who would like to do something for others this Christmas to consider a small gift to the unit. You can do that online here or drop any knitted gifts in directly to the unit.


The next hut is number 225 near the Babylon lounge and there may be dancing!

Beach Hut 6

Local painter Catherine Cunningham took artistic control on the 6th night of our Advent Calendar and chose to focus on Joseph as her theme for the evening. As a painter she decided the centrepiece of her hut would be a portrait of Joseph created on the day of the hut opening and she produced a striking image which reminded some of the famous self-portrait of Van Gogh in it's composition and style.

On the floor of the hut was an acrostic using the letters from Joseph's name to spell out some of the thoughts he may have had as the provider and protector for the birth of the Son of God.

Further drama was added to the evening by the lighting which was a mix of candles, Christmas lights and flaming torches to guide Advent pilgrims to the spot on the beach which was only 4 huts away from our Sunday night location.

After almost a full week a small community is beginning to form around the nightly visits to the beach and amongst those is photographer Julia Claxton who has been capturing some wonderful images from each night. You can see her work here and get a different perspective on the progress of the calendar.

We're back up to Hove Lagoon for our next hut which is number 410.

Beach Hut 5

Tonight was the unveiling of the Choccywoccydoodah cake which formed the centre of their hut display and is also the prize for the person who attends most huts. Their theme was the Madonna and Child and the cake took pride of place within a beautifully simple hut so that the focus was entirely on the sculpture although it faced strong competition from the table laden with cake and chocolate that was manned by Choccywoccydoodah staff.


Chief amongst these was Davide who really got into the spirit of the event with a modern interpretation of an angel in a very smart white suit and glittery wings ably assisted by another member of staff as a workaday shepherd.

They did sterling work circulating around the crowd dispensing cake and showering people with glitter.

All of this was accompanied by carols from the Rainbow choir and a TV crew who are making a documentary series about the Brighton chocolatier which will be screened sometime in March on the Good Food channel which is part of the UKTV group.

Hundreds of people turned up to join in with the fun, sharing cake, chocolate, carols and an appreciation of the true meaning of Advent as we look forward to the birth of Christ on Christmas Day (not to mention the countdown towards winning that cake on Christmas Eve!)

Next hut is also by Hove Lawns, number 84 where the theme will move from Jesus mother to his father.

Beach Hut 4

As if by magic the snow and freezing cold of yesterday disappeared overnight to be replaced with pouring rain and howling winds and we all agreed we preferred the cold to the wet! The weather meant that coming out tonight was quite a trial and this was reflected in the hut which featured an enormous cross as the centrepiece. Fortunately the cross we had to bear was slightly lifted by the large gazebo set up outside the hut which not only contained the display and the light but also protected us from the rain.

The theme tonight was Jesus and the Cook family chose to show the full extent of Jesus life from the cradle to the grave, or in this case the manger to the cross. Alongside these images of life and death were some reminders of Jesus' own heritage in the form of a menorah and chocolate Hanukkah Geld as today is the fourth day of Hanukkah. The children that came were given a Dreidel sheet showing them how to make a spinning top and play the game, something which Jesus must have done as a boy himself.

The whole evening was presided over by a glittering neon star which guided the Advent pilgrims to the hut through the stormy weather.

The next hut should be very special as Choccywoccydoodah have taken over hut decorating duties and have promised a chocolate Madonna and child, free cake and lots of fun. See you at hut 79a.

Beach Hut 3

Tonight you really needed to be at the hut to get the full effect because Ian & Christine had chosen Frankincense as their theme. Their hut looked sumptuous as it was dressed in gold drapery reminding us of another of the gifts brought by the wise men, but the overwhelming sense was the smell as various forms of incense wafted their smoke along the seafront.

Central to the display was a Thurible lent by St. Margaret's church in Rottingdean but there were also incense sticks burning to add to the effect.

The weather was crisp and cold with hardly any wind which helped the smells to stay around and kept people close to the hut.

Already we're beginning to establish a sense of community amongst those who have come every night and there was a great atmosphere on the seafront tonight.

We discovered that today is Follow Friday and consequently we seem to have picked up a lot of Twitter followers as we post a picture every night live from the hut. If you want to join in you can find us on #BeachHutAdvent.

The next hut is also close to the lagoon as it's number 399.

Beach Hut 2

The whole of Brighton & Hove might have shut down because of the snow but that didn't stop us opening hut 449 tonight despite all sorts of obstacles and difficulties. The first problem was that Jane, Andre and their daughter Florrie couldn't get to the seafront as they were snowed in on the other side of Brighton.



The second difficulty was that Florrie was diagnosed with chickenpox this morning so really shouldn't be going out in such extreme weather. We wish her a swift recovery and not too much discomfort.

Fortunately the family had already done a lot of the background work in the hut yesterday so we arranged a liaison half way up Dyke road and Andre hiked up with the remaining items for the display and Martin and Sally set to work trying to recreate the family vision.

The theme tonight was the wise men who traveled through trial and tribulation to see the newborn king and many people braved the elements tonight to see the hut. They were rewarded with a beautiful evening of crisp, cold snow and a beautiful, colourful hut which somehow captured the essence of the Christmas spirit.

Tomorrow it's hut number 425 when we'll be thinking about one of the gifts that the wise men brought.

Beach Hut 1

The 2010 Beach Hut Advent Calendar launched in style last night thanks to St. Christopher's school, Hove who put in an incredible amount of work to recreate Bethlehem for us.

The lower school have spent the last few weeks creating lots of little Bethlehem buildings which were all put together in the hut by Ros Lomax, Jude Richards and Sally Poole to create a whole city which spilled out beyond the hut onto the sandy floor that they had imported for the occasion.

The Junior choir led by Richard Coppack came to entertain the crowds with a selection of carols and Christmas songs. Many of the children had been in the school nativity earlier in the day and stayed in costume for our evening event.

The snow earlier in the day gave the whole event a very Christmassy feel and the mulled wine, mince pies and chocolate were very welcome as over 150 people turned up to celebrate the start of our third annual Beach Hut Advent Calendar.

The heavy snow overnight will make opening hut 449 tonight quite a challenge but we plan to do all that we can to make sure the event goes ahead so get your sledges out and we hope to see you at Hove Lagoon at 5.30pm tonight.

Soul Celebration

All Hallows Eve saw us down at Hove Lagoon for our Soul Celebration, a chance to think about our mortality, our souls and our heavenly home. We had two bases at the lagoon - the Lagoon Watersports club who opened the bar for us, and one of the storage buildings at one corner of the lagoon. These two venues represented our earthbound selves and our heavenly home.

The bar was dark and foreboding (and crowded!) with a video loop of rotting fruit and vegetables playing. In here we asked people to reflect on how much they possessed by writing out a Beyond cheque with an estimate of their financial worth. We also had a chance to consider what we would write for our obituary. We then took the cheques and burnt them - we come into the world with nothing and we leave the world with nothing, and used the ashes to bless each person as they left to journey to heaven with the Ash Wednesday blessing "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return".

Following a string of lights along the edge of the lagoon brought everyone to our second location where they found a place of light, beauty, triumphant music and a party going on. We projected images of flowers bursting into bloom onto the building in direct contrast to the rotting plants in the bar and people discovered traditional halloween pumpkins not carved with ghoulish faces but happy and smiling and with these words carved into them:
God's home is now with his people. He will live with them, and they will be his own. Yes, God will make his home among his people. He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.

Everyone was given a glass of champagne and encouraged to write up things that gave them a taste of heaven. Here's a taste:

• Seeing things as they truly are
• Affection from a child
• Seeing a beautifully formed wave up close
• Snow sparkling in the sun
• Being truthful with everybody

Then we took the pumpkins to the waters edge and the words that were carved into them were read out as each pumpkin was launched into the lagoon to float away to heaven along with this blessing:

Go gently on your voyage, beloved.
Slip away with the ebb tide,
rejoice in a new sunrise.

May the moon make a path across the sea for you,
the Son provide a welcome.
May the earth receive you and the fire cleanse you
as you go from our love
into the presence of Love's completeness

Natural Fingermaze

This year we used the Fingermaze in Hove Park to help us reflect on the seasons of the year and how those relate to the personal and spiritual seasons we all go through in our lives. We divided sections of the Fingermaze into the four seasons and dressed those sections to create a flavour of the time of year.

Winter was all dead and barren with dry leaves and dead wood, spring was new buds, young flowers and leaves, summer was full flowers and a burst of colour while autumn celebrated the harvest and the fruitfulness of the season.

Within each section was some form of heart as we began the meditation with a reminder that we are formed of the dust of the earth ourselves:

God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
As we are made from the earth, we could be said to be people of clay.
The four seasons are reflected within our hearts of clay.

Each of the seasons had some words to help us meditate on how this relates to our own spiritual and personal development and the walk finished at the centre of the Fingermaze with the gift of a piece of map printed with some words about the journey of our lives.

Everyone received a card with the following blessing to accompany them on their journey through life:

May God guide you.
May God bless your walk with the secret love and warmth of your heart.
May you see in your walk the beauty of your own soul.
May the sacredness of your walk bring healing light and renewal to you and to those who walk with you.
May your walk never weary you.
May it release in you wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement.
May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in bland absences.
May the walking never burden you.
May your beginning find you awake and alert, approaching your walk with dreams, possibilities and promises.
May you find grace and fulfilment as you walk.
May you finish, blessed, sheltered and protected.
May God calm, console and renew you.