Monstrosities Mon Amour

How did an out of town retail park end up being built on the beach in Britain’s sauciest seaside town? Join me and comedian Angela Barnes to discover a new side to the place that terrifies the tourists and horrifies the hen-parties.

Brighton is home of some of the country’s finest pleasure palaces. The West Pier. The Pavillion. And Brighton Marina, of course, that 1970s Ballardian dream, filled in the 1980s with fibreglass sheds and fast food joints. On this episode I was delighted to be kidnapped by comedian and history geek Angela Barnes, who tells me about her love of this concrete monolith, and why it means so much to her and the people of the city.

While stuck in the boot of her Austin Maxi I also discover a bag of 1960s shop lettering, called Festive, and later we explore the strange afterlife of evocative typography. In the latest edition of Monstrosities Mon Amour we talk signage, the seaside, and synesthesia, and do quite a lot of laughing.

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Theme tune by Lorna Rees and Rufus Rees Coshan. Logo by Richard de Pesando. You can support Monstrosities Mon Amour by subscribing through Substack or through Ko-fi at https://ko-fi.com/grindrod

Keep feeling fascination.