There's something odd going on. I'm pretty sure of it.
When i first moved to Brighton in 1996 i didn't notice Hove park. Not because it was any less attractive than it is today....in fact it took until 1999 that the magic of the park really took grip of me. Firstly the park seems to have its own ecosystem which generally looks upon outdoor exercisers more favourably than most of the other public spaces in Brighton. Something to do with it being slightly submerged but also the air seems much stiller and peaceful. Secondly the place is beautiful with a diverse range of seeds, grasses and trees tenderly manicured by the gentle park keepers.
The way the park is laid out it means that as you drive down the Old Shoreham road which is the only trunk road that bounds the space you see only a small tip of the park. In fact it extends North of the road for about 1km and is so large its split into 2 smaller parks within itself. I suspect that this is why until they built the disgusting playground and crammed the bordering roads with mummies in their 4x4's the park revelled in a surprising level of peace and tranquility.
And then the disruption began:
In the Summer of 2007 large sections of the path around the park were cut open for underground inspection, the process looked unnecessarily protracted....given my vast experience in the length of time such an inspection should take!
Next,in the autumn through spring the whole of the path was cut up section by section as some kind of pipe and/or cables were laid. Yet again a job that could only be done at the council's unique goeth sloweth paceuos!
And now for the past 3 months squares of 10x4ft of tarmac in the now patchwork path of the park have been dug about 10ft deep and the earth prevented from falling into the cavern by boarding up the walls of the hole way above surface level to form a mini pit. Each pit has a metal barrier fence around it and each of these sites has a security man absolutely bored out of his brains sitting in his car or a chair next to the hole day in day out. Ive a feeling the security is 24hr although i have not been there after nightfall so am not sure.
I know that the wires under the path connect Hangleton to Hove, which in itself seems odd as it would have been a much shorter route to connect the two places with wire in a straight line through the park or around the park under the road. And why would 2 places need connecting anyway? what would happen if a railway line or river divided these places. Surely each area gets connected to the grid indepenant of the other? So why is this urban myth being punted around? what is Hove park hiding? What are the security guards securing?
I think the parks unique ecosystem, the Goldstone rock (The rock the devil threw right next to one of the currently secured pits)and the continual excavation under the guise of ground works are all linked....Theres some kind of magic under Hove park....
