The East Sussex county town of Lewes

This week's pictures come from Lewes, the historic county town of East Sussex. Only ten miles from Brighton, it could be a world away. There's a castle and the streets and alleyways are lined with fine buildings from the 16th to the 19th centuries. With an important regional law court and a good selection of old-fashioned clothes shops, there's a definite establishment feel to Lewes. This is a town that has been prosperous for a long time and today's house prices make it a much desired place to live. But there's much more to Lewes than that. A long and rich tradition of dissent runs through the town's history. Tom Paine, author of "The Rights of Man", lived here. The annual fireworks celebrations on November 5th have their roots in riots and protests against national government. Even today, the biggest story in the local paper in recent months has been a campaign by as yet unidentified local residents to blow up most of the town's parking meters. Another current protest has been by the customers of the Lewes Arms pub objecting to the removal of Harveys beer, an excellent local brew, by the pub's corporate landlord. The parking meters are still being replaced, but the pub customers have just won their battle. Lewes is a classic English county town, but also one with attitude.

Last week's pictures came from Brighton's Preston Park

The picture set last week took a look Preston Park in Brighton. This is one of the best Victorian and Edwardian parks in the country. It has fine trees (including some of the few remaining elms in Southern England) and plenty of grass, together with cafes, tennis courts, bowling greens and a children's playground. Then there is Preston Manor and its adjacent church. The Edwardian manor house is of little merit itself, but its walled garden is a lovely place with flint walls and a charming little graveyard for pets. The pictures in this set include a headstone for one of those pets, as well as other features and details of this fine Brighton park.

Other recent pictures of the week

There's a good new book about Brighton, written by Julie Burchill and Daniel Raven and published by Virgin Books. It takes a witty and informed look at our infamous seaside urbs as well as seeing contemporary England through Brighton's peculiar and vivid prism. I took all but two of the photographs illustrating the book and the picture feature a fortnight ago was by way of an advertisement for Made in Brighton. Since the reproductions in the book are black & white, it seems a good idea to show them here in their original colour. The best thing, however, about "Made In Brighton" is the writing, which not only tells you a lot about the place but will also give you a seaside bucket full of laughs. Buy a copy and put a smile on the faces of the authors as well.

The weather was lovely and it was Easter, so the picture feature three weeks ago was nice and simple and colourful -  roses.

The pictures four weeks ago showed some of the street corners in Brighton's North Laine. This district has featured in several weekly sets on this site over the years - and justifiably so. It is one of the country's liveliest and most individual urban areas and its streets, though small, are full of visual interest and activity. The grid of streets is an unusual mixture of residential, retail and commercial in buildings that are  mostly, but not all, from the 19th century. Nowadays the North Laine is a very expensive place to both live and start up a business. But what is remarkable is how the influx of money has not (yet) made the area look as glossy, clean and boring as somewhere like Weybridge. The North Laine is still a real place - and let's hope it manages to continue being so. All the pictures in this set were taken in April 2007.

About this site and picture library

There are now over 49000 images in the library and they can all be keyword searched from the picture search page. New or updated subjects include Lewes, Preston Park, roses, Brighton's North Laine, London buses, Rottingdean and The Queen. The site has several ways to help make relevant and fruitful searches, including index pages for both subjects and events & places.  There is also a useful search guide and information page.

A good showcase of the type and range of photography available can be explored in the pictures of the week series. Published on the site since December 2001, this now totals more than 2600 images. Every week there is a set of ten pictures about a particular place, event or theme. Almost all the library's pictures are available for personal or commercial reproduction. Digital files can be delivered by email or CD, prices start from as little as £8 and there is further information on the prices and terms & conditions pages. You can also contact David Gray for quotations and availability for new photography commissions.