Brighton and Hove, playground of philandering princes, unruly thesps and generation after generation of artists, writers and poets, is not a city short on Blue Plaques. They’re everywhere.
Listed under Arts and Culture you’ll find Doreen Valiente, “Mother of Modern Witchcraft”, and poet and author Sir Lawrence Olivier, founder of the National Theatre.
Under Science and Industry is Magnus Volk, whose “oldest operating public electric railway in the world” still trundles along the seafront in Kemptown.
Under Civic, Political and Military is the Russian prince Pyotr (Peter) Kropotkin, listed simply as “Anarchist”, and the Sport category claims little-known Mercedes Gleitze, pioneer of long-distance swimming.
And on a sliver of wall between a dressmaker’s shop and an opticians in North Laine, Brighton’s bohemian core and independent shopping hub (Laine comes from the old English word that describes a meadow or field), is another plaque honouring “Body Shop founder, Environmentalist and Animal Rights campaigner,” Dame Anita Roddick.
“The Body Shop, along with Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s, were pioneers of ESG [environmental, social, and corporate governance],” says chair of Responsible Travel and Projects for Nature, Justin Francis.
“The Body Shop and its founders Anita and Gordon Roddick were the inspiration for Responsible Travel and also seed investors.”