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BRIGHTON BELLE ROLLS BACK THE YEARS |
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The Brighton Belle made a triumphant return to the city to mark it's permanent spot in the limelight. Two of the original coaches from the train, which carried the rich and famous between Brighton and London from 1933 to 1972, sedately rolled into platform 6 at Brighton Station for a star studded ceremony. The Brighton Belle was to have been immortalised in the Walk of Fame at Brighton Marina, Instead, it has it's own plaque on the station concourse.
TV and stage stars including Dora Bryan, Anna Wing and Carol Kaye waited excitedly on the platform as a Jazz band greeted the Belle's sentimental journey home. Roy Fothergill, Maurice Haffenden and Victor Andrews all worked on the Belle, once again admired the splendid carriages. David Courtney, the Brighton business man behind the Walk of Fame, said "I am proud that this train, which was so much part of Brighton's heritage, is to have a permanent memory right here in the city". Dora Bryan, a regular traveller on the Brighton Belle, said "I was very choked when I saw the carriages come into the station again. I spent many hours on the Brighton Belle talking, eating, drinking and learning my lines".
Dora was unable to travel on the Brighton Belle's last journey in April 1972 because she had been injured in a car accident. She said "to be part of this ceremony has made up for that".
The Argus |
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