I too remember Johnstone Midgets, just before you got to Peter Pan's Playground. If I remember rightly, they were powered by 2-stroke motorbike engines. I wonder if any of them have been preserved as they were a great attraction to Brighton and, as a Brighton exile now living in the Midlands, it would be nice to think that a bit of Brighton heritage is in safe hands.

Does anyone remember Uncle Jack (I think that was his name) who used to hold talent shows for the kids on the front?  I won a lolly once for singing, can't remember what song it was. He was very popular.

Brighton seafront was major to my early years. We moved into a tiny terraced house in Whitehawk Road towards the end of WW2 and if my memory serves me well, access to the seafront at that time was somewhat restricted. I was told that Dukes Mound was actually mined (perhaps someone will confirm this). I do recall going with some older lads on two or three occasions down to Madeira Drive and playing on the Volks carriages that were parked under the arches presumably for safe keeping during the hostilities. Each time we were chased off by someone who I suppose was the watchman. When Black Rock swimming pool was re-opened after the War it was a big event for the family. Living in Whitehawk Road (No.27) meant it was just a short walk to the pool which was an absolute sun trap. I remember that after one visit my teenage sister's back turned into one huge blister after sunbathing there and she was pretty ill for the following week. Nobody seemed to worry about skin protection in those days. If you got sunburn you slapped on loads of calamine lotion which didn't seem to help the situation one little bit. When the Brighton Speed Trials started again along Madeira Drive (two at a time then), I recall going with my dad to the bottom of Arundel Road watching the racing cars return to the starting line near the Palace Pier, most at a more leisurely pace via Marine Parade and amongst the normal traffic. I suspect that some returned somewhat less leisurely and that could be why this practice did not continue. The Johnstone busses mentioned by John Wignall were perfect replicas of Southdown Coaches, my guess would be about 1/10th scale. They sat three in line, one child in front and one child behind the driver. Before they moved to Peter Pan's Playground they were run at the north end of the Level. Sometimes when Mum and I went to meet my father from work midday Saturday, I'd be treated to a ride. Dad worked in the Nissan huts situated on the Level and part of R. E. Records office. I believe that one bus was driven from London to Brighton accompanying the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. Looking back I'm sure there was more sand on Brighton beach then, in particular near to the Palace Pier (I'll never get used to calling it Brighton Pier) it seemed that when the tide was out you could walk out on the sand for miles. It was also great having the choice of two piers to walk on, even if you did have to pay to go on them. My wife and I recently visited Felixstowe and at the Tourist Centre we were told that the main attractions were situated near Felixstowe Pier. When we told them we were from Brighton one assistant laughed and said, "I'd better revise these directions for you.....Felixstowe hasn't got a Pier!".

Sandie, I remember winning a lollipop for cavorting around on stage and the throngs of people there clapped and were sitting in deck chairs. You have brought back a wonderful memory of me making a complete idiot of myself but I must have been only 7 and what fun it was to be at the show! I broke my neck to get up on stage. Does anyone remeber the Punch and Judy shows?

I remember Louis Tussaud's from my childhood in the early sixties. I recently took my wife to Brighton to see where it once stood but I was not sure it was where I thought.
Can anyone remember its precise location?

Hi Richard, I remember it well as I often visited as a kid growing up in Brighton. It was located next to the Royal Albion Hotel almost opposite the Palace Pier. The building today is a bar part of the hotel called Baroque. I remember taking my dear friend Adam Faith there to show him his wax works which I have to say were not particuarly good.

On a visit to Brighton last year I went into Burger King on North Street for a quick lunch and realised that I was in The Prince's News Theatre of years ago, complete with screen! Well done Burger King for keeping the atmosphere alive!

This is a message for Dave Creesdale. You are quite right about Johnston's Midgits running around the Level and if I remember rightly the replica fire engine was still running around the Level in the mid fifties. I also believe one of them is in preservation somewhere in Scotland; where the rest of them are is anyone's guess. Anyway back to whitehawk, this was my playground in the fifties along with Blackrock Pool and Sheepcote Valley as it had a lot of World War Two surplus parked there, most of the time we got chased away by an angry old so and so who threatened to take us to the police or worse tell our parents. Of course we kept going back for more until he gave up and started to talk to us quite normally, it turned out he was a First World War veteran and was quite informative.

I remember the Punch and Judy shows on Brighton seafront. When very young I was frightened by the 'violence', but then as I got older it was the same ol same ol actions and I guess I stopped being interested. Thank you for reminding me of those shows.

I think there may be one of those miniature Southdown single-decker buses (mentioned by several correspondents above) preserved in the Engineerium museum at the top of Hove. They made a big impression on me too as a kid all those years ago. I saw it at the Engineerium about five years ago, don't know if it's still there. Anyone remember the Duk boat that used to do pleasure trips off Brighton beach? Or the Dan Dare spaceship that was outside King Alfred baths sometime in the late fifties and which you could go inside?

David Courtney is spot on with his placement of the old Louis Tussuad's site. David, do you remember the illuminated Guinness advertisement and clock that was on the side of the building? At night time it could be seen from Hove seafront. I believe that David could also tell us of a more recent event that happened not far away from the Louis Tussuad's site. I think that the discovery of, and the launch of Leo Sayer's career began at the old Top Rank Centre. I believe that as well as his friend Adam Faith, David had a lot to do with Leo's singing success.

hi Nick. I well remember the Dan Dare spaveship. I paid a visit tothis when I was a kid. I can't quite remember the Duk but one was running at Wickstead Park Lake a few years ago. I wonder if it was the same one.

Ref/ Johnstone's Midget Coaches. I have a full history of my fathers coaches. Please contact me on email tj@tjbrighton.com /22 Braybon Ave,Brighton,BN1 8EA.

What a liberty. I have identified TUF 3 from a photo originating recently in Arbroath, I believe. They have only repainted it in Stagecoach Livery. If you see this Tony, I will send you a copy.

Brighton seafront is where I grew up. My Nan had a cafe so when not in school I always went with her. I used to help the local shop owners or the different activities. Two favourites where helping feed the donkeys for a ride and then jumping on the trampolines to get business in. The crowd at my Nan's were mainly sailors and families. Although I have been in Canada now for over 30 years my heart and deepest felt memories are of Brighton.

I remember the Waxworks being there as late as about 1977. I went in a couple of times, I remember they had the cast of Coronation Street in there - all of them quite badly done and not looking particularly "real" at all. The chamber of horrors was quite good though.

My grandparents moved to Brighton from Caterham Hill after the war, finding refuge in Hanover Crescent. When my family and I arrived from Essex for the holidays it was with an excitement that I can still recall. We spent our days in the chalet under the promenade between the two piers and just in front of the motorised boating pool that my sister Sally took for the paddling pool one day, almost drownng herself. That was in 58.  They were the days when all the family, my father and his 6 brothers and sisters as well as us numerous kids, were all present and correct and we seemed to be a real family.  My grandparents were 'parachuted' into the town it's true, not being real Brightonians, but the town has so many good memories for me that it's hard not think of it as my second home all those years ago.

When I was a little boy,70 odd years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing 'Three men in a boat'. They entertained the beachgoers by sailing in a round tub, dressed in tails and toppers and performing the most amazing girations in the water.I saw them twice. Once at Yarmouth,then again at Eastbourne. Whether they ever came to Brighton, I do not know but it would be great ,if anyone else remembers them. Come on you nostalgia freeks!

I don't recall a Charlie Spicer from my childhood days Jill, but being a Brighton man, he almost surely would have been a relation? Certainly, a number of my family relatives were engaged in working activities on the Brighton beaches. In particular an Uncle Jack who owned a couple of the boats plying offshore, "all aboard the Skylark" style. It would be interesting to know if there's a close connection.

Am I completely wrong in remembering thet maybe next door to the Louis Tussaud's wax works or somewhere nearby, there was a kind of curiosity shop full of two headed pigs preserved in pickle and so forth? Does anyone else remember this strange place?

I found one of the Johnstones midget coaches at a small motor museum in a shop on Rolvenden High street in Kent. It was actually on display at the front of the shop. As far as I know its still there. I remember them, as a kid, running on a figure of eight shaped track along by Peter Pan's playground. I think they even had traffic lights on the cross over which made it more exciting when more than one coach was operating. Ah the simple pleasures us kids had then. The owner always seemed a very friendly man I remember.

Johnstones midget coaches - yes, they were still there when I was growing up. They used to utterly fascinate me and to have a ride on them was what I always longed for when on the seafront with Mum. I managed to find an old postcard recently, showing them operating on the figure of 8 track as my brother says.

Does anyone remember a Dolls' Museum somewhere along the Seafront? It was there in the 70s, and wasn't very big, but as a little girl I went there for my birthday every year. No-one else seems to remember it - it may have been called Dolls in Dreamland or something like that. Thanks.

Re the Johnson's Midgets, there's one or two still around. FNJ 478 in the livery of Wren's Coaches (NW9) was featured under restoration at South East Coachworks in the Dec. 09 edition of Bus & Coach Preservation. Don't recall a dolls museum, or mention of one, but in the mid to late 60's there was a wonderful model railway (gauge 1?) featuring 'Sammy the Shunter' close to the Palace Pier. I was mortified when the owner moved to Blackpool!

This is a note for Jacqueline Shaftoe: I believe you may be a part of the Hammond and Wood families who lived in Brighton and Hove. If so I would love to hear from you.