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Colour postcard from 1939

This postcard was sent from Maralyn Eden’s Grandmother to her Dad in 1939.

Mazda Fountain, Victoria Gardens, Brighton
From the private collection of Maralyn Eden

Comments about this page

  • This is how I remember the fountain – really colourful, not just plain white light as now.

    By Graham French (12/05/2004)
  • I never knew this sad fountain could look so stunning – so bright and colourful it looks like fairy land. Wouldn’t it be great to see it like this again? But I fear we never will – very sad.

    By Sharron (02/08/2005)
  • When I was a child, I used to look in wonderment at this fountain. I wonder why now it can not be got up to it’s previous glory.

    By Patrick Kite (15/12/2006)
  • With Brighton being the gay capital of the U.K., would it not be quite apropriate to reintroduce the rainbow colours to this relic of a vibrant fountain?

    By Dave (06/02/2008)
  • I remember the Mazda Fountain too. In the summer, it was a treat for us as a family to walk from our house in Lower Bevendean, up Plymouth Avenue, over the top of the hill into Queen’s Park road, down to the pier. As it got dark, we made our way to the wonderful site of the fountain in all it’s colour. How did that work? us little uns said, then off to St Peter’s Church and home on the bus. It would be great to see it working again.

    By Pamela Carpenter now Mellish (16/04/2008)
  • My father Thomas Fry wired up the Mazda in 1930. I am not sure whether at the time he worked for Thomon-Houston or Brighton Electricity board. He told me the sequence of lights was obtained by a revolving cylinder of contacts. During the war he was responsible for the maintenance of searchlights in the southern command.
    When he retired he was Chief Electrical Engineer for the British Sugar Corporation in Kings Lynn

    By Alan Fry (28/05/2008)
  • This fountain was a highlight as we passed in my dad’s van at night, always changing colour. In the 1960s Brighton was much brighter and more colourful, just a bit jaded now, sad really…

    By Ernie Puddick (03/10/2008)
  • It was renovated in the late eighties, and I believe that it still works, although it is impossible to say when you could view it, as it is only operated occasionally – it still looks wonderful.

    By David (25/10/2009)
  • I remember how wonderful this fountain looked with all the tree lights as well ,and the Royal Pavillion used to be lit up in blue (probably be banned now deemed too political). Why can’t Brighton have any fountains that work, the centre of Brighton looks so run down, it should be our showcase .

    By jennifer (07/07/2012)
  • I remember how pretty the Steine looked after dark - the lights and changing colours. The Pavilion lawns were perfect, nobody walked on the grass. 3 years ago I was back in Brighton with my husband. People were having their lunch sitting on the grass and as we watched they finished and walked away leaving their litter on the ground. You are right Jennifer, the centre is run down and grubby.

    By Iris Gilman (09/07/2012)
  • I always feel sad when I see so many negative comment of this great city of Brighton and Hove. The up-keep of big towns have always been difficult and those who look into the past through rose-coloured specs should have a look around at what we’ve got as well as those things we now miss. Yes, I too miss those little things that children remember like lights in the trees and coloured water from magical fountains: but it all cost money. In the world we old people now belong, cash has to be raised for future projects. Remember, when you’re young you look forward and when you’re old you look back. Things get old as well as people and we can’t save everything. Enjoy our city now!

    By Bob Harman (03/09/2016)
  • Many years ago my mother pulled a young boy out of the water in the fountain, he had wandered away from his mother and fell in.

    By Kenneth Chick (05/09/2016)
  • Can’t the Council restore it to its original grandeur? They are spending millions on the seafront (at last) and this is one of the first places people see as they drive towards the pier, after the Pavilion.  I loved it when I was little and Dad took me down to see it.

    By Geri Robson (06/09/2016)

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