As the Brighton Fringe enters its final fortnight I’ve scheduled some extra Fearless and Fabulous Walks. Join me for an hour and three quarters of gentle ambling as we explore the streets and alleyways trodden by some of the city’s most incredible women from the past. Like cross-dressing music hall star and performer (as well as some time Hove resident) Vesta Tilley (below)
Meet at the Garden Cafe in St Ann’s Well Gardens, Hove BN3 1PL on Saturday 24th (waiting list only), Saturday 31st and Thursday 29th at 10am. Strong tip – arrive with plenty of time to grab yourself a coffee at the fantastic café itself. No finer place to sit on a fine morning in Hove.
Fearless and Fabulous Women of Brighton
Meet outside St Nicholas Church in the Churchyard itself. Sunday May 25th at 10am (waiting list only) AND 1.30pm on the same day. Sunday 1st June at 10am AND 1.30pm. Tuesday 27th May at 6pm (waiting list only)
Fearless and Fabulous Women of Kemptown.
I’ve promised several people the Kemptown version in June or early July. Watch this space!
Fabulous tales (and possibly a bit of rain, but we don’t mind that, do we?) await!
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy, peaceful 2025!
Just a reminder – my book about the wonderful women who have played key roles in Brighton & Hove’s history is still available. Last minute gift idea? Treat yourself?
‘The first British woman to swim the Channel, a Ladies World Speed record breaker, an African princess, a Soviet spy-cum-antiques dealer, a woman who started a rogue all-women police force, the first celebrity chef, a woman who ran a suffragette guest-house, the queen who ‘wasn’t amused’ by Brighton, and the brilliant doctor whose story is so shocking the British Army tried to repress it for 100 years.
The streets of Brighton are packed with links to women who made great strides in Law, fashion, sport, politics, education and more. Bringing together these stories, this book guides you around the streets of the city, showing you the hidden corners where history was made by a cast of fearless and fabulous woman who, in their own ways, did things that changed the world.’
the Kemptown Bookshop (https://www.kemptownbookshop.co.uk/), – Brighton’s oldest book shop with a great range of events. Also a great place for a coffee.
and local cafe in the Ditchling Road/Fiveways area, The Green Room (https://www.thegreenroombrighton.co.uk/) Ever-changing brilliant menu and I don’t think they ever intended to make the best cup of tea in Brighton but they always do.
Cost – £14.99
I also have copies that I can send out by mail order. Apologies it’s not available online but if you send me an email to historywomenbrighton@outlook.com I will get right back to you with costs and payment options.
Joyce Cooper resting at the Domain Baths during the New South Wales Championships, 8 January 1934
How exciting has the Olympic swimming been?
As someone who spent a lot of last year having lessons on how to do front crawl (and a lot of this year trying to remember them) I’ve watched in awe.
Particular heroes amongst the swimming women are, of course,the USA’s Katie Ledecky with her two golds, one silver and one bronze to add to her previous seven Olympic gold medals plus twenty-one World Championship titles. This makes her the most decorated female swimmer ever.
Rebecca Adlington who has done such a great job commentating on the swimming and giving viewers an insight into the struggles and challenges the competitors must be experiencing, is herself Britain’s most successful female swimmer of all time with 17 major championship medals to her name..
A few years ago, however, it was a Sussex woman who had this acclaim. Joyce Cooper (1909 – 2002) remains one of the most decorated female swimmers this country has produced.
Born in Sri Lanka, Joyce settled in Bognor, West Sussex, with her family as a young girl. She carried on her habit of swimming in the Indian Ocean by taking regular dips in the Channel off Bognor. Not quite the same, but that’s dedication for you. However, it was only in 1925 when, staying in Eastbourne and seeing the strange sight of a woman doing the front crawl in a local pool that she thought ‘perhaps I’ll do that. This was a new stroke.’ and started to take up the sport seriously.
Just two years later Joyce was already of medal winning standard. At the 1927 European Championships in Bologna, her first major international event, she came close to winning gold when she tied with another swimmer in the 100m freestyle race. In the days before photo finishes and video re-play, the only way to establish a winner during an apparent draw was to rerun the race. As Joyce was unable to take part in the re-run due to a health issue, she was awarded the silver. She did take home gold from the competition, however, as part of the 4 x100m freestyle team.
At the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, the following year (pictured above, L- R Joyce, Ellen King, Cissie Stewart, fellow Sussex woman Iris Vera Tanner from Eastbourne), hopes were high for the British team. Numbers of female competitors had doubled since the last Olympics. For the first time, the swimmers wouldn’t be hampered by ungainly and heavy, knee-length, woollen swimming costumes – which must have felt like swimming in pyjamas -, although long robes on the journey to and from the pool were still insisted upon. Joyce didn’t disappoint and won two bronze medals and a silver for Great Britain.
In a 2011 programme with the BBC World Service, ‘Lady Swimmers of the 1920s’, you can hear Joyce talk to historian Anita Tedder (the interview dates from 15 years earlier) briefly about her career and her experience of the Amsterdam Olympics. Two other women from the British team were also interviewed, Jean McDowell who had been spotted swimming in a North Berwick swimming pool by a coach who told her parents he could make a world champion out of her, and fellow Scot, Sarah ‘Cissie’ Stewart (1911 – 2008) from Dundee. Cissie came from a sporting family. Her father was a footballer and her sister was another swimmer. It’s a very short but interesting listen and gives insight into the difficulties women faced if they wanted to take swimming seriously, such as segregated swimming sessions in pools. How hard it must have been fitting your work and care obligations around the paltry ‘Ladies’ Times’ in the local pool. The interviews also give us a sense of the glamour the media invested in the swimming team. The interview can be heard here:
It was at the inaugural British Empire Games in 1930 in Canada, however, where Joyce, representing England, really got into her stride. In Hamilton she won an incredible three gold medals, coming top in three of the four individual women’s titles, topping this with a fourth gold as part of the 4 ×100 yard relay team. At the European Championships in Paris the following year Joyce went on to add three silvers and a bronze to her tally, and in the Los Angeles Olympics of 1932 she won a bronze medal and broke the world record in the heats for the 100m backstroke.
Joyce was a versatile swimmer who was as much at home swimming back stroke as front crawl and equally comfortable swimming long distances, winning many long distance swimming championships at the same time as her international successes. A woman of many talents, she also worked as a tailor and taught ballroom dancing. In 1934 she married another Olympian, rower John Badcock. Their eldest son, Felix Badcock, also became a medal winning rower.
Although not a household name today, Joyce’s achievements are particularly impressive when you consider that in her youth swimming wasn’t as accessible for women as it is today. Not only was swimwear generally designed for modesty not speed, but most pools only offered segregated bathing times with women having to wait until the appointed ‘ladies day’ to be able to practise.
A worthy inductee in the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1996, the incredible Joyce Cooper died in Chichester in 2002.
(Part of this post was originally published as a Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust blogpost in response to the ‘First Women’ exhibition in Brighton Museum in 2020. This exhibition comprised a collection of 100 portraits by photographer Anita Corbin of women who were first in their field of achievement. To accompany the exhibition 100 blog posts looking at Sussex women from history were produced.
Thank you to everyone who joined me in Brighton Fringe this year to walk, talk, chat and explore our city’s brilliant women’s history!
Here I am on a busy walk in Hove, joined by about 28 of you on a beautiful day, finding out about the former New Sussex Hospital for Women and Children on Windlesham Road.
(Photo: Ian Godley) I was really excited to get an email from Brighton Fringe on 31st May – so a couple of days before the end of the festival – advising me that I’d been nominated for an Audience Choice Award: Best Brighton Fringe Event Supported by Chichester Festival Theatre based on the number of five star reviews my walks received. I was very flattered as this is the only award nominated and chosen by the ticket buying public rather than arts industry professionals. Hooray! Here I am at the Awards ceremony on the 2nd June at the Vault, looking triumphant (and relieved. You never really know how much people are enjoying it a hundred per cent), even though I didn’t win.
(Photo: Nimrod Peskett)
Ah well. I’ll have to keep my Oscar acceptance speech for another day 😊
(But if I had given my Oscar acceptance speech I would have totally given it over to Dr Louisa Martindale, Dr Helen Boyle, Margaret Powell, Clara Butt, the Hilton Twins, Martha Gunn, Phoebe Hessel, Sophia Duleep Singh, Princess Omoba Aina and all the other wonderful women whose stories I tell.)
When I started to do these women’s history tours, first in Brighton, then Kemptown, then Hove, I counted myself lucky if more than five people turned up. I would get phone calls ‘is it OK if my husband comes with me? I mean, are men allowed?’. The tours lasted just over an hour and people would say afterwards ‘wow, I’d never heard of any of those women!’ Fast forward 12 years and my tours are almost 2 hours long – and still I only feel as if I’m presenting the tip of the mighty iceberg. Many more women now have blue plaques thanks to the efforts of the Brighton and Hove Women’s History Group among others. Many women I talk about on my walks have become local household names – or, at least, better known. One of them (Mercedes Gleitze, first British woman to swim the Channel) is now the subject of a fantastic, well-regarded feature film! I find that, rather than introducing many of the women to people for the first time, we’re now exploring different angles, talking about what their legacy is, how they changed things generally, their journey towards getting a blue plaque.
There are still a huge amount of women who aren’t as well known as they should be and I’d also like to research the stories of local working women in the past to add to my walks. I have a few ideas about this, so watch this space!
In the meantime, please remember that my three walks are available to book. I’m not scheduling in any walks for the foreseeable future (this may change, watch this space again) but if you have a group – even a very small group of friends/family, etc. – and you fancy your own private walk, please contact me and I’ll see if I can fit you in. I’ve done private walks in the past for a couple of hen nights, birthday parties, work away-days, and groups such as W.I.s and U3As. In a couple of weeks I’m looking forward to doing my third walk for the fabulous people at Connected Brighton. I can offer you weekends, some week days, mornings, afternoons, and evenings. I can customise content, start in a different place, shorten, lengthen and generally tailor to your requirements.
For seated talks I offer ‘Fearless and Fabulous Women of Brighton and Hove,’ ‘Fearless and Fabulous Women of East Sussex’, ‘Fearless and Fabulous Women of West Sussex’, ‘Entertaining Women’, ‘Cooking Women’, ‘Women Warriors’, ‘The Pioneering Women Doctors of Brighton and Hove’, ‘The Story of Brighton Suffragettes’ and ‘Actress, Singer, Suffragette: the Fantastic Story of the Actresses Franchise League’.
Here I am at The Dome in November 2023 with some of my array of Entertaining Women. How many can you spot?
(Photo: Julia Winckler)
Also, a reminder! If you want to take yourself on a walk or just dip in to some of the stories of our local women, my book ‘The Fearless and The Fabulous, a Journey Through Brighton and Hove’s Women’s History’ is still available at the Royal Pavilion shop, Brighton Museum shop htpps://shop.brightonmuseums.org.uk, Kemptown Bookshop http://www.kemptownbookshop.co.uk, City Books Hove http://www.city-books.co.uk and the Green Room Cafe on Ditchling Road. Or just email me to enquire about postage/delivery on historywomenbrighton@outlook.com
Hope to hear from some of you soon.
In the meantime, I want to say a huge thank you if you voted for me, came on a walk this year, came on a walk any other year, booked me for anything, or are just reading this blog. It’s the best job ever (even if it’s not really a ‘job’ and I can only do it between day job requirements) finding out the stories of our fantastic local women and talking to you about them. Hopefully more will follow Yet again – and you know what I’m going to say here – WATCH THIS SPACE!
This week I was invited onto Brighton and Hove community radio station Radio Reverb to chat to Melita Dennett on the Tuesday Live in Brighton with Melita Dennett show.
It was a great opportunity to spread the word about my Fearless and Fabulous Women Fringe walks and we ended up talking about where I found the stories of the women I talk about (mainly from flaneuring around the shelves of The Keep Local History Centre and allowing my eye to be caught wantonly by bits and pieces. Which is, incidentally, how I came up with this gem of women’s history:
I mean, a seaweed florist, what’s not to love?) Also, people tell me things. Just the other day, someone asked me if I’d heard of Gertrude Leverkus who used to live in Wilbury Villas. To my shame I hadn’t.
Very, very briefly (hopefully more to follow in a future post) Gertrude (1898 – 1989) was a pioneering German-British architect who was involved in converting properties into flats for women in the 1920s for the Women’s Pioneer Housing Limited. In 1931 she was elected a Fellow of RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) and was only the second woman allowed to put the initials ‘FRIBA’ after her name. She later worked on the new towns of Crawley and Harlow. I love how links are sometimes thrown up between the women I talk about and I see that Gertrude was involved in the Women’s Provisional Club – a kind of support network for professional women – alongside Brighton’s first female GP and one of my absolute heroes, Dr Louisa Martindale.
Another woman I learnt about in this very same conversation was Elizabeth M Kennedy (1873 – 1957) who became president of the Women’s Engineering Society in 1932 after a distinguished career in the world of machinery manufacturing. In later life she lived in Marine Parade, Brighton.
Melita asked me whether it was easier to find out the stories of women from well-to-do backgrounds. Sadly, this is usually the case. Someone has to write history and the history we have and know is always a collection of stories collated, curated and told by someone or a group of someones, often with an agenda. Until relatively recently, these someones are usually straight, white, moneyed men.
Also, don’t people need time, leisure and connections to make their voices heard?
I did mention that here in Brighton, however, we do have the well-known Martha Gunn.
Martha Gunn,Brighton bather. Oil painting, British School, c1790
I absolutely love this picture, today hanging just outside the Local History Gallery in Brighton Museum.
Martha (1726 – 1815) was very much not born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Yet, by her efforts, good ideas and business acumen, she became ‘Queen of the Dippers’, a bathing assistant who dipped women into the sea for their sea-water cure, so successful and coveted she became a sort of emblem of the burgeoning town of Brighton, attracting visitors from far and wide and putting Brighton on the map. Rightfully known today as one of the architects of modern Brighton.
We also have:
Phoebe Hessel (1713 – 1821 – yes, I know, that made her 108). Famously, Phoebe had a long military career, disguised as a man, fighting with the 5th Regiment of Foot, until an unfortunate bayonet wound picked up at the Battle of Fontenoy, led to her being discovered (I’ve written a longer post about Phoebe. Scroll down if you’re interested).
I went on to chat to Melita about how, when you hear the story of a successful man, it’s always worth snooping around to find out who their mother/wife/sister was as there are often some interesting stories there, with women’s contribution/help/good ideas being overshadowed or written out of the official version of events. For example, a woman I talk about in my Hove walk right at the start in St Ann’s Well Gardens is Laura Bayley:
Laura (1862 – 1938) who used to live near Seven Dials, was an accomplished actress, usually working in burlesques and pantomimes. She married Hove film pioneer, George Albert Smith, a huge name in early film, who experimented with techniques such as close-ups and, from the studio he converted from the old pump room in St Ann’s Well Gardens, made landmark early short films. As his wife, Laura played roles in many of them. It’s now believed she also co-produced several. After watching her performances in films such as ‘The Kiss in the Tunnel’ and ‘Mary Jane’s Mishap’ (available on YouTube) it’s clear, however, that her contribution as a comedy actress, her expertise in holding an audience’s attention, and her great charisma are key to the success of the films. Would George Albert Smith now be the great name in early film he is today without Laura’s incredible work? It’s now understood that Laura, so long in the shadow of her husband, directed and wrote films, too. I recommend you take a look at her work. You’ll be spellbound. Laura is also featured in Hove Museum’s cinema gallery.
My interview with Melita is available on line here:
BTW, the non-profit station Radio Reverb is well worth a listen. They have some great shows, speech, music and both, that bring in the whole community – football, Refugee Radio, Brighton Book Club, and more. One I’m really looking forward to listening to later is ‘Currently Off Air’ ‘a mixtape of overlooked, under appreciated, and rediscovered sounds – on the first Sunday of the month at 11pm – midnight. Lots of great music shows too.
So… finally getting to the point of this post at last… My Fearless and Fabulous Women walks for the Brighton Fringe start on Saturday 4th May, beginning with a fully accessible and mainly level stroll around Hove, starting at 10am outside the brilliant Garden Cafe (come early and enjoy one of their brilliant coffees and a cake) in St Ann’s Well Gardens, Hove, BN3 1PR
If full please contact me on historywomenbrighton@outlook.com
See some of you there!
I’d like to say thanks to Melita Dennett and also to Ceryl Evans of the Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton for the chat about Gertrude Leverkus and Elizabeth M Kennedy
This year I’m re-entering the Brighton Fringe fray with two women’s history walks – The Fearless and Fabulous Women of Brighton and The Fearless and Fabulous Women of Hove.
“From some of Brighton’s first women doctors to suffragettes, entrepreneurs to entertainers, artists, music-hall stars, and campaigners, Brighton & Hove has always attracted women who dare do things differently. Join Louise Peskett, author of The Fearless and the Fabulous, a Journey through Brighton and Hove’s Women’s History on these easy walks to discover the amazing stories of some of the intriguing, adventurous, fantastic, outrageous and scandalously lttle-known female characters of the city’s past.
If fully booked or you’re booking last minute you can contact me on historywomenbrighton@outlook.com to find out whether there are any spaces for walk-ups.
Dates and times, when and where…
Fearless and Fabulous Women of Brighton
Meet St Nicholas Churchyard, central Brighton – Church Street, BN1 3LI
Sunday mornings at 10am on May 5th, May 12th, May 26th and June 2nd.
Thursday evenings at 6pm on May 9th and May 30th
Please note this isn’t a circular walk. It will finish either in the Lanes or on New Road/Pavilion Gardens. If it’s Sunday morning I recommend stopping for a coffee and a rest in the beautiful Pavilion Gardens cafe afterwards. Lots of other establishments close by.
Fearless and Fabulous Women of Hove
Meet at the Garden Cafe, St Ann’s Well Gardens, Somerhill Road, Hove BN3 1RP
Saturday morning at 10am on May 4th, May 11th, May 25th and June 1st
Tuesday evening at 6pm May 14th
Thursday evening at 6pm May 23rd.
Dogs welcome! Babies welcome! Pushchairs welcome! All welcome!
I recommend buying a coffee from the Garden Cafe beforehand if you come on Saturday morning. It’s a lovely place to sit. Or buy one to bring with you.
Please note this isn’t a circular tour. We will finish in Palmeira Square. Plenty of cafes or pubs around there for snacks and a rest.
Need any more information? Contact me on historyywomenbrighton@outlook.com
I’m really pleased that my book ‘Fearless and Fabulous Women of Brighton’ is now available to buy from great, new local cafe ‘The Green Room’ in Brighton.
The Green Room hasn’t been open long but it’s quickly establishing itself as a cosy neighbourhood corner cafe just opposite Downs Infant school on Ditchling Road. Handily, it pops up at exactly that point on Ditchling Road when the constant uphill trek is starting to lose its charm. Last week they presented me with an incredible half pint of strong tea. The week before, a beetroot and cheese toasted sandwich – a revelation. They also display a small amount of crafts and creations for sale by local people,including cards and jewellery. I’m so pleased they’re now stocking my book!
On the 46/26 bus route from central Brighton if the uphill trek of Ditchling Road has no charm at all.
‘The first British woman to swim the Channel, a Ladies World Speed record breaker, an African princess, A Soviet spy-cum-antiques dealer, a woman who started a rogue all-women police force, the first female celebrity chef, a woman who ran a suffragette guest-house, the queen who ‘wasn’t amused’ by Brighton and the brilliant doctor whose story is so shocking, the British Army tried to repress it for 100 years.The streets of Brighton are packed with links to women who made great strides in Law, fashion, sport, politics, education and more. Bringing together these stories, this book guides you around the streets of the city, showing you the hidden corners where history was made by a cast of fearless and fabulous women who, in their own ways, did things that changed the world.’
Also available in the Royal Pavilion shop, Brighton Museum shop, and the city’s iconic independent book shop City Books 23 Western Road, Hove.
Or email me directly historywomenbrighton@outlook.com
From some of Britain’s first women doctors to suffragettes, entrepreneurs to entertainers, artists, music-hall stars, and campaigners, Brighton and Hove has always attracted women who dare do things differently. Join Louise Peskett, author of The Fearless and the Fabulous, a Journey through Brighton and Hove’s Women’s History, on these easy walks to discover the amazing stories of some of the intriguing, adventurous, fantastic, outrageous, and scandalously little known female characters of the city’s past. All tours last approx 1 hour, 45 minutes.
May 2022 dates as part of the Brighton Fringe
Fearless and Fabulous Women Women of Brighton
Starts – outside St Nicholas Church, Dyke Road, Brighton, BN1 3LJ
Sunday mornings 8th, 22nd 29t May, and 5th June at 10.00am
Tuesday evenings 10th, 24th May at 6.00pm.
Fearless and Fabulous Women of Hove
Starts – The Garden Café, St Ann’s Well Gardens, Hove, BN3 1PL
Saturday mornings 7th, 21st, 28th May and 4th June at 10.00am
Thursday evening 19th May at 6.00pm
Tuesday evening 2nd June at 6.00pm
Fearless and Fabulous Women of Kemptown
Pop up tours to be confirmed. Please email or call for details.
See The Fearless and Fabulous: A Journey Through Brighton and Hove’s Women’s History by Louise Peskett. For sale at City Books and in the Royal Pavilion and Museum shops. Or contact Louise at the email address above.
I’m doing a brand new walking tour this summer in aid of the Mayor of Brighton & Hove’s charities, exploring the inspiring stories behind some of the women who have recently been commemorated by blue plaques in the city, some who are about to be, and some who I think should be!
Dates: Saturdays 19th June, 10th July, 14th August at 10am and 1pm.
Meeting place Montpellier Crescent near Seven Dials, Brighton to finish approximately 90 minutes later in the Royal Pavilion Gardens. See Eventbrite link below for tickets.
Discover the woman whose house became a beacon to the suffragettes, the famous actress who turned her talents to helping to run women’s hospitals, the heiress who had to choose between a career as a doctor and her family, the first suffragette to give her life for women’s right to vote and the woman who was fighting for equal pay almost 150 years ago, plus some other local women to be proud of.
With Louise Peskett, author of ‘The Fearless and the Fabulous, a Journey through Brighton and Hove’s Women’s History’
In aid of the Mayor of Brighton and Hove’s Charities: Off the Fence, Sussex Heart Charity, Together Co, Brighton Fringe, and Leo House.
historywomenbrighton 