Head for The Level, walk up Southover Street and you’re there. The area runs uphill to the east of the Level, to Queen's Park Road with Elm Grove marking the northern boundary and Sussex Street marking the southern edge, and also includes the ridiculously steep Albion Hill and Carlton Hill.
Once rough and ready, now seriously smart
Until the 1980s, Hanover was pretty rough, a series of neglected streets lined with tatty Victorian terraced cottages. These days, being a short 15 minute walk from Brighton station and right next to the centre of town, it’s a popular area for commuters and has become extremely fashionable, with property prices to match.
Bright and colourful
The trend for painting houses bright colours hit the area hard in the 1990s and the mostly white and cream houses started to take on colour.
By the year 2000, it was a rainbow-bright place with a new nickname amongst locals: muesli hill. It earned this name because the residents were classified as the sort of people who favour this breakfast food. There’s a Halls of Residence at the foot of the hill, on the site of the old Phoenix Brewery, which makes the whole area popular with students.
A strong feeling of community
Most of the houses in the area are far too small to have been broken up into flats or redeveloped. As a result, the place has a strong community feel.
Hanover Day, the area’s own outdoor festival, was a big hit for several years running, but hasn’t taken place for a couple of years. There’s still an annual beer festival in the community hall though, which is always worth a visit for quirky local ciders and beers plus loads of good local cheer.
At the bottom of the hill, opposite St Peter’s Church, is the Phoenix Arts Centre which recently had a make over and is now a very cool place for artists, badly needed in a city with thousands of talented artists and makers but very few places to show and sell their work.
Pubs in Hanover
There are some lovely pubs in Hanover. Here’s a list:
The history of Hanover
You’ll notice the pretty Percy Alms houses at the bottom of Elm Grove, which were built in 1795 and marked Hanover’s birth.
The area remained relatively isolated until 27 years later, in 1822, when the magnificent Hanover Crescent and Hanover Street were built. Fast forward forty years and the area’s famous terraced streets began to take shape, developed from around 1860.
Between 1969 and 1975, Hanover was designated a 'general improvement area'. Thankfully, it escaped the huge and not particularly sympathetic redevelopment of the Albion Hill area and, since the 1970s, has raised itself from slum status to a highly desirable and attractive residential district, home to around 7,500 people.
There’s not much for visitors to see and do except wander the pretty, narrow streets, daydream about living there and have a pint in one of the excellent little local pubs. Packed with personality, life and verve, it’s a miniature jewel in the city’s crown.
Do you live in Hanover? How do you feel about it?
[picture from welovebrighton.com]
