Brighton plaque to mark Dickens hotel visits (From The Argus)

Brighton plaque to mark Dickens hotel visits

9:33am Tuesday 7th February 2012 in News

The great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens will unveil a blue plaque tomorrow at the site of a former hotel where the famous author was a frequent guest.

Ian Dickens will be guest of honour at the Holiday Inn on Brighton seafront, which stands on the site of the former Bedford Hotel which the writer visited regularly on his many trips to the resort.

The five-storey Bedford - a magnet for royalty and celebrities in its heyday - had its own plaque fitted in 1925 to honour Dickens but it was destroyed when the hotel burned down in April 1964.

The Georgian building was referenced in Graham Greene's novel Brighton Rock, in which it was thinly-disguised as the "Cosmopolitan".

The unveiling of the blue plaque will come a day after celebrations, led by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, marking the 200th anniversary of Dickens' birth.

Geoffrey Bowden, Brighton and Hove City Council's culture spokesman, said the authority was "delighted to be able to mark his connection" with the city.

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