I came to your shores on a flying visit for 24 hours last weekend, which was very emotional and nostalgic after 52 years away.

The greatest change, of course, is the volume of traffic. I went to see my first home in Cromwell Road and I am delighted the nearby cricket ground is still there.

The Hove Lawns are not the immaculate carpet of velvet they once were. I am told ball games are now played on this beautiful showpiece of pride and joy.

I recall seeing Max Miller (of music hall fame) driving very slowly along the seafront in the Forties in his magnificent open-top limousine.

The remains of the West Pier are a tragic sight. In my letter to you at the time of "her" collapse, I remember saying we must first respect the past in order to embrace the future. Does the West Pier have a future? She was a gracious symbol of your worthy heritage.

The King Alfred Leisure Centre certainly needs some tender loving care but please, please, not a massive glass carbuncle which would be totally alien among the splendid architecture of Hove.

My friends, Victor and Margaret, took me to The Bank for fish and chips. The restaurant had a welcoming ambience and delicious food a very happy experience on a cold windy day.

The Marina was, of course, new to me. En route, it was heartening to observe the splendour of the beautiful crescents has been maintained, where once Sir Laurence Olivier had a home. Anna Neagle, Herbert Wilcox and many other stars of stage and screen also lived there.

In fact, the Rigby family occupied the delightful basement and ground-floor of the house in which we lived.

My visit was all too brief. When I "come home" again, I must see The Lanes, amble along the Palace Pier and retrace my steps to the historic Pavilion which, long ago, throbbed to the intense meetings of the Brighton parliament.

To my dear friends, thank you for the warmth of your welcome.

To my beloved Brighton and Hove - thanks for the memory.

-Mary Ratcliffe, Old Town, Swindon