Who from Brighton’s past should we be remembering? The film ‘Vindication Swim’ recalls the achievements of the amazing Mercedes Gleitze

(This item first appeared in the Brighton Argus on 13th March 2024)

Brighton has a poor record of preserving the memory of those who have gone before. How many Brightonians, not least those who are recent arrivals, know who Herbert Carden, Dorothy Stringer or Lewis Cohen were? And why should they? The City Council does little to commemorate these and other individuals who helped make the city what it is. The Argus remembers them, and Brighton and Hove Buses names significant people from Brighton’s past on its buses and on a special website. It should be commended for this.

From time to time I write about people I have known who have died, people like Selma Montford, Dennis Hobden, Ruth Larkin, Bernie Jordan and Bob Cristofili. Mary Clarke is the ‘forgotten suffragette’ in spite of being Emmeline Pankhurst’s sister. Mary ran the Brighton office of the Women’s Social and Political Union. She died on Christmas Day 1910 from a brain haemorrhage probably caused by rough treatment at the hands of the police and prison authorities immediately before her passing. There is no memorial for Mary other than her name appearing on the front of a Brighton bus. There is now a campaign to have a statue of Mary Clarke erected in the gardens of the Royal Pavilion estate. 

Another long-forgotten Brightonian is Mercedes Gleitze. She was born in Brighton who, in 1927, became the first British woman to swim the English Channel. Her swimming achievements were not ‘limited’ to that. She is believed to be the first person to swim the Straights of Gibraltar and was the first person to swim to Robben Island and back to Cape Town, a sea I know well as I was brought up there and can testify to the currents and coldness of those waters.

After nearly 100 years during which time she had become largely forgotten, her legacy is now secure through a film that went on general release last Friday, deliberately coinciding with International Women’s Day. The film, Vindication Swim, features the amazing Kirsten Callaghan and the equally impressive John Locke. Remarkably, it was written and directed by a 23-year-old Brightonian, Elliott Hasler. If you warch just one film this year, make sure it’s Vindication Swim.

With Kirsten Callaghan and John Locke (I’m the one who didn’t dress up for the occasion!)

After a special screening of the film on International Women’s Day at Brighton’s Duke of York cinema, a cinema that Mercedes herself had visited, Kirsten Callaghan, John Locke and Elliott Hasler answered questions from the audience. Kirsten described some of the discomforts and challenges faced by Mercedes which she, too, had experienced. For example, she wore a heavy 100-year-old one-piece bathing suit. The leather in the goggles she used bled, resulting in a disgusting taste seeping into her mouth. On one occasion she was in the water for four hours, with the salt affecting her mouth and sense of taste. Elliott, too, spent lengthy periods filming in the water, but he had the protection of a wetsuit! John, on the other hand, stayed in a small support boat as had his character, Harold Best, who had coached Mercedes.

All the scenes in the sea were filmed off the south coast. No use was made of stage tanks nor ‘green screen’ technology where subjects can be superimposed onto virtual backgrounds. 

Back to Mercedes herself. Her first endurance swimming record was for 26 hours. Over several years she extended this record to 45 and, subsequently, 46 hours. She had become a popular and famous personality, and when she undertook these endurance swims in public swimming baths, crowds would attend and encourage her by singing together.

Most of Mercedes epic swims, including her world records for endurance swimming, were sponsored.  She used her sponsorship and winnings to open accommodation for homeless people, particularly homeless women, with the first Mercedes Gleitze Home opening in Leicester in 1933. The charity bearing her name continues to operate providing accommodation for homeless people but, sadly, not in Brighton. She helped unemployed people to move from the north to Leicester where there were jobs. She is also said to have supported the extension of the franchise to women below the age of 30 in 1928.

Towards the end of her life, Mercedes became increasingly reclusive. She denied her past achievements and would not discuss them with her family.  She died in1981 in London aged 80. There is now a blue plaque commemorating this daughter of Brighton at the house in Freshfield Road where she was born in 1900.

I hope that in future more Brighton women, perhaps not as exceptional as Mercedes Gleitze, can be remembered for their own extraordinary achievements.

Ruth Larkin, the best mayor that Brighton never had

(This item first appeared in my ‘Brighton and Beyond’ column in the Brighton Argus on 28th September 2022)

There are few people you meet in your life who you can say that she or he was a good person. Ruth Larkin was one such woman. She was a dedicated public servant for many years, yet there isn’t anything to commemorate her, no blue plaque, her name is not on the front of a bus (in spite of an ineffectual attempt I made a few years ago) and, although she was a councillor for 21 years, her name is missing from the list in the Town Hall of former Mayors.

Ruth Larkin with the then Mayor, Jeane Lepper, at a thank you event when she stood down as a trustee of BHT Sussex

I had the good fortune of knowing Ruth Larkin in two capacities, as a fellow councillor on the Planning Committee of the old Brighton Borough Council, and in her role as a Trustee and member of the Board of Brighton Housing Trust, now BHT Sussex.

She served for around 25 years as one of our Trustees, paying particular attention to the comfort of our residents. She and her then Conservatives colleague, Bob Cristofili, ensured that support for BHT had cross-party support at a time when it could easily have been seen as a partisan cause. For a while we had three Labour councillors on our staff, the Director, Jenny Backwell, Gary Griffiths (a County Councillor), and me.

Professionally, Ruth was a hospital laboratory technician at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. She was first elected to Brighton Borough Council for Rottingdean in April 1969 and served for over 20 years.  After stepping down from the council in May 1990, she continued to serve the community as a volunteer helping elderly, infirm and isolated residents.

She was a tireless campaigner for the elderly while a councillor, and she then took up their cause on the Older People’s Council until 2007.

Ruth chaired the Planning Committee for many years with diligence, skill and integrity. She was always thoroughly prepared, consistent and fair.  Because of her commitment and dedication to her constituents in Rottingdean, the Committee made, perhaps, more than its fair share of site visits to that lovely part of our city (although we didn’t have city-status at that time). 

A lifelong cyclist, Ruth would arrive at site visits on her bicycle, humming hymns, content with her lot.  She could have been the template for what former Conservative prime minister, John Major, said, quoting the socialist George Orwell: “Old maids bicycling to holy communion through the morning mist”. 

Ruth would not have been enamoured, even insulted, to be referred to as an ‘old maid’. What is more, she lived overlooking the playing fields of Brighton College, and would have had to have negotiated the traffic and fumes of Eastern Road to get to her church. Ruth was a church warden at St Anne’s in Kemp Town, her faith running through every vein of her being.

I once referred to Ruth as a Tory, not in a pejorative manner whatsoever, but she let me know in no uncertain terms that she was a Conservative and never a Tory which, she told me, was a nickname given to those who opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York (a Roman Catholic) from the succession to the Crown. As a South African with a very limited knowledge of British history, I can’t say I understood this deeply held view, but deeply held it was, like many of her beliefs.

She was a councillor for most of the time that Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and, even though they represented the same political party, their politics and values could not have been further apart. Ruth cared deeply for ordinary people, and particularly for those who were excluded, marginalised and poor. I used to wonder why she was a Tory, sorry, a Conservative. But then I look at some of the recent leaders of the Labour Party and wonder why they aren’t Conservatives! 

She was never conventional, some might say her fashion sense was eccentric, and it was this, perhaps, that resulted in her being overlooked by her party colleagues and never put forward to become Mayor of Brighton, an honour she richly deserved. Perhaps Ruth Larkin should be remembered as the best Mayor that Brighton never had.

Her Argus obituary said that the Council had arranged a welfare funeral for her after no members of her family could be traced. Although I attended her funeral at Woodvale Crematorium with a few of her former party colleagues, I don’t know whether she has a grave and, if so, whether it has a headstone. If anyone knows her last resting place, please let me know as I would like to place some flowers on her grave. 

My abiding memory of Ruth is that she was a very kind person, and that she was very much one of a kind.

Filling in the blanks from the 1964 and 1986 Labour Groups

I am very grateful to Harry Steer for filling in the last remaining gaps from the 1964 Labour Group.  Harry is the last survivor from that era.  The missing councillors were: Arthur King, Jim Currie, Arthur Skinner, Dennis Woolley and Arthur Illman (who was actually an Alderman along with Bert Briggs and Stanley Deason). Thanks, too, to Pam Montgomery for mentioning her dad, Harry George, one of the 1964 Vintage.

The 1964 Labour Group included Harry Steer, Ray Blackwood, Dennis Hobden, Bert Briggs, Nobby Clarke, George Humphrey, Stanley Deason, Stan Fitch, Idwal Francis, Don Ranger, Bill Sheldon, Bert Clack, Graham Carter, Bob Millard, Harry George, Arthur King, Jim Currie, Arthur Skinner, Dennis Woolley and Arthur Illman.

Harry does make the point that in 1964 there were women Labour councillors.

As for the 1986 Labour Administration, the 24^th and final member, who I had omitted, was Jon Allen.  Thanks for all the hints and suggestions.  Several people mentioned were County Councillors because, until 1997, we had two tiers of local government which was replaced by the Unitary Authority.

So the complete list is: Ian Duncan, Mick Johnson, Joyce Edmond-Smith, Pat Hawkes, Ray Blackwood, Tehm Framroze, David Lepper, Chris Morley, Brian Fitch, Gill Sweeting, Christine Simpson, Jenny Backwell, Jacqui Lythell, Joe Townsend, Richard Stanton, Steve Bassam, Bob Davies, Nobby Clarke, Denis Hobden, Brennan Turner, Arthur King, Gill Haynes, Jon Allen and Andy Winter.

Can anyone remember who the Chief Whip was?  The one who imposed discipline on the Group?  You might just be surprised…..

How Labour took control, with the assistance of the Conservative Mayor, can be found in my tribute to that Mayor, Bob Cristofili.

Bob Cristofoli: some personal memories

I was greatly saddened to hear of the death of Bob Cristofoli. Bob was a long standing member of Brighton Borough Council and was Mayor when I was first elected in 1985. He was also a member of the Board of Brighton Housing Trust for over 20 years.

I first met Bob when I went as part of a delegation from the Brighton Unemployed Workers’ Union to meet him in Brighton Town Hall. We had a list of demands including reduced fees for unemployed people who wished to use a Council-owned leisure facilities and half price bus fares on the buses, then owned by the Borough Council. We expected a hostile reception but Bob was charm personified and he readily agreed to our requests.

Bob Cristofoli (second from the left) with Ruth Larkin (left) and the then Mayor, Jeane Lepper, at a thank you event for four retiring members of the BHT Board (Dick Allen and Patricia Norman, and the former Chair of BHT, Paul Dobson (at the back)

Before becoming Leader of the Council, he had been chair of the Housing Committee, a lifelong passion. That led him to joining the Board of BHT.  At that time, the work of BHT did not enjoy the all-party support it does today. Bob was one of the two Conservative councillors on our Board (the other being Ruth Larkin) who would declare an interest whenever a BHT-related matter came before the Council.  By doing so they denied their party the majority to vote down a particular measure or planning application (such as the planning application in 1984 for First Base Day Centre to open in its current home in Montpelier Place).

For someone of such ability and who had such an illustrious local government career, he was an incredibly humble man. When it was proposed that a new housing scheme in Whitehawk was to be named after him, he was opposed to the idea. He was uncomfortable at having something named after him, and joked that nobody could pronounce let alone spell his surname. He compromised when he agreed that it could be named ‘Robert Lodge’ because “nobody would know it had been named after me”, he later told me.

Bob fell out with his group at the end of his year as the Mayor of Brighton. The 1986 local elections resulted in parity between Labour and the Conservatives after Labour had picked up a seat or two. Control of the Council would be decided by the casting vote of the new Mayor. The vote for the new Mayor was tied 24-24, Bob having used his personal vote to support the candidate of his party. But when he used his casting vote as the outgoing Mayor, he used it for Labour’s candidate, Jacqui Lythell, saying that as Mayor he had to reflect the will of the people of Brighton and the people had voted in greater numbers for Labour in May 1986.  That decision marked the end of 130 years of unbroken rule by the Conservatives in Brighton.

While Bob was Mayor, I asked him whether he would receive a delegation from Namibia (the country to the north west of South Africa that had been occupied by the apartheid army for decades). He readily agreed. However, I felt guilty as I had not been completely frank with him about the nature of the delegation. It comprised members of Swapo which was involved in an armed struggle against the South African occupying forces. Swapo was regarded by the then Conservative government as ‘terrorists’. I went to see Bob and explained to him about the make up of the delegation. He replied: “Andy, I am fully aware of who Swapo are and what they stand for, and it will be an honour to receive them on behalf of the people of Brighton”.

In spite of his position as a civic leader, he remained down to earth and very humble. He regularly ate at a small, unfashionable cafe in Baker Street, a short walk from his modest flat in Grand Parade. Bob had the quality that is not always evident amongst other politicians, of being able to talk to ordinary people and to really listen to what they had to say. Above all, he had a genuine belief in serving his community.

Bob Cristofoli was a special man and I am I am glad that I knew him.

In memory of Ruth Larkin, the best mayor that Brighton never had

I had the good fortune of knowing Ruth Larkin in two capacities, as a fellow councillor on the Planning Committee of Brighton Borough Council, and in her role as a Trustee and member of the Board of Brighton Housing Trust.

Ruth Larkin (left) with the then Mayor of Brighton and Hove, Cllr Jeane Lepper, on the occasion of her resignation from the Board of Brighton Housing Trust

She served for around 25 years as a Trustee, paying particular attention to the comfort of our residents. She and her then Conservatives colleague, Bob Cristofili, ensured that support for BHT had cross-party support at a time when it could easily have become a partisan matter.

She chaired the Planning Committee for many years with diligence, skill and integrity. A lifelong cyclist, she would arrive at Committee site visits on her bicycle, humming hymns, content with her lot.

I once referred to Ruth as a Tory, not in a pejorative manner whatsoever, but she let me know in no uncertain terms that she was a Conservative and never a Tory which, she told me, was a nickname given to those who opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York (a Roman Catholic) from the succession to the Crown. As a South African with a very limited knowledge of British history, I can’t say I understood this deeply held view, but deeply held it was, like many of her beliefs.

Ruth was a Church Warden at St Anne’s in Kemp Town, her faith running through every vein of her being. She was never conventional, some might say her fashion sense was eccentric, and it was perhaps this that resulted in her never becoming Mayor of Brighton, an honour she truly deserved. Perhaps Ruth Larkin should be remembered as the best Mayor that Brighton never had.

My abiding memory of Ruth is that she was a kind person, and that she was one of a kind.