This spring we will be saying goodbye to what has become a staple on the seafront, the Brighton wheel. The wheel will be taken down after five years, and has officially gone on sale today. The wheel’s last day of trading will be 8th May and the dismantling of the wheel will start the next day. The wheel will then be put in storage in the Netherlands, before it is relocated to its new home.
The Brighton Wheel, who’s official name is the R50-SP Mobile Wheel Of Excellence (would it have killed them to call it the Brighton Wheel of Excellence!?) has played host to millions of visitors in the five years it’s been located on our seafront but now it is looking for a new home. There has been a petition launched for it to be relocated to Ramsgate but as it has only just gone on sale, the future buyer is still unknown. We also don’t know how much it costs, as potential buyers find out on the application. The wheel has been forced to move as part of the legal agreement bringing the i360 to the city, The Argus reports. The attraction is said to be replaced by a 300-metre-long zip wire. A spokesman for Paramount Entertainment said “with consent for the Brighton Wheel coming to an end, we are announcing that our last day of operation will be Sunday the 8th May. The Wheel will be transported back to Holland, and then on to its new destination which we will inform you of once it’s been confirmed…as a much-photographed backdrop for many of the city’s notable events from the Marathon to the Veteran Car Run and appearing in the artwork of local school children as well as professional artists, Brightonians have shown how much they have enjoyed the sight of The Brighton Wheel on their seafront.”
We will miss you, Brighton Wheel.
Holly Martin
feature image: Bex Walton via the Creative Commons license
