Brighton has been home to many of the best journalists in Britain – and some of the best paid.

In the 1950s, Beverley Nichols and Godfrey Winn were two of the most celebrated columnists, who vied with each other to see who was receiving the biggest fee.

Both were gay and both wrote a kind of chocolate-box prose, mainly marketed at women. It would not find much favour today.

Nichols was sufficiently enamoured with Brighton to have written the official resort guide in the 1930s (although some claimed he had it written for him by a boyfriend).

Winn, a war hero, had a house at Falmer and died young after suffering a heart attack. His reputation rapidly faded.

Gilbert Harding, better known for being a TV presenter, prepared columns for the Sunday People newspaper. Too lazy to write them himself, he dictated them over the phone from his Brighton home.

Newspapers often tried to link Harding romantically with pioneering woman journalist Nancy Spain but as he was a closet gay and she was a lesbian, not much happened.

Sadly Spain died in a plane crash in 1964 on her way to watch the Grand National at Aintree. She was 47.

Keith Waterhouse lived in Embassy Court for a decade before moving to Bath. He famously said of the resort that it looked as if it was helping the police with their enquiries.

He was at the Theatre Royal in Brighton for the opening of his play Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell, which went on to be a big hit in London.

Derek Jameson, editor of the Daily Express, lived on the seafront in Hove for many years before emigrating to the US. He played an active role in local life and founded the Association of Harbour Communities for people living near Shoreham Port.

He bought his home in Western Esplanade from astrologer June Penn, who wrote for many papers, including The Argus, during a long career.

It is not surprising that The Argus attracted writing talent as it was regarded as a gateway to Fleet Street. Among the best were Gordon Thomas, who went on to write books, and Michael Viney, who moved to Ireland to become a top TV executive and nature writer.

Annie Nightingale became the first female DJ on Radio One when the station opened in 1967. The American theatre critic Bob Shelton became best known for discovering Bob Dylan and eventually write a biography of him.

An earlier theatre critic was Jack Tinker, who remained living in Brighton despite leaving The Argus for London and the Daily Mail. When he died unexpectedly, the West End theatres all dimmed their lights as a mark of respect.

One of the biggest journalistic successes was Des Lynam, an insurance salesman who joined Radio Brighton in its early days and quickly became a top sports name. Lynam still supports the Albion today.

Kate Adie, BBC foreign correspondent, started her career at Radio Brighton, as did BBC European editor Gavin Hewitt.

There is obviously something about Brighton’s raffish atmosphere that many journalists find immensely attractive.