This web page was featured on BBC Radio Devon medium wave during September 2001, in an interview by Gordon Sparks.
Note that many of these photographs, particularly those of the city centre, could not now be taken without risk of arrest under mis-used anti-terror laws. Please see this site on the subject.
Plymouth in England is famous in America, because it was from here that the Pilgrims left for America in 1620. Here are some pictures around the famous Plymouth Hoe:
The building on the right is The Citadel, an ancient fort which is
still in use by the military. The red and white striped tower is
Smeaton's Tower, the world's first stone lighthouse, which was
transported in from its
location out to sea and reconstructed on the Hoe. The harbour
area to
the left is known as the Plymouth Sound.
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
Plymouth viewed across Plymouth Sound from Jennycliffe (walking
distance
from my previous home in Staddiscombe). The island in Plymouth
Sound
is called Drake's Island, it used to be an activity centre amoungst
other
things. At the moment it does not seem to have a purpose.
The
land to the left is Cornwall, whereas Plymouth is located in Devon.
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
Another view of Jennycliffe, showing the concrete gun placements put in
during the Second World War, the guns looked out to sea in case of
German
invasion. Anyone who can give me more detail on these, please
email
me. Jennycliffe is a popular recreation area with beautiful
views, hence
the benches on the concrete gun placements. It was from around
here
that I (and a few thousand other people) viewed the Solar eclipse in
1999.
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
Tinside
Pool
had succumbed to the winter storms. Once it was a wonderful
outdoor lido from the 1930's. In 1991 it had to be closed
as it had become unsafe and slowly crumbled. At last it has been
restored
(late summer 2003),
there is more work to do around it, but it is open to the public once
again
during summer times.
This is a 15 minute walk from the city centre, or park up on Plymouth Hoe itself.
Click on the picture to see it in high definition.
Here's a real find, Tinside Pool area in the
1950's. Some pictures on this site I will allow people to use
elsewhere if they ask, but this one is special, I must insist that it
remain only on this web page. It's a truly excellent picture
taken by a family member who recently passed away, and I know he would
have been very proud if he could see it here now. And next....
Click on the picture to see it in high definition.
... a picture taken recently from almost
the same spot. I could not get to exactly the same position, it
appears no longer to exist. You will see on the left side is
Tinside pool in the distance. Smeaton's
tower just sneaks in the right hand side, to help you locate
yourself if you know the area. The chalets are still in use, and
the cafe at the top right of the picture served us with nice coffee in
excellent surroundings after I had taken this shot. We were able
to see HMS Manchester coming
into port.
This was taken during Easter 2004, Tinside Pool had not yet opened for the season.
Click on the picture to see it in high definition (and slightly less trimmed)
Sir
Francis Drake was said to have played bowls on Plymouth Hoe in 1588
while the Spanish Armada approached. But he got himself a statue
to remember him by! He wasn't daft, he knew the tide was against
the Spanish Armada. When the tide turned the English Fleet sailed
from Plymouth Harbour and defeated them by sailing burning ships into
the Armada. Drake lived near Tavistock just a few miles from
Plymouth.
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
Right beside Plymouth Hoe is
the historic waterfront area called the Barbican. There are a
number of pubs around here, but they are not all the sort of place for
a quiet pint in the evening. The whole Barbican area is very
popular with night time revellers, both locals and visitors.
There are also many restaurants, and a well known take-away called "Captain Jasper's" which has been
moved a few yards by the construction of the Glass Works (turquoise roof) in the
centre of this shot. Also see the new web site for Captain
Jasper's which includes a real live webcam, some more nice photos
around the Barbican, as well as the menu!
This is one of my top three favourite pictures here.
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
Fishing as well as pleasure
craft use the sea front. It is also possible to take a boat
cruise around the Plymouth Hoe, and see the warships and
other vessels that dock in the area.
Click on the picture to see it in high definition.
I have had so many requests to take a picture of the Mayflower steps, I did this as soon as their renovation was complete. However I will warn you that they are not the original steps used by the Pilgrim Fathers, since the promenade was extended outwards many years ago. But look, they have the Union Jack and Stars And Stripes up there!
Click on the picture to see it in
high
definition.
Plymouth people laid flowers and lit candles around the Mayflower steps in memory of the disaster in America on September 11th 2001. Here one of the boat trips which tour the Plymouth Sound, is pulling alongside. This picture was taken on 14th September, shortly after a three minute silence was marked across the UK and Europe. The flags were flying at half mast.
Despite being very sad, this is one of my top three favourite pictures here.
Click on the picture to see it in high definition.
There are some great shots around the Hoe area on this site too.
A major employer in Plymouth is the Dockyard. Part of the site can be seen here, taken here from a ferry by a reader Grant Fuller.
Click on the picture to see it
in high
definition.
A favourite meeting spot in
the centre of the Plymouth shopping centre is the sundial. It has
a water fountain, and for a few days of each year it actually tells the
correct time! This shot was taken around Christmas.
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
Here is the Armada Centre
(includes Sainsburys and a hotel). My favourite
computer shop used to be in here but they have now developed the centre
and
moved out most of the interesting shops, so
the Computer Shop is now a few yards
along this road (just to the right on this picture). The Armada
Centre now
looks a little different from the outside so a new picture will be here
soon. If you come to Plymouth for a short stop for shopping, this
is
probably the best car park; spend a fiver in Sainsburys and you can
park here
for 2 hours free. Not good for very long stays though, it gets
expensive.
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
The Pannier market is
an indoor arena of many individual market stalls. Especially good
for cheap fresh food produce, but also has stalls selling all kinds of
jewellery, electrical goods and brick-a-brack. There's also a
restaurant upstairs. It has undergone some recent
renovation. Here is what it
used to
look like. It was created by local architects Walls and Pearn
between 1957 and 1959 and was given a Class 1 Civic Trust award shortly
afterwards, and is now being considered for a Grade II listed building
status.
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
One of two theatres, the
Theatre Royal is in the centre of this picture. To the left and
rather dwarfed is Derry's clock tower. On the left
of the picture is The Bank pub, named because it used to be Lloyds
Bank,
or perhaps because it used to be so expensive to buy a pint in
it! The road
is Royal Parade, and in spring it is decorated with flowers along the
railings.
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
Plymouth city was extensively bombed during the Second World War.
Charles Church was gutted, and as a memorial to the Blitz, it has been
left
unrepaired. It is now in the centre of a busy roundabout, but is
used
for occasional services, and can be illuminated. The road here
runs
immediately above Plymouth's bus station, called Bretonside. The
surface
I was stood on here may look like paving, but is really a glass
skylight
for the bus station below.
This is one of my top three favourite pictures here.
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
At the top of the city,
Drake's Circus is was demolished in 2004 and replaced, along with many of the
surrounding buildings. Much of this concrete carbuncle
is best forgotten, but some of the businesses such as the Unity Pub
will be missed. I have a lot of photographs of the work are here (from start
of work to end of July 2004) then here (from July
2004 onwards). Finally see here the finished
new building
I asked question for you, my readers: The office building in the background with the orange "DC" sign, was this ever used? I've received this reply from a former art college student: "For about two years the college used the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors while the college extension was built. The interior of the building was very eighties, the walls were wooden clad and there also use to be an 'in and out' board for who was out of each floor (managers of the companies who use to work there). It was a nice comfortable building and I use to enjoy going to lectures in the building, it was an excellent building for exhibitions and the college held two exhibitions there as it had massive rooms, some rooms had foldable walls that opened two rooms into one. If my memory is correct the offices were being offered for let around 1995, and stood empty until the college moved in around April 2001." As far as I'm aware, that is the only use the building was ever put to in 30 years, unless you know differently...
Another reader says "Hi Colin, I was also a student at the
Plymouth College of Art & Design. I spent a year in the old office
building at Drake Circus. We only used the top two floors, but a lot of
us couldn't resist looking around the other floors. Most of the floors
were empty, although there were a few old desks, lights and the odd
computer monitor still lying around. The floors had definitely been
used by some companies and I'm sure we even saw a sign on one of the
doors, but I can't remember the name. I remember that there were
two small very small lifts in the building, although one was mostly out
of order and the other broke frequently. I'm not the biggest fan of
lifts and I really hated these lifts. The lighting was dim, the doors
didn't always close fully and they were very small and claustrophobic.
The sea views were great, and we really enjoyed the space, although in
bad weather the roof on the fife floor would often leek and we even had
a few ceiling tiles fall apart because they were so wet. Some of the
windows were also dangerous and were marked with red tape, I think
there was an incident where one of the windows became dangerously loose
and almost fell out. The building also created regular whirlwinds in
front of the main entrance, as it was very close to one of the subways,
there was often loads of rubbish circling around in a column, it was
very strange!
The whole experience was quite exciting and it brought the courses that
use the building together, we had a sort of camaraderie because there
always seem to be something strange going on. Although the tower was
ugly and badly built, I will miss it as I had a lot of good times
there! Just like the say I think your site is great, keep up the
good work "
When the Unity Pub was demolished some of the staff from the college managed to retrieve the sign that use to hang outside, the demolition men were just going to throw it in with the rest of the rubble. As far as is known the college library is the new home to the sign.
If you have broadband, there is a segment of video here of the demolition in progress. Well I say progress, I evidently don't know much about demolition, because these characters seem to be doing a lot of something, but very little actual demolition at all! What do you think?
When sneaking around where I shouldn't have been, I was rather surprised to find that inside the half-demolished Charles Cross multi-storey car park, there was still someone's car!
Pictures of the work are here:
Note that the pictures are slightly compressed to save web space,
if you need a high quality image of any of these pictures, just request it. See the official website here.
Much of the area is used
for grazing of sheep and ponies, that roam the
moors.
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
The rocky outcrops,
consisting mostly of granite, are known as tors. Many are
named. This one may be called Sharper Tor, correct me if I'm
wrong....
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
Much of Dartmoor is
accessible by road. Care must be taken not to
collide with the sheep and ponies! This picture was taken near
Burrator
Reservoir, which is a nice place to go for a walk after a meal at the
Burrator
Inn just up the road.
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
However there are large
amounts of moorland that are miles from any roads.
Click on the picture to see it in high
definition.
Connecting
Devon to Cornwall over the river Tamar is a road bridge and the
wonderful Royal
Albert rail bridge built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, completed in 1859
shortly
before his death. It is almost constantly being maintained as shown
here, and
has been extensively strengthened over the years. This photograph is
taken from
the Plymouth side and looks out to Saltash in Cornwall.
This one picture I don't have in high
resolution.
The road
bridge can be seen very clearly here, this picture taken by reader
Grant Fuller.
Click on the picture to see it in
high
definition.
This page changes over time, it will have more pictures from the countryside, beaches, and I have had a number of requests for pictures around Devonport. Any suggestions, please email me. For more information about Plymouth, see the site run by the local newspaper The Evening Herald, also The Town of Plymouth and the Plymouth City Council. One page which has plenty of excellent pictures of this area is from Nic Randall, who has been taking high quality photographs for some 20 years. Other sites of interest include Plymouth's hotels, and The South West Environmental Engineering site. There's also the local radio station Plymouth Sound (it's a pun on the name of the bay of Plymouth, also called Plymouth Sound). Also see the Plymouth webcam on Jennycliffe, and Plymouth & South West Devon a Genealogical Miscellany. A french site has a few very nice pictures too, a new site is being created here by another resident of the area, and there is a site of pictures from Devon.
If you fancy a drink, visit Plymouth's Pubs, for some history and very good links, see www.plymouthpeople.co.uk and some excellent wartime pictures here. I get quit a lot of enquires about Devonport and I'm pleased to say there is now a website about Devonport's regeneration. There is also a Plymouth Classical Music Concert Diary, and I particularly like this very informative Plymouth Info website. For old pictures of Plymouth, this site is simply outstanding. There are some great shots around the Hoe area on this site and Dave Upton Photography has a great selection of Westcountry pictures. Some great aerial shots here date back over many years. The next county South from Devon is of course Cornwall, in which is Tintagel (King Arthur Country), see "A village website with stacks of local pictures, tours, & valuable information". Dave Upton is a photographer who runs a site of old UK photos, and there are many Plymouth and Westcounty pictures there. We are listed on: Activplymouth.com the most comprehensive guide for Plymouth on the internet.
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