Torquay - South Devon

Torquay/Great Western Railway Giclee Print
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Babbacombe Model Village, Hampton Avenue. Babbacombe is a popular area of Torquay with two beaches of its own. In the model village there are tiny reproductions of towns and villages from the past to the future.

Bygones Victorian Museum, Fore Street, St. Marychurch (in the north of Torquay). Here you can see a life size Victorian street, a real Second World War Anderson Shelter (bomb shelter), a World War 1 trench, a children's fantasy land and a working model railway.

CockingtonThe chocolate-box pretty village of Cockington, mentioned in the 12th century Domesday Book, is just one mile from Torquay but it still keeps it's old-world charm and character. See thatched houses, even the public toilets are thatched, an old forge, a manor house, Cockington Court, and a country park with beautiful walks.

Torquay's Beaches The town has ten beaches, including those at Babbacombe. They range from those safe for families to others that are better for experienced swimmers. Access is difficult to some beaches and not all of them have toilet facilities. During the summer, dogs are allowed on Ansteys Cove, Babbacombe Beach, Beacon Cove, Maidencombe Beach, the north end of Meadfoot Beach and Watcombe Beach. They are banned from the other beaches during the summer months.

Torquay Harbour This is a proper working harbour and is often crowded with yachts and other boats. It is enclosed by two piers, one of which has seats if you just want to sit and watch.

Torquay Museum, 529 Babbacombe Road. This museum was founded in 1845 by the Torquay Natural History Society who still own and run it. The present building came into use in 1876 and it has recently been updated with a Heritage Lottery Grant in 2001. It collections include displays of Natural History, Kents Cavern, Agatha Christie, an old Devon farmhouse, Egyptology, and watercolours.

The Early 13th Century Spanish Barn,Torre Abbey
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Torre Abbey was founded by the Premonstratensian order of Canons Regular (priests living under the St Augustine rule and, unlike monks, they minister to people who attend their church). By the 15th century, it was the wealthiest Premonstratensian abbey in the country. They used some of their wealth to build Torquay's harbour and also to found a new town nearby - Newton Abbot.

The Abbey's Tithe Barn was built in the early 13th century, probably just a few years after the Abbey was founded in 1196. Said to be one of the finest medieval barns in the country, it was originally used to store the produce levied on the farmland the Abbey owned across the county (tenants paid in kind rather than in cash). The barn played a small part in the Spanish Armada leading it to be renamed the Spanish Barn. Sir Francis Drake used it to hold 397 prisoners taken from the Spanish flag ship, the Rosario. Now, you can still visit the Spanish Barn and it is used for special events, exhibitions and even barn dances.

In spite of being priests, these were not the kind who turned the other cheek. They were prepared to defend themselves and the area from raiders. Part of their defense was a gatehouse built in 1380.

Blue Plaque on the Spanish Barn
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After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the abbey's church was demolished and the rest of the building was turned into a private house. It was owned by the Cary family from 1662 to 1930 who converted the loft above the dining room into a Catholic chapel at a time when this was a dangerous thing to do. In the 18th century, when holding a Catholic Mass was still illegal, they built another chapel for this purpose in what had formerly been the Abbot's guest hall and it is still in use today.

It was extensively remodelled in the 18th century and contains furniture, paintings and works of art as well as the Dame Agatha Christie Memorial Room with many mementos of the writer who was born in Torquay. In 1930 it was bought by the local council and became an art gallery.

For about the last 150 years the building has been deteriorating. In 2004 it was closed to the public to allow restoration to be done. It received £4.9 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and more money from organisations like English Heritage, Torbay Council and Friends of Torre Abbey.

During restoration, the Museum of London's archaeologists uncovered a 15th Century grave slab believed to be one of the best surviving examples of its kind. The grave slab is made of slate and has a boldly engraved design, incorporating a Celtic-style cross standing on a plinth. This has been dated to the 15th Century by Barney Sloane of English Heritage. Closely similar designs have been found in Dorset, which is where the stone carver who made the grave slab was possibly based.

The Abbey finally reopened in July 2008 as the first stage of the work was done. This included restoration of the west range of the building, the oldest part of the Abbey and of great archaeological and architectural importance.

Other work has improved the visitor experience as an entrance has been opened under the Abbot's Tower and a route developed that will allow visitors to appreciate the restored cloister garden and the medieval undercrofts. There is a new shop, café, toilets and car parking.

Torre Abbey has two Grade I and four Grade II listed buildings and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument of national importance.

Lights and Yachts Reflected in Harbour at Dusk, Torquay, Torbay, England Photographic Print
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The popular seaside resort of Torquay is famous for its mild weather, beaches and the palm trees growing along the seafront.

There has been human habitation here since earliest times. In Kents Cavern (see below) flint hand axes have been found dating from 450,000 years ago. Roman offerings dating from the Roman occupation of Britain have also been found there.

Torquay Harbour in 1842

Torre Abbey was founded in 1196 but after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, it became a private residence. In the Middle Ages, the public gardens behind the main beach were part of farmland belonging to the Abbey.

Even the building of the Abbey did not bring any major growth in population and the main sources of income remained farming and fishing. It was only the 19th century and the Napoleonic Wars that saw the town grow. The Royal Navy used Torbay as a sheltered place to anchor leading to naval officers coming ashore, eventually followed by their families who visited.

Torquay's mild winter climate attracted more people, especially those in delicate health or convalescing from serious illness or injury. In 1801 the population was 838 and in just 50 years it increased to 11,474.

The Strand in Torquay, 1900

Just like many other places in Britain, it was the coming of the railway that really brought growth to the town. The first station was opened in 1848 followed by another in 1859 in a much more central position. The first one was renamed Torre Station while the second one took the name Torquay Station. The second station opened as a result of the extension of the railway line, which had terminated at Torre Station, to Kingswear south of Torbay on the River Dart.

The town became a borough in 1872 and began to attract holiday makers rather than just sick people although in the First World War military hospitals were set up here to take the wounded.

During the inter-war years, the railway successfully ran advertising campaigns to attract holiday makers leading to further growth in the town. During the Second World War the town took evacuated children from the big cities as it was seen as a safer place although it did receive some bombing, principally from planes dumping bombs when returning from bombing Plymouth.

In 1948, it was a venue for the Yachting events in the Olympic Games.

This memorial clock stands at the junction of the Strand, Torwood Street and Victoria Parade in Torquay. Completed in 1902, the following year it came into the ownership of Torquay Corporation. The Mallocks were one of the three prominent Victorian families instrumental in the development of the town.

Torre Abbey Gardens, Torquay, Devon Photographic Print
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© Copyright Kents Cavern

Kents Cavern, Ilsham Road, is said to be the oldest recognisable human habitation in the country. Many prehistoric finds have been made there including tools made from flint, bone and antlers. Many of the finds are now in the local museum but the Cavern is still a fascinating place to visit. Like most caves complexes, the geology is as interesting, and often beautiful, as its history of human settlement.

The caverns are within Devonian limestone and were made by the action of water on the limestone over millions of years. The local Devon soil contains iron oxide giving it a reddish colour. It is the same substance which makes the usually white limestone a browny-red colour).The impressive and interesting formations in the caves, including stalagmites and stalagtites(mites grow up, tites grow down), are formed from calcium carbonate (calcite).

The cavern's earliest human inhabitants were there in the early Stone Age at a time when Britain was still physically joined to the rest of Europe. The remains of long extinct animals have also been found including sabre-toothed tigers, bears, mammoths, rhinos and lions.

There are two inscriptions in the caves from some of its early modern explorers. One says 'William Petre 1571' and 'Robert Hedges 1688'. The first who left a written record was Thomas Northmore in 1824. Northmore's work was seen by the reader in Geology, Dean Buckland, at Oxford University. He sent down another exploratory party which included the chaplain of Torre Abbey, John MacEnery. Over five years they carefully explored the cavern and discovered the flint tools. Because theological thinking dated the creation to 4004 BC, the work was scorned.

© Copyright Kents Cavern

In 1845 William Pengelly, the man most associated with the exploration of Kents Cavern, and Edward Vivian carried out excavations there. Pengelly continued his work in the Cavern until his death in 1892. The two early inscriptions made by Petre and Hedges were carved into a stalagmite. Using the one made by Hedges with the date 1688, Pengelly could calculate the stalagmite's rate of growth. This allowed other artifacts found under calcium carbonate to be dated leading to the conclusion that the flint tools could be 450,000 years old.

During the 1920s further excavations were carried out. One of the finds, the jawbone containing three teeth that came from a teenage girl was discovered in a drawer in 1988 in Torquay Museum. It was sent for carbon dating showed at 31,000 years in age, this was the earliest modern human (homo sapiens sapiens) remains ever found in north western Europe.

Pengelly's work also included making a record of where everything found in Kents Cavern was found so allowing later scholars to deduce any relationship and differences between them.

In 1903 the Cavern was sold to a carpenter called Francis Powe who used it as a workshop. His son Leslie installed electric lights, pathways and a facilities for visitors, then opened it to the public. Leslie's son and then his grandson followed in his footsteps, to the point that Kents Cavern is a major attraction for visitors, proved by winning Torbay's Visitor Attraction 2005. Before that it had won Showcave of the Year 2000.

© Copyright Kents Cavern

Agatha Christie - picture on plaque at Torre Abbey
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Agatha Chistie was born in Torquay on 15th September 1890. Her maiden name was Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller and she was born in Barton Road. She lived in the town with her parents until she 16 when she was sent to a finishing school Paris, just like many other upper class were at that time.

She returned to Torquay and eventually met her first husband, Lieutenant Archie Christie. They were married on Christmas Eve 1914 before her husband went to fight in the First World War. Agatha Christie's war work was as a nurse at the Town Hall, made into a Red Cross hospital for the duration of the war. She qualified to work in the hospital's pharmacy which gave her the detailed knowledge of poisons that she used to such good effect in her novels.

During the war, Torquay took refugees fleeing the Germans from Belgium. This included one small, dapper man who became the model for the famous Hercule Poirot.

Although Agatha had one daughter from her marriage, it ended in divorce in 1928. After this she went on two archaelogical digs. On the second one she met archaeologist, Max Mallowan, who became her second husband in 1930.

Eight years later they bought the Greenway Estate, Dittisham, as a second home.

Agatha Christie died on 12th January, 1976. By that time she had gone in the Guinness Book of Records as the best selling author of all time as she had sold one billion books in English and a further one billion in 43 other languages.

The Strand: Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot Giclee Print
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Fawlty Towers is probably one of the best remembered and funniest television comedies ever to appear on the BBC. Written by John Cleese and his wife at the time, Connie Booth, they both starred in the series. Cleese played the irascible hotel owner Basil Fawlty and Connie Booth was Polly the maid - often the one who got Basil out of trouble.

The idea of for the series came to John Cleese when he and other members of the Monty Python team stayed in the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay in 1970. The eccentric behaviour of owner, Donald Sinclair, was the inspiration for the comedy. When Monty Python star Eric Idle checked in, Sinclair put his case in the garden because it was ticking and there might be a bomb in it - in fact it was an alarm clock. He criticised Terry Gillam for eating his meal with the fork in his right hand instead of using a knife and fork in the traditional way. In another incident, when a guest asked him about the times of buses, Sinclair threw a timetable at him.

John Cleese first used Basil Fawlty in an episode of Doctor in the House which he wrote. The character was so good that Cleese wrote the first series of Fawlty Towers.

The series was set in a Torquay hotel, although the building used in the opening shots was the Wooburn Grange Country Club in Buckinghamshire. The comedy revolved around Basil Fawlty's unpredictable and irascible behaviour. One of the most memorable episodes was called The Germans in which a group of Germans stay at the hotel. Before they arrive, the hotel staff are told "Don't mention the war". Basil gets hit on the head, is concussed but leaves the hospital before he's better. When he arrives back at Fawlty Towers, of course he keeps mentioning the war to the Germans until the German women are in tears and the men angry.

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Prunella Scales played Basil's wife Sybil. She frightens her husband and he often flinches when she calls him. She seemed to spend most of her time chatting on the phone to her friend while ordering Basil to get certain jobs done.

The Spanish waiter, Manuel, played by John Sachs, was the other leading character. He was incompetent with a poor grasp of English. Basil often hits him round the head when he loses his temper, usually because poor Manuel doesn't understand.

There were only two series of Fawlty Towers of six episodes each. Cleese and Booth said they thought series two was better than the first one and they didn't think they could improve on it.

Since then both series have been repeated countless times and have attracted large audiences. People just never seem to tire of them and laugh as loudly and heartily as they did the first time they saw them. They have stood the test of time surprisingly well probably because the foibles of the main characters just don't date.

I lived in Brixham, across Torbay from Torquay, during my early teenage years. One of my most vivid memories is August 18th, 1963, when the Beatles came to Torquay to play live at the Princess Theatre.

I and my friends were totally besotted by the Beatles, just like almost every teenage girl of our age. My best friend, Paula, and I went to Torquay for the day to try to see the Beatles arriving because we didn't have tickets for the concert. We arrived by about 11am and hung around outside the Princess Theatre all day. It was OK because it's right on the seafront so it wasn't like hanging around in some dismal street and there were hundreds of other girls there.

The Beatles Poster
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Around 4 or 5pm a big car arrived and the Beatles ran in surrounded by their minders. We barely caught a glimpse of their backs. It was such an anticlimax that we still hung around along with most of the others who had been there all day. I then had a brainwave. I said to Paula, "Let's go to the box (ticket) office and ask if they have any tickets." We thought it was unlikely but we had nothing to lose. We couldn't believe our luck. They had two tickets that had been returned not too far back in the stalls. We shelled out the cash (about one week's pocket money each) and then had to dash home to Brixham by bus.

We were only 14 years old and, in those days, girls didn't stay out all evening without permission. Our parents weren't on the phone so we had to go. We didn't have long to go and get back though. We went to Paula's house first and her father drove us to my house. I got permission and he drove us to Torquay and arranged to come and collect us. Then, 14 year old girls certainly didn't come home alone at 10 to 11pm.

It was wonderful. We were about 15 rows from the stage. They sang all the songs we knew like Love Me Do, Twist and Shout and their latest release She Loves You. We screamed ourselves hoarse. Fortyfive years later I can still see them on stage and hear them singing She Loves You through the screams.

We were the only girls in our school who had seen them so our street cred went up enormously!

Torquay, England Photographic Print
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