What do you know about Torquay?

[astral276]

Does the name "Kents Cavern" mean anything to anyone?

I've heard of Kent's Cavern - but that is a whole different story.

[meebo1]

I know nothing about it, except that my in-laws spent a few days there on a regular basis

[westlondoncarparts]

My recalls from memory might not be 100% correct so this needs to be borne in mind.

The development of the railways in the Victorian Age resulted in a mainline railway track from Bristol all the way down to Penzance. There were several branch lines off the mainline track, one of which went down to Torquay, Paignton (next door to Torquay) and Dartmouth. These branch lines enabled the mass movement of people to the coast for the first time on holidays, and the Torquay branch line enabled Torquay to develop as a major tourist resort in Victorian and Edwardian times. Its popularity as a resort was very strong up until the late 1960s when overseas package holidays took off in a big way.

Torquay, Paignton and nearby Brixham (collective name Torbay)were known as the English Riviera due to the relatively mild climate.

Brunel (of Great Western Railway fame) was very taken with Torquay and bought property there to retire to when he got older.

The Russian Imperial family, the Romanovs, visited Torquay regularly. They might have bought property there but I am not sure about that.

Kent’s Cavern is a big cave complex in Torquay in which evidence of prehistoric human habitation was found.

Next to Torquay is Cockington which used to be a big farming estate and in which there is something like a model village.

I can remember during the oil embargo and oil crisis of 1973 / 1974, large oil tankers that were suddenly surplus to requirements moored up in Torbay which was relatively sheltered from the storms that used to drive up the English Channel from time to time.

I used to work for what was Trusthouse Forte Hotels. We had two hotels in Torbay. The Imperial in Torquay had been built originally in the 1800s after the railway had come to Torquay and later in the 20th century had a lot of extension work undertaken in modern architecture style. It was a 5 star hotel built overlooking the sea with fantastic views. Although its conference facilities were not sufficient to handle the largest conferences, it was a leading venue for more modest gatherings in the international conferences market. The General Manager at that time was Harry Murray whose claim to fame was that he had been initiated as a Zulu chief when he was working as a GM In Johannesburg. He is still active in the hotel business today and is recognised as one of the UK’s leading hoteliers. Our other hotel was the Palace Hotel in Paignton. Originally built as a very large mansion style property for the Singer family (of Singer Sewing Machines) I think in the late 1800s, it was later converted into a hotel. I stayed there whilst on audit for the company and enjoyed the very elegant and stylish architecture. It was a most beautiful period hotel.

Like love_to_stitch , I always enjoyed to go to Torbay when very young. The Luftwaffe had flattened most of Devonport and Plymouth City Centre during WW2 and it took a long time for the damaged buildings to be demolished and for the bomb sites to be redeveloped. Eventually all the City Centre was rebuilt. The bombed landscapes were not very appealing, neither were the areas of high density dreary looking terraced housing in some parts of the city. So it was always enjoyable to go to Torbay and to see the elegant architecture there and to see the lights along the sea front.

Brixham is a fishing port so fish and chips in Torquay always used the freshest fish and were delicious!

[damian_steele]

Thank you for all the replies so far.

Does anyone else have anything to add?