I Went to Devon!

 

Where is Torbay? That was the vexing question when I recently visited Devon. It keeps getting mentioned yet there seems to be no such actual place, no town called Torbay. Turns out it’s the collective name for Torquay, Paignton and Brixham and I suspect the title originated as an amalgamation of Torquay Bay. It’s a unitary authority and more importantly one of the UK’s favourite homegrown holiday areas also sometimes referred to as the English Riviera due to the topography, large number of boats and balmier sunny temperatures. So, I went in April.

It’s a long way from where I live, when you travel there it seems further away than any map will show you almost like it’s been hidden in folded space. Perhaps that explains the weather. We stayed in Paignton which is one of those many UK seaside towns looking worse for wear. I don’t know why but these places always like to paint their buildings a bright colour or just white yet the salty air strips away the paint so unless you re-do it each year it will look a bit shoddy. I suppose it looks better than a lot of black buildings. The town also seems to have more than its fair share of empty shop units though the arcades gamefully open early in the morning even if there is nobody around.

Paignton does have a zoo, a Pier containing oodles of colourful games and also a smallish beach though the tide never seems to go out too far. The railway line cuts right through the town meaning that sometimes the barrier is dropped across the main street. The Wetherspoons was closed for refurbishment which meant we had to retreat to a pub called The Spinning Wheel which has the most enormous metallic wheel on the outside while inside has the feel of a countryside pub despite being a short distance from the sea front. The main bar also has a motorcycle pinned to the wall above a fireplace and a table opposite is shaped to look like an old bellows.  Another place nearby goes by the strange name of the Hyde Dendy. What you feel is a sense of community here despite the economic problems the place has and with some outside investment Paignton could easily enjoy a revival. 

Torquay is the largest place and will help you achieve those ten thousand steps per day with its sprawling layout and many steep roads. It does have a full complement of shops but more importantly best shows the resemblance to the Riviera with houses perched on the sides of hills above the town and a multitude of boats and yachts parked up by the quayside. I don’t know whether anyone actually ever sails them because they all seemed to remain docked that week. I can actually recommend a great restaurant in Torquay if you like Italian food, it’s called Amici and in terms of both service and food it scores a ten out of ten. If you’re the sort of person who gives things marks out of ten.

In fact, apart from the scenery, the biggest takeaway from the break is that the people here are very pleasant and unhurried. Whether in shops, café’s, buses, or visitor attractions they exude amiability and helpfulness. I suppose it gets pushier when all the tourists arrive but it seemed like nobody really rushes in Torbay. There is a pavilion near the bay which seems disused though I found out it is due for restoration having previously been a shopping centre and a theatre. Another lovely place is Brixham where you can see less high-end boats parked even when the tide is out. It’s the politest tide too, no swishing and swashing about, just gently lapping almost unnoticeably in and out. Some of the boats look as if they may have been there unattended for some time.

Sitting in this picturesque harbour is a replica of The Golden Hind which for a rather princely sum you can wander around. The fact that over sixty people crewed this boat seems impossible to imagine- its crowded with just a handful of tourists milling around it. Plus, we don’t experience the rolls of the open sea. It isn’t actually full size though but it doesn’t look as if it would ever have been comfortable for the crew.  The name flatters what is not a grand ship and indeed it was initially named the Pelican. The weather hasn’t been too kind to this vessel either though I suppose they will replace it with another replica if it starts to fall apart. You may be thinking- hold on I saw the Golden Hind in Portsmouth. Or London. And you’d be right but they’re also replicas. The original rotted away in the 1600s.

What is the Golden Hind even doing in this small village you say?  Its because a replica was made for a 1963 tv series about Sir Francis Drake and they decided to leave it there after filming took place though this one is a replica of the replica! Even though Drake was not a pirate, both the ship and the town seem slightly obsessed with pirate lore and I even saw an actual pirate. Probably just an actor wearing a long beard and talking piratese but I like to think he’d hopped back through a time portal for the day. Brixham was also were I had an authentic Cornish pasty event though we weren’t in Cornwall. As big as a boot it staves off hunger for hours and potentially days.

Another time was spent underground in the caves at Kent’s Cavern. These caves are literally prehistoric though have been very well lit by lamps of a presumably more recent vintage. In fact one of the best moments was when our irrepressible guide showed how stone age men created fire in the caves by burning shells. The cave tour takes an hour or so and is surprisingly not cold as you would imagine due to the enclosed caves system. There are pathways so no rock climbing or crawling through holes is required and it really feels other worldly to be in there, an absorbing time spent. They tell you not to touch the rocks and there is a real reason for that so believe me when I say don’t touch them! If you do go there and don’t have a car be warned that its not easy to find once you leave the bus. The signage is almost non existent and we had to ask two passers by at different times to give directions. "You can't miss it" etc...

We went to Totnes by accident. Even the area’s buses could not find a reliable way to get to and back from Fischcombe Cove in the time needed so we ended up going to Totnes instead. Its inland so made a nice change of locale resembling one of those well heeled towns like Bath where buildings are in local stone and shops are artisan and local. The café we ate at was lovely though accessibility was an issue- a couple with a pram could not get it through a door which was about the width of a cupboard.

I’m not an ardent holidayer because they inevitably seem more hard work than my job but this was a lovely area to visit and I definitely upped my average of steps per day there. I expect all these places will be livelier in the summer though at any time of the year this is an area that seems a place slightly apart from the rest of the UK and well worth a visit.