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A borough of southwest England on Plymouth Sound, an inlet of the English Channel. A major port, it was the embarkation point for the fleet that fought the Spanish Armada (1588) and for Drake, Raleigh, and several other early explorers. Population: 243,000.
For more information on Plymouth, visit Britannica.com.
Plymouth owes its importance to the magnificent estuary into which drain the rivers Plym and Tamar. The original settlement was at Sutton, the name Plymouth being attached to the harbour. By Leland's time, in the 1530s, it was ‘very large’ with ‘a goodly rode for great shippes’. During the civil wars, Plymouth was of great strategic importance as a parliamentary bastion in a predominantly royalist region and resisted repeated attempts to subdue it. After the Restoration it increased with the growth of the navy. As a vital naval base, within easy bombing range from occupied France, Plymouth suffered heavily in the Second World War, and the subsequent replanning did not command total enthusiasm.
The country code is: 44
The city code is: 1752
| Plymouth | |
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  Plymouth shown within the United Kingdom |
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| Population | 246,100 (2005 est.) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| Unitary authority | Plymouth |
| Ceremonial county | Devon |
| Region | South West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PLYMOUTH |
| Postcode district | PL1-9 |
| Dialling code | 01752 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | Plymouth Sutton; Plymouth Devonport; South West Devon |
| European Parliament | South West England |
| Website: http://www.plymouth.gov.uk | |
| List of places: UK • England • Devon | |
Plymouth is a city of 243,795 inhabitants (2001 census) in the county of Devon in South West England. It is situated at the mouths of the rivers Plym and Tamar and overlooks one of Europe's largest natural harbours, Plymouth Sound. The city is large in geographical area because of the building of many postwar satellite housing estates and the absorption of Plympton and Plymstock in the 1960s.
The city has a rich maritime past and was once one of the most important Royal Navy bases in the United Kingdom, making the city a prime target of the Luftwaffe during World War II. After extensive destruction to the city in the Blitz of 1941, Plymouth was rebuilt under the guidance of architect Patrick Abercrombie. It is still home to the largest naval base in Western Europe[1].
Important locations in the city include The Royal Citadel, Devonport Dockyard and The Barbican from where the Pilgrims left for the New World in 1620. The University of Plymouth with thirty thousand students is the fourth largest in the UK.
Plymouth people are known as Plymothians or less formally as Janners.
The earliest known settlement on the area now occupied by Plymouth is at Mount Batten. It dates from the late Bronze Age, and was later an Iron Age trading port.[2] It is thought that[attribution needed] tin was brought here from Dartmoor via the Plym and traded with the Phoenicians. As part of the Roman Empire this port continued to trade tin along with cattle and hides but was later overshadowed by the rise of the fishing village of Sutton opposite, whose name means south town.
At the time of the Domesday Book (1086) the manor of Sutton was held by the King, but Henry I granted it to the Valletort family of nearby Trematon Castle. The Valletorts in turn granted parts to the Augustinian priory at Plympton, a larger and older settlement than Plymouth, at the head of the tidal estuary of the River Plym. That part of the town owned by Plympton Priory was granted a market charter in 1254, and the whole town and its surrounding area achieved municipal independence in 1439, becoming the first town to be incorporated by Act of Parliament.
As the higher parts of the Plym estuary silted up, ships used the Cattewater moorings and the then tidal harbour at the Plym's mouth instead of Plympton. And so the name of the town Sutton slowly became Plymouth. The name Sutton still exists in the name of its old harbour and a parliamentary division.
In 1403, the town was briefly occupied and burnt by the French, especially the Bretons. The town was often the target of enemies across the English Channel, especially during the Hundred Years' War. There was a castle at the mouth of Sutton Pool, as well as barricades across the seafront on the Hoe, but all of these have long since been demolished or built over by later fortifications.
Plymouth Hoe is a stretch of greensward on low cliffs overlooking Plymouth Sound; this is where Sir Francis Drake supposedly completed his game of bowls before sailing to defeat the Spanish Armada. It also features in the legend of the ancient giants Gog and Magog.
During the 16th century, Plymouth was the home port for a number of successful maritime traders, among them William Hawkins, who made the first English expeditions to West Africa in the 1530s; and his son Sir John Hawkins, who led England's first foray into the slave trade.[3]
The port of Plymouth has seen the arrival and departure of many notable people. Catherine of Aragon and
On 14 December 1810, Plymouth was struck by the strongest tornado yet reported in the UK (as of August 2005), with a T8 rating on the TORRO scale, and a wind speed of 213 to 240 mph[citation needed].
In the English Civil War Plymouth sided with the Parliamentarians against Charles I. During the siege of Plymouth, the town held out for almost four years until the defeat of the Royalists. There were various skirmishes and confrontations around and close to the city, including the battle of St Budeaux and the rout of Royalist cavalry along Lipson Ridge. Freedom Fields Park still commemorates one of the sites. The remains of several forts and keeps from that period can still be seen.
After The Restoration, construction of the Royal Citadel began in 1665. It had cannon both facing out to sea and into the town, a reminder to residents not to oppose The Crown.
The city was extensively blitzed during the Second World War, to the extent that approximately twice the amount of housing stock that existed prior to the war was destroyed during it, as a consequence of rebuilt houses being bombed again[citation needed].
Although the dockyards were the principal targets, civilian casualties were very high. The first bombs fell on the city on Saturday 6 July 1940 at Swilly, killing 3 people. The last attack came on 30 April 1944. 1,172 people were killed and 3,269 injured - these figures do not include the many service casualties.
The resident population fell from 220,000 at the outbreak of war to, at one point, 127,000. Many children were evacuated and those adults who could, fled. On any night that a raid was expected tens of thousands travelled into the countryside, usually onto the fringes of Dartmoor.
On the evening of 22 April 1941 during an attack on the central area, the communal air-raid shelter at Portland Square took a direct hit which killed 70 people. In the early 2000s, this was commemorated by the university which named a new building on the site after the incident, and also commissioned a local artist to create a commemorative piece.
During the blitz the two main shopping centres and nearly every civic building were destroyed, along with more than 20 schools and 40 churches. 3,754 houses were destroyed with a further 18,398 seriously damaged.[citation needed]
In the midst of the smoking ruins a headmistress posted over the door of St Andrew's Church a wooden sign saying simply Resurgam (Latin for I shall rise again), indicating the wartime spirit, a gesture repeated at other devastated European churches. That entrance to the St Andrews is still referred to as the Resurgam door and a carved granite plaque is now permanently fixed there.[4]
Plymouth was one of the principal staging posts for the Normandy landings in June 1944.
Many outdoor events and festivals are held in Plymouth including the British Fireworks Championships and Music of the Night, an outdoor production held every two years in The Royal Citadel[5] involving the 29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, The Royal Artillery Band, the band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines and hundreds of local amateur performers. The Plymouth Morris Men perform throughout the year at many events and venues.
The premier producing theatre is the Theatre Royal and its studio theatre, The Drum. The Theatre Royal recently opened its architectural prize-winning Production and Education Centre, known as TR2, on the reclaimed waterfront site at Cattedown.[6].
On the Barbican is the Barbican Theatre[1]. The University has two well-equipped theatres within the new Roland Levinsky Arts Building. Amateur dramatic societies and schools of dance regularly perform at the Athenaeum Theatre, Devonport Playhouse, and the Globe Theatre in the Royal Marine barracks.
The Plymouth Pavilions opened in 1991, and stages regular music concerts from rock and pop to ballet, and other live events.
Plymouth Music Accord[2] is a charity that promotes classical music and consists of many local amateur and professional orchestras and choirs.
Peninsula Arts[3] is the public arts interface between the University and local people.
The Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery [4] has collections of fine and decorative arts, natural history and human history. The museum's natural history collection consists of over 150,000 specimens and an historic natural history library and archive. Many prehistoric artefacts from Dartmoor, important Bronze Age and Iron Age material from Mount Batten and medieval and post-medieval finds from Plymouth are found in the human history collection alongside artefacts from Ancient Egypt and other ancient cultures of Europe and the Middle East.
The Art Gallery collections include 750 easel paintings, over 3,000 watercolours and drawings, at least 5,000 prints and a sizeable collection of sculptures. Work by local artists include that of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Robert Lenkiewicz along with work by artists of the 19th century Newlyn School, the influential 20th century St. Ives group of painters, and works by the Camden Town Group.
The Plymouth Arts Centre [5] is located near the Barbican, and regularly offers visiting displays of work by a wide range of local, British and international artists such as Beryl Cook, Richard Deacon, Andy Goldsworthy and Sir Terry Frost. As well as promoting visual arts, many independent art house and foreign films are shown.
A converted church on North Hill, now the Sherwell Centre and part of the university, hosts regular exhibitions, concerts, recitals, lectures and other public events. There are smaller and privately owned retail galleries on The Barbican.
There is a large multiplex cinema at the Barbican Leisure Centre and a double screen cinema at Drake Circus.
Also in Plymouth are the Plymouth & West Devon Record Office; Smeaton's Tower; the Elizabethan House and Merchants House in The Barbican. Plymouth is home to the National Marine Aquarium. The Ashkenazi synagogue, in Catherine Street, was built in 1762.
A centre of Plymouth's nightlife for over a century has been the once infamous Union Street. Once lined with numerous music halls and cinemas, the street is now run down and home to a decreasing number of bars, clubs and casinos. Union Street maintains a reputation for unruly drunken behaviour but still may host a lively night out. Although most clubs play commercial dance and R&B, there are some which play other, less popular genres. Other clubs and bars are at the Barbican Leisure Park and on Lockyer Street.There are a number of bars with live music. Mutley Plain has many bars due to the increase of student population in the city.
National fears about public disorder and excessive drinking have locally resulted in the making of many large "dispersal areas" and designated "no drinking areas", giving police the power to disperse groups of two or more and seize and dispose of any alcohol being carried or drunk in public spaces.
In 1914 the county boroughs of Plymouth and Devonport, and the urban district of East Stonehouse merged to form a single county borough of Plymouth. This was supported by the War Office, who were concerned that having three different local councils would complicate matters in time of war. Collectively they were referred to as "The Three Towns".[7] A provisional order was made on May 2, 1914, to come into effect in November.[8]
In 1928, Plymouth was granted city status.[9] The city's boundaries were extended in the mid-1930s and further expanded in 1967 to include the town of Plympton and the parish of Plymstock.
Plymouth lobbied for further boundary extensions throughout the post-war period, proposing to annex Saltash and Torpoint on the other side of the Tamar to the Local Government Boundary Commission. The 1971 Local Government White Paper proposed abolishing county boroughs, which would have left Plymouth, a town of 250,000 people, being administered from a council based at the smaller Exeter, on the other side of the county. This led to Plymouth lobbying for the creation of a Tamarside county, to include Plymouth, Torpoint, Saltash, and the rural hinterland.The campaign was not successful, and Plymouth ceased to be a county borough on April 1, 1974 with responsibility for education, social services, highways and libraries transferred to Devon County Council. It become a unitary authority under recommendations of the Banham Commission, on April 1, 1998.
The City of Plymouth is divided into 20 wards, 17 of which elect three councillors and the other three electing two councillors, making up a total council of 57. Councillors are also known as Members of the Council and usually stand for election as members of national political parties. Full local elections are held every four years with elections for one third of Council seats being held each intervening year; the total electorate for Plymouth is 184,956 as of December 2003. The local election of May 2006 resulted in a current political composition of 26 Labour and 31 Conservative councillors.
Council sessions have a Chairman and Vice-Chairman, who are entitled Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor respectively. The Lord Mayor has a ceremonial role and historical regalia. The Leader of the Council has day to day power which is exercised as Chairman of the Cabinet and there is a leader of each political group. The present Lord Mayor is the 540th holder of the office since its establishment in 1439. In 1935 that the dignity of Lord Mayor was granted, previously the office was simply Mayor. The Lord Mayor of Plymouth's official residence is 3 Elliot Terrace, located on the Hoe. Once a private residence of Waldorf and Nancy Astor, it was presented by Lady Astor to the City of Plymouth as an official residence for future Lord Mayors and is used today for civic hospitality for visiting dignitaries and High Court judges but can also be hired for private functions.
In Parliament, Plymouth is represented by the three constituencies of Plymouth Devonport, Plymouth Sutton and Southwest Devon. As of the 2005 General Election the two former constituencies are held by Labour MPs Alison Seabeck and Linda Gilroy respectively with the latter held by Conservative MP Gary Streeter. The local MEP is Conservative Giles Chichester.
There are Magistrates Crown and County Courts in the City, but no prisons; adult male prisoners from local courts go to the County Jail at Exeter, females to Eastwood Park well north of Bristol and youths to Ashfield at Pucklechurch by the M4. Plymouth City Police eventually became part of Devon and then Devon and Cornwall Constabulary. There are large police stations at Charles Cross and Crownhill (the Divisional HQ) and a growing number of police offices throughout the suburbs. The Naval Provost and other branches of the Service police together with the MOD Police and the British Transport Police regularly patrol the city. Plymouth is one of the first cities to introduce a large force of Police Community Support Officers. The City is the base for one of the region's Crown Prosecution Service divisional offices.
Plymouth has no motorway links but the national network is accessible via the A38 dual-carriageway Devon Expressway to the M5 motorway which starts about 40 miles (64.4 km), east near Exeter. The A38 Parkway, runs east west across the geographical centre of the city. The city links to Cornwall via the Torpoint Ferry across the Hamoaze, and via the Tamar Bridge from the A38 Parkway to Saltash.
There are bus and cycle lanes on many arterial roads and in the city centre.There is a large fleet of hackney carriages and private hire taxis. There is a persistent gridlock problem during rush hours and limited but expensive parking. A Congestion Charge was ruled out by the main parties at the last council elections.[citation needed]Plymouth Citybus provides bus services to suburban areas of the city and First Group provides other services within the city (including park and ride) and in the surrounding area. Stagecoach Devon provides services to Exeter and Paignton, and Western Greyhound provides services to Liskeard and Newquay. From the Bretonside Bus station located near to Drake Circus, National Express and other operators run long distance coach services to London and many parts of the UK.
Apart from the Torpoint Ferry mentioned above, a regular international ferry service provided by Brittany Ferries operates from Millbay taking cars and foot passengers directly to Roscoff, Brittany and Santander, Spain. The ferry berth in Millbay was lengthened to accommodate Brittany Ferries largest vessel, Pont-Aven and there is a plan to transform the harbour into a more versatile port to accommodate incoming cruise liners[citation needed]. Currently passengers are shuttled in tenders to and from large liners that occasionally enter the Sound.
There is a passenger ferry between Stonehouse and the Cornish hamlet of Cremyll and a water-bus from the Mayflower Steps to Turnchapel and Mount Batten.
Plymouth City Airport is a small airfield located four miles (6 km) north of the city centre, just off the A386 road to Tavistock. Formerly a regional base for British Airways and then of Welsh and Irish carriers it is now only used by Plymouth firm Air Southwest who operate short flights to destinations within the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands. Although a few small private jets have used the limited runway, any expansion or relocation of the airport to provide flights to continental Europe and beyond is, as of 2007, a controversial issue in the city. Due to the airport's suburban location further runway expansion is impossible. On 20 September 2007 Plymouth Airport operators revealed that a large part of the present airport land may be sold for residential purposes[10]. The city council assets manager cabinet member has called for a review as to whether the city wants or still needs an airport[citation needed]. Plymouth Airport does not have the technology to land aircraft in fog and redirection to Newquay Airport is the usual consequence. Exeter International Airport is about 40 minutes drive away.
Plymouth railway station offers direct travel by First Great Western to stations in Cornwall and to London Paddington (including the Night Riviera sleeper service). Other services are operated by Virgin trains to Birmingham New Street, the North of England, and Scotland; also by South West Trains to London Waterloo. A few trains of both of these operators are extended to and from Penzance.
Railway stations served by local trains are: Devonport, Dockyard, Keyham, St Budeaux Victoria Road, and St Budeaux Ferry Road. Trains serving these stations run on the Tamar Valley Line to Gunnislake and on the Cornish Main Line to Saltash, St Germans, then stations to Penzance or Newquay. There is also a Park and Ride station at Ivybridge, 16km eastwards.
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Plymouth at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of Great British Pounds Sterling.
| Year | Regional Gross Value Added1 | Agriculture² | Industry³ | Services4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 2,561 | 6 | 1,027 | 1,528 |
| 2000 | 2,676 | 1 | 795 | 1,880 |
| 2003 | 3,098 | 1 | 899 | 2,198 |
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Footnotes 1Components may not sum to totals due to rounding ²includes hunting and forestry ³includes energy and construction 4includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured |
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The economy of Plymouth has traditionally been linked to its coastal location focusing around fishing and the armed services, in particular the Navy and Devonport Dockyard. The recent decline of these industries has seen a greater diversification towards a service based economy based on healthcare, food and drink, chewing gum and call centres with electronics, advanced engineering and boat building still maintaining a prime role. The decline of heavy industries has had a negative effect on the city's employment figures. In the past eight years employment has risen 11%; however, employment and wages still remain significantly below the national average.Thirty thousand university students together with teaching and support staff now make higher education a powerful influence.
In terms of retail Plymouth is ranked second in the South West and 29th nationally. As the largest regional city of Devon and Cornwall, Plymouth has a potential catchment area of over 720,000 people with an annual high street expenditure of over £600 million being spent in the city. An annual influx of 11.8 million tourists is another major contributor to the local economy. The city is also one of a handful of British cities to trial the new Business Improvement District initiative.
The University of Plymouth [6] is the largest university in south western England (and the fourth largest in the UK) with well over 30,000 students, almost 3,000 staff and an annual income of around £110 million. Founded as a college of technology and then becoming a polytechnic it also absorbed the School of Maritime Studies.
The traditional teaching strengths were in marine and maritime studies together with most forms of technology but as the university emerged out of the polytechnic traditions it became known nationally for novelty courses pejoratively referred to as 'surfing' but over the last few years the university has added stature and facilities for the arts and humanities generally. Despite its size and turnover it remains outside the Golden Triangle, Russell and 1994 groups of British universities.
Plymouth has one of the largest Further Education Colleges in the country providing courses from the most basic to Foundation Degrees, it enrols more than 20,000 students a year[citation needed]. City College Plymouth [7](formerly called Plymouth College of Further Education) is a highly successful college with many national awards for teaching].
The Plymouth College of Art and Design [8] (referred to as PCAD) is located at Charles Cross. The College offers a wide selection of innovative and traditional courses relating to the world of art and design.
The University College of St Mark and St John [9](Marjon), which specialises in teacher training, is situated almost at the end of the now disused runway 01/19 at Plymouth City Airport. The construction of this establishment in the 1970s led to the Royal Marine helicopter support units moving to Coypool (and eventually to RNAS Yeovilton).
Consistently high performing state schools in Plymouth are Devonport High School for Boys, Devonport High School for Girls and Plymouth High School for Girls, three selective Grammar Schools with a reputation for academic excellence. Admission to these schools requires a high pass in the 11 plus examination, although controversially application is also open to children from outside the city in nearby south east Cornwall and south Devon.[citation needed]
There are also the comprehensive schools that specialise in selected subjects; Plymstock School is a Specialist Sports College, Hele's School a Specialist Language College, Ridgeway School specialises in Science and Coombe Dean School, and Stoke Damerel specialise in Mathematics and Computing. Sir John Hunt Community Sports College, located in Whitleigh, is also a specialist sports college. Plymouth High School for girls is also a specialist Technology College.
Notre Dame RC School, situated near to Derriford Hospital, is an all girls school. It is twinned with the nearby boys school, St. Boniface.
Tamarside Community College, located in Kings Tamerton is a specialised Technology College. John Kitto Community College, located in Pennycross is a specialist Business and Enterprise College. Estover Community College is a specialist arts college. Eggbuckland Community College is a specialist technology college with large sports facilities. The school may also have one of the largest campus areas in the region.[citation needed]. Stoke Damerel is another community college specialising in mathematics and computing.
There is a large variety of state primary schools throughout the city.
The King's School is a Christian independent school in Hartley.
Plymouth has a number of public parks, the largest of which is Central Park. Other sizeable green spaces include Victoria Park, Freedom Fields Park, Alexandra Park, Keyham, Beaumont Park, St Judes, Greenbank Park, Blockhouse Park, Devonport Park, Widey Woods, and significantly, the Hoe.
There are many Christian churches in the city. The Anglican Mother church is St Andrews in Royal Parade. There is a Victorian Catholic cathedral in Wyndham Street, Stonehouse. There are a number of
Methodist churches. There is a
Until the 1990s it was very unusual to hear a foreign language or see a non-white face in the city but during as little as a dozen or so years the fast expansion of the university, the increased use of the cross-channel ferries and the influx of economic migrants particularly from Poland and of refugees particularly Kurds have brought a cosmopolitan feel, particularly to the central areas. There has been a longer established Chinese community serving predominantly the catering trade and a distinct community of Asians who have been equally successful. There is an annual Respect festival in the Guildhall. Although there is an increasing number of racially aggravated public order and assault offences there does not seem to be a significant problem or evidence of resentment towards first or second generation immigrants. The Poles have opened two shops selling specifically Polish goods and there are long established speciality shops selling ingedients for many international styles of cooking.
The Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender community has become more visible over the last twenty years and there are two or three gay-friendly or specialist pubs together with one large club but an attempt to develop part of the Bretonside end of Exeter Street as a gay village did not evolve as hoped. There is a Plymouth Pride festival annually in the city centre. Plymouth does not have a reputation for homophobia.The huge number of students out and about in pubs clubs and meeting places reinforce relaxed and tolerant attitudes.
Plymouth is not a primary tourist destination. There are no beaches and none of the traditional entertainments of a coastal venue, but the council tourist office markets the city under the slogan 'Spirit of Discovery'[11]: a reference to the British seafarers who have sailed from Plymouth to uncharted areas of the world. The historical connections especially those related to Drake, and the final sailing of the Mayflower, together with the view from the Hoe ensure that coaches, including many from Europe, visit the Barbican and seafront areas. There are many small private hotels particularly in the Citadel Road area and the larger hotels offer regular holiday packages.
Plymouth Argyle Football Club, [10] play professional soccer in the English Football League's Championship division. The club is based at the Home Park stadium in Central Park. Plymouth United F.C. were formerly the town's other team.
The Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club [11] play their home games at the Brickfields. They are currently one of the top teams in the National League Division One. There are also many junior rugby clubs playing in regional, Devon and Plymouth Combination leagues. Adjacent to the new Brickfields rugby stadium is the Plymouth athletics track. The annual Plymouth half marathon [12] starts and ends on The Hoe.
The Plymouth Rugby League Football Club play in the Rugby League Conference South West Division. Plymouth is also home to two American Football teams, the Plymouth Blitz and the Plymouth Admirals who compete in the British American Football League.
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders play their home games at the Plymouth Pavilions. They are currently one of the best teams in the British Basketball League. Among the several hockey clubs in the city is Plymouth Marjon Hockey Club [13], one of the West of England's top clubs in field hockey which is based at The College of St. Mark and St. John, along with an ice hockey team at the Plymouth Pavillions.Other prominent clubs include OPMs[14] and PGSOB. Plymouth and District Netball League [15] is one of the biggest and most competitive in the country with junior and senior sections.
Bowls is popular and there are many public and club greens. Similarly there are many public and private squash courts. Tennis is played in many clubs; there are indoor tennis courts at Derriford and Ivybridge and outdoor public courts spread across the city including at St Budeaux, West Hoe and Plymstock. Plymouth College [16] has several Fives (hand ball) courts. For skateboarders there is an outdoor concrete skate park at Central Park Youth Park [17].
Plymouth Cricket Club [18] has teams at all levels and there are other popular clubs at Plympton and Plymstock.There is a golf club at Staddon Heights [19] overlooking Plymouth Sound and a 9 hole pitch and putt course in Central Park. There is a large commercial driving range near Elburton.
There is major international ocean yacht racing organised from the Royal Western Yacht Club [20] at Queen Anne Battery and a thriving coastal and cross channel passage racing calendar. The long established Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club has its clubhouse perched on the Hoe foreshore and there are several other thriving sailing clubs on the rivers Plym, Tamar and Yealm. Several of these provide members and visitors with weekly 'round the cans' divisional weeknight racing in Plymouth Sound. There are facilities for other watersports including water-skiing, windsurfing and diving and there is a well-used watersports centre at Turnchapel. There are rowing clubs on both rivers and a growing interest in gig racing. Last year after three years competitive inshore power boat racing, Plymouth lost the event to the Solent.
Plymouth Leander [21] and Port of Plymouth are successful swimming clubs; there are several indoor and outdoor public pools. There are sea-angling options from boats based on the Barbican and a large number of Plymothians fish from hundreds of spots around the Sound and along the rivers.
The Plymouth Devils speedway team races at St Boniface arena, Marsh Mills. Currently in the Conference League. The Plymouth-Banjul Challenge is an annual car rally for charity, similar to the more famous
