Torbay

 

city (1991 pop. 54,430) and district, Devon, SW England. The district comprises the former municipal borough of Torquay and the urban districts of Paignton and Brixham. On Tor Bay is a noted tourist resort area, known as the “English Riviera.” William of Orange landed at nearby Brixham in 1688. A cave on Windmill Hill contains animal bones and flint implements from the Paleolithic period. An annual yachting regatta is held at Torbay, which also serves as a conference and retirement center.

Borough of Torbay
Geography
Status:	Unitary, Borough
Region:	South West England
Ceremonial County:	Devon
Area: - Total	Ranked 288th 62.88 km²
Admin. HQ:	Torquay
ONS code:	00HH
Demographics
Population: - Total (2006 est.) - Density	Ranked 135th 133,200 / km²
Ethnicity:	98.8% White
Politics
Torbay Borough Council http://www.torbay.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Mayor & Cabinet
Elected Mayor:	Nicholas Bye (Con)
Executive:	Conservative
MPs:	Adrian Sanders (LD)

Torbay (IPA: [tɔːˈbeɪ]) is an east-facing bay, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. Historically part of the county of Devon, Torbay was made a unitary authority on April 1, 1998. Tourist authorities call it the English Riviera on account of its beaches and unusually mild climate.

Geography

There are three main towns around the bay: Torquay in the north, Paignton in the centre, and Brixham in the south. These three have become connected over the years, swallowing up villages and towns such as St Marychurch, Cockington, Marldon, Churston Ferrers and Galmpton.

Torbay, as an administrative area, was created in 1968 as a County Borough, from the amalgamation of the Boroughs of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham. In October 2005 Torbay became the first area of the South West to have an elected Mayor with Nick Bye being the successful candidate.

The southern limit of Torbay is Berry Head, and the northern limit is Hopes Nose, although Torquay itself stretches further north into Babbacombe Bay, where the popular beaches at Oddicombe and Babbacombe can be found; these are noted for their interesting Breccia cliffs.

Torbay is bordered by the South Hams to the south and west, and by Teignbridge to the north. Nearby towns include Totnes and Dartmouth in the South Hams Newton Abbot and Teignmouth in Teignbridge. Tor Bay itself is a fine natural harbour and home to a host of maritime events year round.

Because of the mild climate, Torbay Palm trees are a common sight along the coast. However, this 'palm' is in fact a Cabbage Tree (Cordyline australis), originating from New Zealand. These trees may be seen flourishing elsewhere in the UK, at least as far north as Pickering in North Yorkshire. It is suggested that the popularity of Cabbage Trees in Torbay is attributable to their first being introduced to the UK in that region; a street in the old part of Dartmouth named Anzac St suggests an early 20th century initiative to associate the town with New Zealand and Australia.

The area is host to a large number of European students learning English every summer.

The fishing port of Brixham is home to one of England and Wales most successful fishing fleets and regularly lands more value than any UK port outside of Scotland.

Transport

Torbay has three stations on the National Rail network:

• Torre railway station is inland on the road from Torquay to Newton Abbot
• Torquay railway station is close to Torre Abbey Sands.
• Paignton railway station serves that town and links with the heritage railway via the Dart ferry to Kingswear.

These stations are now operated by First Great Western, as are some of the journeys that operates through them since Wessex trains was taken over by the company in 2006.

Torbay lacks direct motorway links and is served by the A380 road from Exeter.

This road route into Torbay from Newton Abbot is seen as problematic; as, especially in the summer, the comparative bottle-neck effect becomes apparent with congestion, particularly during commuter hours. Plans have continued apace to remedy the situation though no clear alternative have been sought as the current road passes by areas of outstanding natural beauty. ^[1]

The bus franchise is largely operated by Stagecoach Devon of the similarly named group, that operates a large share of the market in Torbay and the neighbouring towns of South Devon.

Famous people

Famous former residents of Torbay include authors Agatha Christie (who set many of her novels in a thinly disguised version of the borough), Charles Kingsley and Rudyard Kipling, the great industrialist and architect of the nearby Atmospheric railway, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Prog-rock band Wishbone Ash, and supermodel Lily Cole also hail from the borough.The famous bbc1 actress Rebekah Gibbs who played Nina Farr in Casualty.

References

1. ^ Impact of the First Local Travel Plan on Torbay. torbay.gov.uk. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.

External links

• Torbay Council
• The Official Tourist Board
• Torquay, Paignton and Brixham in Old Postcards
• The Torbay Hospitality Association's website

Districts of South West England

Bath and North East Somerset • Bournemouth • Bristol • Caradon • Carrick • Cheltenham • Christchurch • Cotswold • East Devon • East Dorset • Exeter • Forest of Dean • Gloucester • Isles of Scilly • Kennet • Kerrier • Mendip • Mid Devon • North Cornwall • North Devon • North Dorset • North Somerset • North Wiltshire • Penwith • Plymouth • Poole • Purbeck • Restormel • Salisbury • Sedgemoor • South Gloucestershire • South Hams • South Somerset • Stroud • Swindon • Taunton Deane • Teignbridge • Tewkesbury • Torbay • Torridge • West Devon • West Dorset • West Somerset • West Wiltshire • Weymouth and Portland Counties with multiple districts: Cornwall • Devon • Dorset • Gloucestershire • Somerset • Wiltshire

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