Torbay

Torbay

Human bones and tools found in

William, Prince of Orange (afterwards King William III), landed in Brixham on 5 November 1688, during the Glorious Revolution, and issued his famous declaration "The Liberties of England and The Protestant Religion I Will Maintain".

Torquay's economy, like Brixham's, initially depended on fishing and agriculture, but in the early 19th century the area began to develop into a fashionable seaside resort, initially frequented by members of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars while the Royal Navy anchored in Tor Bay and later, as the town's fame spread, by Victorian society.

The historic part of Paignton lies inland: salt marsh formerly occupied the low-lying coastal fringe.

A new phase in the urban expansion of the area began when Torre railway station opened in December 1848. The railway extended to Torquay Seafront station in 1858, to Paignton in 1859 and to Brixham in 1861. As a result of its expansion, Torquay was granted borough status in 1872, and 1902 saw its first marketing campaign to summer tourists.

Torbay Golf and Country Club (now defunct) opened in 1933. The club and course closed in the mid-1950s.^[7]

Tor Bay hosted the sailing events for the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.^[8]

In the 1970s Torbay had problems with substance abuse and people living in poor conditions in houses of multiple occupation.^[9]

Governance

Torbay Council is the local authority for the borough. Since 1998 it has been a unitary authority, performing the functions of both a county council and district council combined. There borough contains one civil parish, Brixham, which forms a second tier of local government in that part of the borough; the rest of the borough is an unparished area.^[10]

Torbay as an administrative area was created in 1968, when the

The area is represented nationally at the House of Commons by two MPs. Torquay (along with part of Paignton) is in the Torbay parliamentary constituency which was created in 1974 and was won by Kevin Foster for the Conservatives in 2015 having been held by Adrian Sanders of the Liberal Democrats from 1997 to 2015. Brixham and part of Paignton fall within the Totnes constituency, which is also represented by a Conservative, Anthony Mangnall.

Geography

There are three main towns around the marine inlet of Tor Bay: Torquay in the north, Paignton in the centre, and Brixham in the south. These have become connected over the years, swallowing up villages and towns such as St Marychurch, Cockington, Churston Ferrers and Galmpton, though the latter maintains a rural feel thanks to tight conservation measures. The borough of 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, and Newton Abbot and Teignmouth in Teignbridge.

The southern limit of Tor Bay is

Because of the mild climate, Torbay palm trees are a common sight along the coast. However, these are in fact not palms but Cordyline australis, originating from New Zealand where it is known as "cabbage tree". These trees also flourish elsewhere in the UK. It is suggested that the popularity of cabbage trees in Torbay is attributable to their first being introduced to the UK in that region.^{[citation needed]}

Settlements

Torbay includes:

• Torquay including suburbs
• Paignton including suburbs
• Brixham including suburbs
• Broadsands
• Churston Ferrers
• Galmpton
• Goodrington

Demography

The

.

Torbay has been

Hameln in Lower Saxony, Germany since 1973; and with Hellevoetsluis

in the Netherlands since 1989.

Deprivation and urban renewal

The Melville Street, Warren Road, Rock Road and Coburg Place area of Torbay, also known as Melville Hill, has experienced

Grade II listed buildings.^[9][20]

In 2013, a Healthwatch report for the council found that the area had high levels of houses in multiple occupation, "a fairly transient community" and heavy drug use.^[20] The report stated that Melville Hill had "a historic reputation as a dumping ground for transient, out of work single people with chaotic lifestyles", but that most residents felt it was a friendly area.^[20] In 2014, the council said that the area had "significant challenge ... from car parking, poor quality public realm, bin storage, rat running, ASB, HMOs, lack of community space/play area, links to the town centre".^[21] In 2015, the local health authority noted that residents had a lower life expectancy than in other areas of Torbay, that the proportion of people in the area who had mental ill health or learning disabilities were high, that the suicide rate was higher than elsewhere in the South West, and that many residents were either unemployed or earnt low wages.^[22]

The local authority first set up a "Making Melville Marvellous" project to support urban renewal in 2013, but this did not lead to results.^[9] In 2020 the local authority identified £100,000 of funding from adult social care to start the project again.^[9] The aims include supporting people who misuse substances, improving the quality of housing and developing community.^[9][18]

Education

Main article: List of schools in Torbay

Transport

Roads

Torbay is beyond the

motorway

network and is primarily served by:

• A38 and A380 roads from Exeter to Tweenaways Cross, Paignton; this is dualled each way as far as Churscombe Cross, except for a single carriageway flyover at Penn Inn roundabout
• A379 follows a coastal route from Teignmouth, passes through Torquay and Paignton, then goes on to Dartmouth
• A385 road goes inland to Totnes
• A3022 road
  serves all three towns and varies between dual and single carriageway.

Buses

Bus services are largely operated by Stagecoach South West, with some routes run by Torbay Minibuses and County Bus.^[23]

Railway

Torbay has three stations on the National Rail network, with services operated by Great Western Railway:^[24]

• Torquay railway station is close to Torre Abbey Sands
• Torre railway station is inland on the road from Torquay to Newton Abbot
• Paignton railway station serves that town and links with the heritage Dartmouth Steam Railway to Kingswear, connecting via the Dart ferry to Dartmouth. CrossCountry also provides a limited service here.^[25]

A new station at

Edginswell was planned to open in December 2018 as part of the proposed Devon Metro but lack of funding prevented construction. Approval of planning permission expired November 2019, but a new application for funding was made in June 2020 for a new design incorporating lifts instead of ramps. If government funding is approved, a new planning application would be made.^[26] The station was awarded £7.8m from the New Stations Fund in November 2020.^[27]

Notable people

Famous former residents of Torbay include:

• Sue Barker, tennis player
• Isambard Kingdom Brunel, industrialist and architect of the nearby Atmospheric railway,
• Lily Cole, model
• Peter Cook, comedian
• Agatha Christie, novelist who set many of her novels in a thinly disguised version of the area
• Jim Davidson, comedian
• Edmund Gosse, poet
• Charles Kingsley, professor
• Rudyard Kipling, novelist
• Prog-rock band Wishbone Ash

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Torbay (Unitary District)". City Population. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
2. ^ ^{a b} "Census 2011 - Torbay Profile". Torbay Council. 3 July 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2014. (Word document)
3. ^ John R. Pike, Torquay (Torquay: Torbay Borough Council Printing Services, 1994), 5-6
4. ^ Rincon, Paul (27 April 2005). "Jawbone hints at earliest Britons". news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 December 2006. Retrieved 7 November 2006.
5. ISBN 978-0-7509-4739-8
   .
6. ^ Percy Russell, A History of Torquay (Torquay: Devonshire Press Limited, 1960), p.19
7. ^ "Torbay Golf & Country Club" Archived 8 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine, "Golf's Missing Links".
8. ^ 1948 Summer Olympics official report. Archived 6 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine p. 50.
9. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Smith, Colleen (28 February 2021). "The people with a battle on their hands to make Melville marvellous again". Devon Live. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
10. ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
11. ^ Smith, R. J. D. (1 April 1968). "Torbay Borough starts with a history: Story of the foundation of the new borough". Herald Express. Torquay. p. 1968. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
12. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 30 July 2023
13. ^ "The Devon (City of Plymouth and Borough of Torbay) Structural Change) Order 1996", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1996/1865, retrieved 3 August 2023
14. ^ "Lieutenancies Act 1997", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1997 c. 23, retrieved 3 August 2023
15. ^ Global status for Torbay Archived 24 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine (retrieved 7 July 2008)
16. ^ "2011 Census: KS103UK Marital and civil partnership status, local authorities in the United Kingdom (Excel sheet 222Kb)". Office for National Statistics. 11 October 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
17. ^ "2011 Census: KS209EW Religion, local authorities in England and Wales (Excel sheet 270Kb)". Office for National Statistics. 11 December 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
18. ^ ^{a b} Mills, Frankie (11 December 2021). "Christmas on Torquay's 'bad reputation' Melville Street". Devon Live. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
19. ^ Parker, Jim (17 December 2021). "Making Melville Marvellous - and shaking off a reputation these lovely people don't deserve". Torbay Weekly. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
20. ^ ^{a b c d} "Making Melville Marvellous: Community Engagement Project Report" (PDF). Healthwatch Torbay. 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
21. ^ "Town Centre Masterplan: A Vision for the Heart of the English Riviera" (PDF). Torbay Rethink. 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
22. ^ Dixon, Kevin (2015). "The View from Torbay: Presentation to SW Senate Assembly" (PDF). NHS England. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
23. ^ "Places in Torbay". Bus Times. 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
24. ^ "Train Times". Great Western Railway. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
25. ^ "Timetables". CrossCountry. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
26. ^ Belso, Nikki (25 June 2020). "Torbay Weekly". Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
27. ^ Henderson, Guy. "Chancellor gives green light for new Torquay railway station". In Your Area. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Torbay.

• Torbay Council
• The Official Tourist Board
• Torbay at
  Curlie