On August 6, 1945, the world watched as the United States bombed Japan. 80,000 people perished in Hiroshima, followed by another 70,000 victims three days later in Nagasaki. The US government then …

Overlooking the sea at Babbacombe Bay is Walls Hill. It's the site of a prehistoric field system which dates from the Bronze Age (2000-700 BC) to the end of the fifth century AD.This is a collection o…

Today Torre Abbey is a place of peace and tranquillity. It wasn't always like that. The medieval Abbey was a very rich and powerful place and so it attracted the attention of those with less spiritua…

In July of 1667 Torquay was attacked by two Dutch warships.In a letter a dated July 19 1667 it was recorded that:"Hear that the Dutch have made an attempt at Torbay: they fired two small barques (a sh…

It's fairly well known that Britain exported its criminals to Australia. What is less known is that over 52,000 British prisoners were shipped off to colonial America -almost 10 percent of migrants to…

Funding is now available for small community-led Torbay schemes to improve people’s health and wellbeing. This could be to helping people get more active, look after themselves better, or become more …

Torquay in the year 2053 is a sun-bleached gangland nightmare in local writer Adam Nevill's novel Lost Girl. The Guardian has called Adam, "Britain's answer to Stephen King" and, this time, it's not …

Back in 1964 a young Mick Jagger observed, “Torquay’s a great town. But I shouldn’t think there’s much to do in the winter’.In their early days the Stones needed a centre for their regional tour of th…

Local history can tell us how we got here. A knowledge of the past can also suggest ways to tackle the problems we now have and can expect in the future. Indeed, we may have faced similar challenges i…

The people of Liverpool have for generations holidayed in Torbay and it's not unusual to hear that most noticeable of accents in our three towns. It was understandable then that the residents of Merse…

Good Omens is a new TV miniseries based on the 1990 novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. The series follows prissy angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen of The Queen and Frost/Nixon) and swaggering d…

Between July 10th and the 14th 1666, and again on October 20th, a fleet of 'Guinea Ships' assembled in Torbay. This gathering was to celebrate the foundation of the West Africa Company.Those ships wer…

We like movies made in Torbay and this is one of the earliest. It's 'The Rocks of Valpre', made in 1919 and directed by Maurice Elvey. The story is adapted from the popular 1913 novel of the sa…

Also known by young locals over the years as Seagull Island, Crab Island, Heartbreak Rock or even Rat Island, the now-you-see-it-now-you-don't seaweed encrusted rock off Torre Abbey Sands does have an…