Torquay’s Victorian Vegetarians
During the nineteenth century visitors to Torquay could stay at ‘Tardeo House’ on Avenue Road and be served “good vegetarian...
The cave lair of the Torquay robber band
Beginning in early 1925, Torquay experienced a crime spree that lasted for 12 months. Shops, huts, stores, and cars were...
Torquay’s Tony on the Aldermaston March
On 2 November 1957, the New Statesman magazine published an article by JB Priestly on ‘Britain and the Nuclear Bombs’,...
Torquay’s Walter Crane: Artist and Activist
Here at WASD we like to remember locals who have gone on to greater things. One of these was the...
“Isn’t that…?” The Saint and The Persuaders in Torquay
Here at WASD we’ve often said that Torquay began by impersonating other places. Indeed, our assumed title of ‘The English...
The dangerous Lizzie Ireland: aka Lady Haldon
Much of Torquay is Victorian or Edwardian, from a time when the town claimed the title of the richest in...
Torquay’s Christopher Head and the the Massacre of Braybrook Street.
“These murders are the most heinous crime to have been committed in this country for a generation or more", Justice...
Torquay’s Coral Island: “Like a part of Capri”
We’re all familiar with Living Coasts, the marine animal exhibit on Beacon Quay, known affectionately as the Hair Net. Living...
The undersea magic of Torquay’s Aqualand
From the 1950s to the 1990s, visitors to the Bay were invited to visit four must-see attractions. Three of these...
Expect Torquay’s Future to arrive bearing a pizza
Here at WASD we recently ran a piece on how technology would quickly change our lives. We looked at how...
‘Churchill: The Hollywood Years’ in Torbay
Back in 2004 the comedy ‘Churchill: The Hollywood Years’ was partly filmed in the Bay. Directed by South Devon’s Peter...
The Romantic Ghosts of Berry Pomeroy Castle
“Berry Pomeroy Castle is reputed to be one of the most haunted castles in Britain." English Heritage guidebook. “There’s something...
From a Christian cult to a Torquay Bierkeller
Since it was announced that Torquay was getting a brand new Bierkeller themed bar, questions have been coming in about...
“In man’s quarrel crucified”, Nurse Alberta at Torquay’s Town Hall Hospital
“The ward is strangely hushed today; The morning nurses, sober-eyed, Recall the screened space, where, they say, At midnight Number...
Torquay’s Dinosaur-denier Philip Henry Gosse and his gay son
Some folk in Torbay believe that the world is only a few thousand years old, that dinosaurs are fake, and...
Skinheads, Hells Angels and the ultra-violent Western: Torquay’s 1970s Youthsploitation Novels
Long ago – way before the internet gave us all unlimited instant access to any book – the young people...
“You won’t believe who I had in the back of my rowing boat the other night”: Napoleon’s Torbay Baby
There’s an intriguing bit of local folklore that still surfaces today. It’s the story that Napoleon fathered a Torbay baby....
Hunter’s Moon: Gilbert Vinter in Torquay
“Gilbert Vinter was a luminary of the brass band world as a composer and led its much needed rebirth away...
Future Shock Torbay
Here at WASD we recently ran an article about the effects – good and bad – that new technology could...
The future’s so bright, Torbay’s gotta wear shades
The science-fiction writer William Gibson said, “The future is here, it’s just not evenly distributed yet.” William has a...
