The Forgetting of Torquay’s Medieval Chapel
Torquay’s St Michael’s Chapel is a mystery. We don’t know who built it and what it was for, and we...
Are you an unpaid Torbay Carer? If you weren’t there, who would care? Does someone rely on you?
There are more than 32,000 people across Torbay and South Devon who support a friend or relative. They may be...
Sex and jobs and rock and roll: a Torquay Interregnum
For perhaps thirty years Torquay offered a welcome interruption between school and the kind of good life that most people...
‘Home for a Royal Heart’ in Torbay
As we all know Torbay has been used dozens of times as a movie and TV location. Sometimes these locations...
Castle Circus: a Torquay Odyssey
In May 2022 a local newspaper ran an article, “What life is really like in Torquay ‘no...
Torquay’s Sometimes Island
Also known by young locals over the years as Seagull Island, Crab Island, Heartbreak Rock or even Rat...
Torquay: a woman’s town
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some commentators were referring to ‘men’s towns’. These had a conspicuous masculine presence...
Torquay’s Lost Medieval Harbour
If you drive along the Torbay Road from Torquay towards Paignton you pass through Livermead. The name is Old English...
Torquay’s Lav Affair with the Public Toilet
Public toilet, lavatory, bog, public convenience, khazi, loo, the ladies and gents, the water closet, and other, less...
The Revolutionary Torbay Wimpy Bender
In a time before Burger King; predating even McDonald’s; there was Wimpy. During the mid-1950s rock and roll dominated the...
Torquay’s Haunted Canyons
“The lawnIs pressed by unseen feet, and ghosts returnGently at twilight, gently go at dawn,The sad intangible who grieve and...
Prehistoric Babbacombe’s Walls Hill
Overlooking the sea at Babbacombe Bay is Walls Hill. It’s the site of a prehistoric field system which dates from...
“Peculiar People”: Torquay’s Primitive Methodists
Nineteenth century Torquay experienced massive change as the town’s population increased from 800 at the beginning of the century to...
The Alphington Ponies in Torquay
We all know that Torquay hosts good number of ‘characters’, rule-breakers and, let’s be honest, cranks. This goes back a...
Torquay Peculiar: a free light-hearted illustrated Talk
On Wednesday 21 June at 1.30, St Luke’s Social Activities Club is proud to present: Torquay Peculiar: a tour of...
The Swan, the Gull, and the Spirit of Torquay
Symbols illuminate ideas and allow us to go beyond what is seen. They do this by creating links...
Torquay’s King’s Gardens: Of Donkeys, Rats, Swans, and mini-Yachts
“Model yachting is a pastime that is growing in favour. Every Briton has an infusion of sea salt in his...
A little bit of the Himalayas: Torquay’s Maze
In 1924 Torquay County Council purchased land for a new park. It cost £40,000; todays value would be £3,112,000. This...
Torquay and the world’s greatest kidnapping
This is about Torquay’s role in the world’s most famous kidnapping and an extortionate ransom demand. It all began with...
Asset Stripping Torquay: From an English church to a Pittsburgh Museum
This is the story of how two gigantic Torquay paintings ended up in Pittsburgh Museum with the assistance of...
