Torbay’s Heritage
Torbay's Heritage Interpretation Framework has just been published. 'A Haven Through Time’ uses the eight themes of the Heritage Strategy...
How Torquay Votes
During the nineteenth century a few families transformed a collection of rural hamlets into the richest town in England. By...
Torbay welcomes back the Street Pastors
Torbay's hospitality industry has suffered due to the pandemic but now venues are about to open on June 21st and...
Torbay’s Guerrilla Golf
Torquay has Jungle Journey Adventure Golf, Paignton has Pirates Bay Adventure Golf, and there's Crazy Golf at Goodrington. And, at...
Torquay: “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”
"Lo! time shall come, when on yon throng’d paradeShall groups assemble, swains and many a maid,And elder dames and sires,...
What was Torquay’s St Michael’s Chapel actually for?
What was Torquay's St Michael's Chapel actually for? Over the years it has been described as: a sea mark; a...
Torquay, “an imposter, a delusion and a snare”
By 1870 there were 48 places classified as seaside resorts in a halo around Britain; but not all were the...
Torquay’s Rifle Volunteers March Out
On January 14th, 1858, the French Emperor Napoleon III was attacked in his capital by a gang of assassins who...
Blackball: Torquay’s Bowling movie
The growing challenge to Torquay's status as an elite tourist destination was becoming evident from the mid-1960s onward, with the...
Torquay’s Victorian Plant Nurseries
During the nineteenth century Torquay's population increased from around 800 to almost 34,000. The town became a place for the...
The Natural History of the Torbay Grockle
“Most holidaymakers are grockles. But the real ones you can spot a mile off. Usually they wear shorts, woollen socks...
The Grand Tour and the English Riviera
In 1862 Charles Dickens wrote, "Torquay is a pretty place... a mixture of Hastings and Tunbridge Wells and little bits...
St Michael’s Chapel- a secret place of worship?
It has been said that Catholic Torquay came to an end in 1539 when Torre Abbey surrendered to Henry VIII's...
The Torquay War of 1888
This is the story of the 'Torquay War' of 1888.During that year Torquay experienced a sustained challenge to established authority...
Studying History and English at Torbay’s University Centre South Devon
If you enjoy and are passionate about History, local Heritage, literature and culture, then why not seize the opportunity to...
The second ‘Legendary 10 Seconds’ Album- just released
During the latest lockdown it's good to hear that the Bay's musicians are still out there, hard at work creating...
The Torquay Charabanc
For a few years the motorised charabanc was a regular sight on Torquay's streets with locals and tourists being transported...
Torbay’s Black Hag
They look almost prehistoric. A cruciform black silhouette with wings resembling a broken umbrella. This is the cormorant, a bird...
Torquay’s Morbid Years
World War I was a prolonged, brutal, and costly conflict; and was followed by a virulent pandemic which killed even...
The Torbay Suntan
During the 1920s people in Torbay started taking their clothes off. They had decided that they wanted to change the...
