Plymouth (Aberplymm) is a city of 243,795 inhabitants (2001 census) in the south-west of England, or alternatively the West Country, and is situated within the traditional and ceremonial county of Devon at the mouths of the rivers Plym and Tamar and at the head of one of the world's largest and most spectacular natural harbours, Plymouth Sound. The city has a rich maritime past and was once one of the two most important Royal Navy bases in the United Kingdom, a factor that made the city a prime target of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. After the destruction of the dockyards and city centre in the blitz of 1941, Plymouth was rebuilt under the guidance of architect Patrick Abercrombie and is now one of the few remaining naval dockyards in the United Kingdom and the largest naval base in Western Europe. Important locations in the city include The Royal Citadel, Devonport Dockyard and The Barbican from where the Pilgrims left for the New World in 1620.
People born in Plymouth are known as Plymothians or less formally as Janners. In the Royal Navy, "Guzz" is a nickname for Devonport.
History
The earliest known settlement in Plymouth dates back to 1000 BC with a small Iron Age trading port located at Mount Batten in Plymstock. It is thought that tin was brought here from Dartmoor via the Plym and traded with the ancient Phoenicians. As part of the Roman Empire this same port continued to trade tin along with cattle and hides. The small port was later overshadowed by the rise of the fishing village of Sutton, whose name means 'south town'.
At the time of the Domesday Book (1086) the manor of Sutton was held by the King, but Henry I granted it to the Valletort family whose local powerbase was at nearby Trematon Castle. The Valletorts in turn granted parts to the Augustinian priory at Plympton, a larger and older settlement than Plymouth at the head of the tidal estuary of the river Plym.
That part of the town owned by Plympton Priory was granted a market charter in 1254, and the whole town and its surrounding area achieved municipal independence in 1439, becoming the first town to be incorporated by Act of Parliament English Parliament. As the higher parts of the Plym estuary silted up, ships used the port at the Plym's mouth instead of Plympton. And so, the name of the town of Sutton slowly became Plymouth instead, but the name 'Sutton' still resonates in the area, for example in the naming of its old harbour.
In 1403, the town was briefly occupied and burnt by the French, especially the Bretons. Indeed, the town was often the target of enemies across the channel, especially during the Hundred Years' War. Plymouth had a castle at the mouth of Sutton Pool, as well as barricades across the seafront on the Hoe, but all of these have either been demolished or built upon by later fortifications dating to the Tudor and Stuart eras.
During the 16th century, Plymouth was the home port for many successful maritime traders, including Sir William Hawkins (or Hawkyns) and his son Sir John Hawkins, who defied the Treaty of Tordesillas. It was Sir William Hawkins who led the first English participation in the triangle trade. In 1562 Sir John Hawkins, with the full support of Queen Elizabeth I, led England's first foray into the slave trade, kidnapping hundreds of men and women from Sierra Leone and elsewhere in West Africa to trade in the Spanish colonies in the Americas.
As an Atlantic port Plymouth has seen the arrival and departure of many historical figures in English history. Catherine of Aragon and Pocahontas both arrived in England via the port in 1501 and 1616 respectively. It was also from Plymouth that the Pilgrims sailed to the New World in 1620 aboard the Mayflower before landing at and founding the "Plymouth Colony". Napoleon Bonaparte was brought to Plymouth aboard the HMS Bellerophon which remained on the Plymouth Sound for two weeks before his exile to St Helena in 1815 and the surviving crew of the RMS Titanic disaster disembarked at Millbay docks on their return to England in 1912.
On 14 December 1810, Plymouth was struck by the strongest tornado yet reported in the UK (as of August 2005), with a T8 rating on the TORRO scale, and a wind speed of 213 to 240 mph.
Most visitors to Plymouth are drawn to the spectacular Plymouth Hoe, a stretch of greensward on Plymouth Limestone (Devonian) low cliffs, overlooking Plymouth Sound; it is believed that this is the place where Sir Francis Drake completed his game of bowls before setting sail to defeat the Spanish Armada.
Civil War
Plymouth sided with the Parliamentarians against Charles I in the English Civil War. The town held out for almost four years until the defeat of the Royalists. There are a number of Forts and Keeps from that era, the remains of which can still be seen. After the restoration of the monarchy, construction of The Royal Citadel began in 1665. It is interesting to note that cannons were placed on the walls both facing out to sea and towards the town. A reminder to the people of Plymouth what consequences a repeated stance against the monarchy could have in future.
20th century
Plymouth was one of the United Kingdom's principal naval dockyards, a naval tradition that continues to this day. The city was extensively blitzed during the Second World War, to the extent that approximately twice the amount of housing stock that existed prior to the war was destroyed during it (as a consequence of rebuilt houses being successively hit). Although the dockyards were the principal targets, civilian casualties were inevitably very high.
The first bomb fell on the city on Saturday 6 July 1940 at Swilly, killing 3 people. The last attack came on 30 April 1944. Altogether 1,172 people were killed and 3,269 people were injured - these figures do not include the many service casualties. At one point the population fell from 220,000, at the start of the conflict, to 127,000. Probably the worst single raid of the blitz was on a central area of the town called Portland Square. On the evening of the 22 April 1941 the communal air raid shelter took a direct hit, killing 70 people. This has been remembered by the university who recently named a new building after the incident and also commissioned a local artist to create a piece that paid honour to the tragedy.
The two main shopping centres and nearly every civic building were destroyed, along with 20 schools and 40 churches. 3,754 houses were destroyed with a further 18,398 seriously damaged. In the midst of that devastation a famous wooden sign was anonymously posted over the door of St Andrew's Church saying simply "Resurgam" (a Latin word meaning "I shall rise again"), indicating the wartime spirit. To this day the entrance of the church has been referred to as Resurgam door and a granite plaque with the word engraved is now permanently placed there.
Plymouth was also one of the principal staging posts for the Normandy landings in June 1944, with Normandy Way (near the Tamar bridges) leading down to one of a series of embarcation points for US troops.
Arts
Many highly acclaimed events and festivals are held in Plymouth including the British Fireworks Championships, World Championship Class 1 Powerboat Racing and Music of the Night, a massive outdoor production held every two years in The Royal Citadel involving the efforts of the 29th Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery, The Royal Artillery Band, the band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines and hundreds of local amateur performers.
Theatres
The premier theatre not only for Plymouth but of the entire Westcountry is the Theatre Royal and its Drum Theatre where many current and widely acclaimed productions are shown. The Theatre Royal recently opened its Production and Education Centre on the waterfront at Cattedown, otherwise known as TR2. This architecturally praised building ensures that drama and acting continue to succeed in the city. On The Barbican is the Barbican Theatre providing the opportunity for the people of Plymouth to access and participate in high quality drama and acting, it also hosts a monthly comedy night. Many amateur dramatic societies and schools of dance function in Plymouth and regularly perform at the Athenaeum Theatre, Devonport Playhouse and Globe Theatre.
The Plymouth Pavilions opened in 1991, and stages regular music concerts to suit all tastes from rock and pop to ballet, and other live events.
The Plymouth Music Accord is an organisation of classical music consisting of many amateur and professional orchestras and choirs such as the South West Sinfonietta, Plymouth Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Choir, Opera South West, the City of Plymouth Concert Band, the University of Plymouth Choir and Orchestra and Plymouth Jazz Club.
Museums, art galleries and historic buildings
The Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery is home to vast collections of fine and decorative arts, natural history and human history. The museum's natural history collection consists of over 150,000 specimens of insects, birds, mammals, skeletons, plants, fossils and rocks along with an historic natural history library and archive. Many prehistoric artefacts from Dartmoor, important Bronze Age and Iron Age material from Mount Batten and medieval and post-medieval finds from Plymouth are found in the human history collection alongside artefacts from ancient Egypt and other ancient cultures of Europe and the Middle East. The Art Gallery boasts ever-changing art displays and exhibitions showcasing local and international art ranging from the 16th to the 20th centuries. The collections include 750 easel paintings, over 3000 watercolours and drawings, at least 5000 prints and a sizeable collection of sculptures. Work by local artists include that of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Robert Lenkiewicz along with work by artists of the 19th century Newlyn School, the influential 20th century St. Ives group of painters and works by the Camden Town Group.
The Plymouth Arts Centre is located in the historic Barbican and offers displays of work by a wide range of local, British and international artists such as Beryl Cook, Richard Deacon, Andy Goldsworthy and Sir Terry Frost. As well as promoting art, many independent art house and foreign films are also shown here. In a spectacularly converted church on North Hill is the Sherwell Centre that plays host to regular exhibitions, concerts, recitals, lectures and other public events. Many more small and privately owned galleries can be found on The Barbican.
Other museums in Plymouth include the Plymouth Dome, the Plymouth & West Devon Record Office, Smeatons Tower, the Elizabethan House and Merchants House in addition to thousands of historic documents at various other locations.
Plymouth is also home to the National Marine Aquarium. It is the United Kingdom's foremost aquarium.
The synagogue, in Catherine Street, was built in 1762. It is the oldest Ashkenazi synagogue still standing in the English-speaking world.
Nightlife
The centre of Plymouth's nightlife for over a century has been the infamous Union Street. Once lined with numerous music halls and cinemas, the street is now home to a wide number of bars, clubs and casinos such as Club Jesters, Kularoos Sports Bar, Walkabout Bar and The Stanley Grand Casino. The Millennium Complex was the major club on this thoroughfare incorporating three clubs in one, but was shut down due to allegations that drug dealers were operating within the premises. Union Street maintains a reputation for unruly drunken behaviour but guarantees a wild night out. Although most clubs play commercial dance and R&B, there are some such as C103s which plays a variety of rock, spanning from classic to new age. You also have clubs such as Flares and Reflex, which play hits from the 60's, 70's and 1980's. Another location of clubs and bars is at the Barbican Leisure Park and the gay friendly Zero's on Lockyer Street.
There are a number of bars with live music such as the Barbican Jazz Cafe, The Cider Press, The Cooperage and The Three Crowns on The Barbican and Yates's Wine Lodge on Royal Parade. The Plymouth Gin Distillery on the Barbican serves award winning cocktails. Major cinemas include the ABC Cinema on Derry's Cross and the Vue multiscreen complex at the Barbican Leisure Park.
Mutley Plain, a road in the area of Mutley, is a pleasant residential shopping area and also now has many bars like Cafe Sol and The Underground; due to the increase of student population in the city. The Fortescue Hotel is a good natured & busy pub that has a wide range of beers, customers and a downstairs bar that boasts The Acoustic Cafe every Thursday night and Bizarre, Mutley (stand up comedy) on the 1st Saturday of each month.
Government
In 1914 the county boroughs of Plymouth and Devonport, and the urban district of East Stonehouse merged to form a single county borough of Plymouth. This was supported by the War Office, who were concerned that having three different local councils would complicate matters in time of war. Collectively they were referred to as "The Three Towns". A provisional order was made on May 2, 1914, to come into effect in November.
In 1928, Plymouth was granted city status. The city's boundaries were extended in the mid-1930s and further expanded in 1967 to include the town of Plympton and the parish of Plymstock.
Plymouth lobbied for further boundary extensions throughout the post-war period, proposing to annex Saltash and Torpoint on the other side of the Tamar to the Local Government Boundary Commission. The 1971 Local Government White Paper proposed abolishing county boroughs, which would have left Plymouth, a town of 250,000 people, being administered from a council based at the much smaller Exeter, on the other side of the county. This led to Plymouth lobbying for the creation of a Tamarside county, to include Plymouth, Torpoint, Saltash, and their rural hinterlands.
The campaign was not successful, and Plymouth ceased to be a county borough on April 1, 1974 with responsibility for education, social services, highways and libraries transferred to Devon County Council. It would become again a unitary authority under recommendations of the Banham Commission, on April 1, 1998.
The City of Plymouth is divided into 20 wards, 17 of which elect three councillors and the other three electing two councillors, making up a total council of 57. Councillors are also known as Members of the Council and usually stand for election as members of national political parties. The local elections are held every four years with elections for one third of Council seats being held each year, the total electorate for Plymouth is 184,956 as of December 2003. The local election of May 2006 resulted in a current political composition of 26 Labour and 31 Conservative councillors.
The Council is headed by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, who are the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor respectively. There is also a Leader of the Council (the Chairman of the Cabinet) and a leader of each political group. The current Lord Mayor is Michael Fletcher who is the 539th holder of the office since its establishment in 1439. It was in 1935 that the grant of dignity of Lord Mayor was announced; before that the office was Mayor. The Lord Mayor of Plymouth's official residence is 3 Elliot Terrace, located on the Hoe. Once the private residence of Waldorf and Nancy Astor, it was presented by Lady Astor to the City of Plymouth as a residence for future Lord Mayors and is used today for civic hospitality by visiting dignitaries and circuit judges.
In Westminster, Plymouth is represented by the three constituencies of Plymouth Devonport, Plymouth Sutton and Southwest Devon. As of the 2005 General Election the two former constituencies are held by Labour MPs Alison Seabeck and Linda Gilroy respectively with the latter held by Conservative MP Gary Streeter.
Transport
The city is one of the primary gateways to Cornwall providing access by way of the Torpoint Ferry across the Hamoaze, and the Tamar Bridge linking the St Budeaux area of Plymouth on the Devon bank of the Tamar to Saltash on the Cornish bank. The major rail link to Cornwall, the Royal Albert Bridge runs side-by-side with the road bridge. A small foot-passenger ferry also runs between Stonehouse and the Cornish village of Cremyll; adjacent to the Mount Edgcumbe estate.
A regular ferry service provided by Brittany Ferries operates from Millbay taking cars and foot passengers directly to Roscoff, Brittany and Santander, Spain. The berth in Millbay has recently been expanded to accommodate Brittany Ferries flag ship vessel, Pont-Aven and future redevelopment are planned to transform the harbour into a major port that will also accommodate incoming cruise liners. Currently Millbay is only the point where passengers are transported in tenders to and from cruise liners that occasionally stop off in the Plymouth Sound. These actions will see Plymouth revert from a predominantly naval port, where British and other foreign warships and submarines regularly dock, and return to a major destination of international cruise liners, as was common before the Second World War.
Air travel to Plymouth is directly to Plymouth City Airport, or 'Roborough', a small airport located four miles north of the city centre, just off the A386 road to Tavistock. Air Southwest exclusively operate short flights from the airport to destinations within the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands, the airport currently only handles passengers to destinations where a passport isn't required. The expansion of this airport to provide flights to continental Europe is currently a controversial issue in the city. Due to the airport's central location expansion is limited and public opinion towards building a new airport to the east of the city remain divided between the economic benefits to the local economy and the environmental concerns over building in the countryside.
Plymouth railway station offers direct travel by First Great Western and Virgin Trains to Penzance in Cornwall and Paddington in London and links to the North of England by Virgin Trains.
Other railway stations served by local trains are: Devonport, Dockyard, Keyham, St Budeaux Victoria Road, and St Budeaux Ferry Road.
As for bus services, Plymouth CityBus provides services to suburban areas of the city and First Group provides other services within the city (including Park & Ride) and in the surrounding area. Stagecoach Group provides services to Exeter and Western Greyhound provides services to Liskeard and Newquay. Bretonside Bus Station is located near to Drake Circus.
Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Plymouth at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
References
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