"So let's cross the border today" I suggested, "I have never been to Plymouth. I have heard that the city itself is a rough old place a haven for druggies and illegal, that should add to the glamour?"
"Train again?"
"Yup, why not save the hassle of parking and I can have some beer"
So here we are again waiting for the chuff chuff, though these days the gorgeousness of a coal fired steam train are sadly just a distant memory.
The Penzance to Paddington inter-city pulled in; it was a right clusterfuck, standing room only, all the grockles making an early exit back to the smoke. Thankfully it was only about 45 minutes.
So, Plymouth, a city steeped in Maritime History; it is from here in 1620 that a bunch of religious nut cases set sail and landed 10 weeks later in the good old US of A.
Other departures have seen Captain Cook sail off in 1768 and end up in New Zealand
and Charles Darwin set off in 1831 on the HMS Beagle as the ship's naturalist and as (cough cough, behave in the back please!) a "gentleman companion" to Captain Robert FitzRoy.
The station is quite a hike from the centre, the first thing I saw reminded me of Soviet buildings, this is though Beckley Point, the tallest building in Plymouth at 256 feet.The city itself is like a building site with the main thoroughfare under going a massive civil engineering project, so it was no hanging about and headed to the Hoe.
You may have heard of Plymouth Hoe, it is still taught in History classes in the Uk, sucked up (like I was until I self taught myself later in life) by schoolkids, tales of derring-do of one Francis Drake, who in 1588, enjoyed a game of bowls whilst waiting for the invading Spanish Armada to approach. he also was an adventurer navigating the globe exploring far off lands.
Drake was in fact a pirate who travelled to plunder and steal, the history books don't tell you that in 1575 he and his cohorts, in the name of elizabeth 1 murdered 600+ innocent men women and children in Antrim, Ireland in the name of the crown. Some hero Huh? he also brough the potato to england, hero!
You see, history is written to suit the narrative, believe nothing question everything, trust no one. read research and read again. Become educated.
The big structure is one erected to celebrate beating the Spanish Armada the lighthouse and a statue to the baby killer and pirate drake.
I am really getting fucking angry writing this up. british history is nothing to be proud of.
The Plymouth Naval memorial, buit in memory of over 23,000 British and Commonwealth sailors who were lost at sea during both World Wars and have no known grave.
Circa 7,000 names from WW1 and 16,000 from WW 2
Plymouth is still a naval base, Devonport, the largest naval base in europe.
Smeaton's Tower is not actually and never has been a lighthouse here on the Hoe, it is just the top third of a lighthouse that was built on the Eddystone Reef,
When the lighthouse was rebuilt this bit was dismantled and reconstructed here as a memorial to its architect.
One of the Beryl Cook Sculptures that are to be found dotted about the city I never spotted another one.
Looking out to the Plymouth Sound, a Border Patrol boat no doubt going to rescue more illegals in small boats instead of protecting our borders.
The Tinside Lido, a historic Grade II Art Deco saltwater pool located just below the Hoe, opened in 1935. It includes a sunbathing terrace, fountains, and is recommended as one of the top outdoor pools in Europe, wish I had brought my budgie smuggling speedos with me.
It was now a choice of going right or goin left. I always prefer to go anti-clockwise. I ended up in another old part of the city, The Barbican, surrounding the original Sutton Harbour. It has 100 listed buildings and is the largest concentration of cobbled streets in Britain, pretty shit on a night out trying to walk along them in stiletto heeled shoes
The Leviathan, a metal sculpture located at Sutton Harbour, affectionately known locally as the "Barbican Prawn"; the head of an anglerfish, the claws of a lobster, and the tail of a plesiosaur. ( which google tells me is an extinct reptile fishy dinosaury type of thing) )
The Fishermen's Wall of Remembrance located on the Barbican thirty seven memorial plaques to honour local fishermen and crews who lost their lives at sea,
Every picture tells a story
The former London & South Western Railway Receiving Office dates back to the late 18th century, where once steam trains would add to the hustle and bustle of life on the quayside on the waterfront, goods being manhandled from ship to shore and back. Now the hustle and bustle is generated by the folk on the quayside, quaffing cider and eating stuff.
Plymouth Gin Distillery, is Britain's oldest operating distillery, established in 1793.It is the only distillery authorised to produce "Plymouth" Gin. (one of those protected products like a cornish pasty or wenslydale cheese)The chimney is a Grade II listed structure
Just an emporium selling all sorts of weird and wacky stuff
So coming out of a short stroll through the Barbican, it is a long drab boring walk back to the city train station ( so google tells me). and yes, thankfully after a day of travelling by Shank's Pony, there was seating on the return journey.
