Torquay Devon CAM

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Birds Eye View Place: Torquay Category: Attractions Please select a size: 640x480 - 800x600 - 1024x768 About: We went to Torquay hoping to have a ride and take aerial photographs out over the seafront from the new helium balloon but we were to early and the maiden flight was the next day. Photograph Added: 24th May 2008

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Waiting for Take Off Place: Torquay Category: Attractions Please select a size: 640x480 - 800x600 - 1024x768 About: The Torquay Balloon is estimated to have cost £450,000 it is a Lindstrand Hi-Flyer helium balloon containing 6,000 cubic metres of helium. The balloon will is located in the town's Torre Abbey Gardens. The cost of a balloon ride is expected to be...... Photograph Added: 24th May 2008

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Torquay Balloon Ticket Office Place: Torquay Category: Attractions Please select a size: 640x480 - 800x600 - 1024x768 About: The ticket office for the Torquay Balloon was open but we visited a day too early as the official launch of the new balloon was expected the next day. This latest attraction at Torquay will be able to carry up to 30 people, four times an hour. The T...... Photograph Added: 24th May 2008

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Peaceful Harbour Place: Torquay Category: Harbours And Ports Please select a size: 640x480 - 800x600 - 1024x768 About: Torquay is an enclosed harbour that is sheltered by two Piers. To the West is Princess Pier and Haldon Pier to the South. Torquay harbour also shelters a 440-berth Marina from the prevailing South Westerly winds. This Marina is situated next to th...... Photograph Added: 21st July 2007

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Living Coast Place: Torquay Category: Attractions Please select a size: 640x480 - 800x600 - 1024x768 About: Looking towards the Living Coasts one of Torquays new and very popular visitor attractions. Living Coasts is a coastal zoo and is a unique world class aquatic visitor attraction . It focuses on the conservation of coastal and marine life around the ...... Photograph Added: 21st July 2007

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About Torquay Devon.

Torquay forms one third of the area known as Torbay, its mild microclimate and wonderful beaches have earned the area the title of ?The English Riveria? or even ? the English Naples?. Evidence of the mild conditions is everywhere, palm trees or to give them their correct title Cordyline australis (cabbage trees), were introduced into the area in 1820 from New Zealand and since then they have flourished. The town is set on seven green hills and looks magnificent with its elegant Victorian terraces, white villas, sandy beaches, pavement caf?s and ornamental gardens.
The name Torquay translates to mean little harbour or Torre Quay. During the 17th and 18th centuries the English fleet frequently lay up in Tor Bay, as opposed to Plymouth Sound, because the sea conditions were more favourable.
The Napoleonic wars meant that the rich elite could no longer visit abroad and looked for local destinations to visit instead. Torquay was often used by the Channel Fleet which protected England against invasion by Napoleon and the wives and relatives of officers visited Torquay to be near their loved ones in the fleet. When Napoleon was captured he was held in Torbay for two days, on the warship Bellerophon, nicknamed Billy Ruffian, before being taken to Plymouth and then to St. Helena.
Tourists were attracted to the mild winter climate and good air in Torquay and many visitors came for health reasons. By 1850 there were about 2000 bedrooms in the small hotels of Torquay and the population of Torquay grew rapidly from 838 in 1801 to 11,474 in 1851.
Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and she spent much of her life in the area. While growing up she gathered ideas that were to come to life in her best selling books with immortal characters such as Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. In the centre of Torquay is the Agatha Christie Mile with each location on the Mile marked with a unique Agatha Christie plaque. Details of public transport and sites en route are available from the English Riviera Tourist Information Centres.
It was while staying at Torquay in the Gleneagles Hotel, that John Cleese and the Python team apparently got the inspiration for Fawlty Towers. The eccentric owner was according to John Cleese "the most wonderfully rude man I have ever met", but Mr Sinclair's widow has since said her husband was completely misrepresented in the series.
The shops at Torquay are many and varied, the main shopping street is called Union Street and it is possible to find high street brands like Next, BHS, Boots, Virgin and Dorothy Perkins. Hoopers and Debenhams are Torquay?s two department stores. At the Pavilions complex there are independently run boutiques retail clothes, gifts, jewellery and craft shops. The Market Hall is open daily for fresh fruit ,vegetables, crafts and knick-knacks
Torquay is the ideal venue for family holidays, short breaks, conferences or as a base for exploring South Devon.