Torquay
Torquay maps (2 available)
Map of Devon
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Torquay books (8 available)
- 41 photos on Torquay appear in 2 Frith books - View photos of Torquay
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Torquay and Devon
Torquay memories
Read and share memories of Torquay and Devon inspired by Frith photos
Local Bakery
Hello. My name is Sheila and I often search the webb for things in reference to Torquay, Devon. My mother lived there for a short while in 1946 where she met my father, his name was John and he was in the navy. He was helping out at a local bakery delivering bread, when he met my mother, Frances. She lived almost opposite Torr Station which now has another use. She was in a domestic post for two elderly teachers who worked at the local college. I would love to hear anything of interest about any thing connected to what I have already written. I was born early 1947.
Contributed by S Smith
Clog Morris Dancing at Torquay Harbour on an August evening
This view of the harbour taken in 1888 has by chance captured dead centre the very spot where 120 years later the dancers and musicians of Heather and Gorse Clog Morris turned out to entertain crowds of holiday makers one warm summer evening.
We gathered as dusk was falling at 8pm and the fairy lights and illuminations were twinkling all around the harbour. Our band struck up some catchy jigs and polkas on our accordians, melodians and drums and the dancers entertained the crowds who stood all round us snapping away with their cameras and with their children trying to join in! We provided a dozen dances over about an hour and wound up with a huge dance for the ...read more here
Contributed by John Howard Norfolk
Heather and Gorse dance at the Grand Hotel in Torquay
The front of the Grand Hotel as shown in this view from 1912 is remarkably like the hotel now, in 2008. Its only when the dancers and musicians of Heather and Gorse Clog Morris went inside that we found a huge sun lounge, a wide terrace overlooking swimming pools and a fountain that are modern additions!
The Grand Hotel and local radio station, Gemini, had organised a fund raising day for local charities under the hotel's banner of an "Easter Eggstravaganza" and we were part of the entertainment programme. This was Easter Saturday - the earliest Easter for almost 100 years and believe me the weather reminded us! We danced on the wide terrace and most of our audience ...read more here
Contributed by John Howard Norfolk
Them were the days
My family (Isaac..Reg, Lilian, June, Pat, aunty Mary, uncle Denny, and cousins Andrew and Mark and Grandad Isaac) used to holiday in this hotel each year from about 1968 to 1975. I have some wonderful childhood memories of Astwell Hall and can remember a lady called Miss Cotton ran the hotel in the early days before a gent called Mr Lane took over. I can also recall a dog called Rufus! Being a YMCA hotel they were always organising money making schemes for charity which included football matches on Abbey meadows. A concert was held every Thursday and us kids always did a turn. I distinctly remember one year early on when we sang the 'so long, farewell' song from the ...read more here
Contributed by Patricia Piper
Extracts From Torquay & Devon books
A celebrated art critic has declared that Edinburgh, Venice and Torquay are the three most beautiful towns in Europe. This celebrated and fashionable winter resort occupies the northern corner of Tor Bay, and is securely sheltered from all winds, except those from the south-east. Torquay is a town of charming villas, which, amphitheatre-like, stretch upwards from the shore in terraces to the higher ground overlooking the sea.
An extract from from"50 Classics - Seaside".
This view was taken from the building at the very end of Morton Crescent. To the immediate left is the Imperial Hotel,
seen in its original architectural design, changed now after the fire in the 1970s.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
By the middle of the 20th
century we see something
resembling the modern
scene. There is the more
familiar red telephone
box on the traffic island,
a modern post box, and
Belisha beacons to aid
pedestrians wishing to
cross the road. In the
centre of the photograph
is the white tower of the
Pavilion Theatre. Much of
the street furniture was
removed by the start of
the 21st century, leaving
a more traffic-dominated Esplanade.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
The construction of a substantial
sea wall, seen here in section to the
right, led to Exmouth’s prosperity
as a seaside resort. Before the
wall was built, much of the sea
front was marshland and sand
dunes, and subjected to constant
flooding. The first section of the
wall was completed in 1842, paid
for by the local landowner John
Rolle. It was 1,900 feet long and
constructed from Devon limestone.
The designer was John Smeaton, a
veteran engineer and the designer
of London Bridge.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
This fine view looks across the
clock tower and Morton Crescent
to the estuary of the River Exe, with
Starcross and the Haldon Hills in
the distance.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".