We are lucky enough to be very near the Barbican, which is the area they refer to as the "Jewel in Plymouth's Crown" ... actually, they could be right. Situated there are the Mayfair Steps, which is the location from where the Pilgrim Fathers left Britian on 6th September 1620 to settle in the New World - and they didn't need their passports then! The Barbican has a strong feeling of history, and indeed has not greatly changed since people like Sir Francis Drake, Oliver Cromwell and Captain Cook, to name a few were here themselves, although the cobblestones make navigation a little difficult. However, they did not have such an extensive choice of eating places as we do now ... the top picture is actually now full of outside seating areas (and people!!). There are a lot of shops and businesses around, including the Barbican Theatre which we will try one day ... there is also a gypsy fortune teller's shop!!
The Barbican is still a working harbour, and there is still a lot of activity around as small fishing boats and trawlers arrive to offload their catches (some of which go straight to the nearby seafood restaurants ... wonderful!) The rest go to the fish market which is now situated the other side of the harbour - it was originally on the site of the current Dartington Glassworks gift shop.
Most of Plymouth has been refurbished courtesy of Hitler's Luftwaffe, but the Barbican survived, thus the medieval narrow streets remain much the same as during Tudor times, as well as many of the buildings. This includes the site of the Plymouth Gin Distillery, which of course we will be visiting soon!
2 comments:
Looking forward to being in this
interesting place again soon!....
We moved to a small island to
escape the Jehovas Witnesses,
but here they are...beating a
path to our door!! xx
Great shots of the Hoe. Sounds like a wonderful place to be for the summer. The winter will be interesting though.
Post a Comment