A week in Plymouth.

We were very impressed with our week in Plymouth especially as the weather wasn't all it could be. The Marina at Sutton Harbour is so near to the Barbican, as soon as there is a break in the weather we could be in the heart of things within minutes. This is not really in time order but thoughts about various things we did and saw.

First of all the Marina is really in the centre of the Barbican.

As the marina was so near to everything you can get to good eating places. Two I recommend are Rockfish (where we ate at Brixham), which is a brilliant fish restaurant with 10% discount for CA members and Le Monde, which is just behind the Barbican. We ate there with Ann and Steve from China Girl, we both agreed I had chosen the better dessert.

Also in sight of the marina is the National Aquarium, well worth a visit. We choose to visit on a rainy day. Like a lot of museums once you buy your ticket it is valid for a year. The huge tank is amazing you have various fish swimming over your head.

There is also a Vue cinema near by, another good outing for a rainy day. If you go on Meercats day it works out £4.99 for two, an absolute bargain.

It didn't rain every day and as always we walked miles. It was good to see the views from the Hoe, that we didn't see as we came in. one of the places we walked to was Royal William Victualling Yard, that was built to provide victuals for the Roya Navy. They are superb Georgian buildings which are now being used for apartments, offices and eating places. Despite Plymouth suffering in the blitz this yard remained unscathed. As it is on a little peninsula, as you walk round there are some super views. The book we bought from Imray before starting this journey does some really good information bits. So we were able to read up on this before we got there. Which was a good job as there was not a lot of information there however even without information I found it a wonderful place to walk back.

We also found a nice independent café just outside the gates where we had a super cheese sandwich. As it had been a long walk there we decided to catch the ferry back. It was a bit worrying when the skipper was hitting the engine with a spanner before we set off!

The Mayflower Steps are advertised widely. When we were there work was been carried out on them so you couldn't get a good view but from what I saw, I am of the opinion that the steps are rather like Trigger's broom. (If you never watched Only Fools and Horses you won't get this reference).

There are a lot of old building in Plymouth despite intensive bombing in the war however we were surprised to find out that more Tudor and Medieval Buildings were lost in the ten yeas after the war rather than during the war. So much for town planning. A lot of the town centre was rebuilt after the war and is now a little tired. There is a new shopping centre and another one is being constructed.

Smeaton's tower dominates the landscape, I have to mention Smeaton as not only is he  a Leeds lad but is also from the same area of Leeds as me.

We walked miles and enjoyed walking along the Hoe. It was a disappointment not to get around the Citadel. This was because they have changed security measures and haven't yet got their act together. They've missed a lot of visitors as it hasn't been open, So this is on my list of places to visit when I visit another time.

Some of the next photos were taken as we were leaving Plymouth so were taken from a moving boat with a bit of bounce in the waves so aren't of brilliant quality.