English Riviera & Glorious Devon

Torquay is a seaside town in an area known as Torbay in the county of Devon. It was the home of crime writer Agatha Christie for most of her life. Babbacombe sits adjacent to Torquay yet maintains it's own independence. Stunning coastal views can be seen from Babbacombe Downs, and it boasts one of the few remaining working funicular railways still in existence. It leads naturally into the adjoining village of St. Marychurch, which has as one of it's tourist attractions, "Bygones" opened in 1987, and depicts life in Victorian times, it is also famous for its' Model Village, which is well worth a visit. Brixham is a small fishing town built on hills around the harbour. Its' focal point is a replica of Sir Francis Drake's "Golden Hind". Cockington village in Torquay comprises old thatched cottages probably founded 2500 years ago in the Iron Age. Cockington Court was built over the remains of a medieval court and is now filled with various arts & crafts workshops. Paignton is a coastal town in Devon, and together with Torquay and Brixham, forms the area known as Torbay, known as the English Riviera. Buckfast Abbey forms part of an active Benedictine monastery near Buckfastleigh, Devon. It was founded in 1018 and run by the Cistercian order from 1147 until it was destroyed under the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1882 monks began living there again, and today it is a Benedictine foundation, the rebuilding was finally finished in 1937. Totnes is a market town at the head of the estuary of the River Dart and dates back to AD 907. Teignmouth is a town on the north bank of the River Teign. Poet John Keats lived there in 1818 Dawlish is a town on the south coast located at the outlet of a small river, Dawlish Water, also known as the Brook. It is well known for its' black swans first introduced from New Zealand as a gift from John Nash, and are now bred on the banks of the brook, along with many other types of waterfowl. Exeter is an historic city on the River Exe. The cathedral was complete by about 1400, and has several notable features, including an early set of misericords, an astronomical clock and the longest uninterrupted vaulted ceiling in England. Plymouth is a city on the south coast of Devon and is a major shipping port.