endless potential paintings around Torbay

In touristic advertising, Torbay has been referred to as the English Riviera. We are lucky to have a beautiful bay which is a bay full of palm trees and flower beds with contrasting colours. Although Torquay is a busy town it is still set on the edge of countryside, and small areas all have their own names which suggests many small villages all interlinking, and so doesnt involve travelling too far for things.
Behind Torquay and Livermead (which sits between TQ and Paington further up the hill) is Cockington, an ancient thatched village. Beyond that is other rural villages, then further across is Totnes, a very arty/ hippy village, and further along the river, Dartmouth.

The Torre Abbey in Torquay on the seafront was in fact part of the Cockington Estate, and the original family owned a lot of land around the bay. The Cockington estate has an ancient stream and woodland, and the stream runs out to the beach, or Torre Abbey sands. The Spanish Barn next to the Abbey is known as this, because they apparently had captured Spanish invaders in there. Incidentally the tiny medieval Church in Cockington has aquired the back cecorational part of a boat (rumoured to have been something to do with the captured Spanish), which is ornately decorated with red and gold with faces on it, and was apparently washed up at Corbyn head, the cliffs on Torquay sea front, just along the same stretch of sand, from Torre Abbey sands, except the sand gets a bit more textural towards the cliffs. The wooden structure had been sitting in the Cockington farm shed for quite some time, before somebody realised it was actually quite a beautiful object so they took it into the Church and recycled it as an ornate pulpit.

When you look out to sea, to your right is Paignton, another area with a beach and a pier, then Churston which seems more residential and open fields, then Brixham, one of the biggest fishing villages in Britain, which still has a very rural unspoilt feel about it, and several rugged coves. Near to Brixham but further out in the sticks is Agatha Christie's house, which is advertised in Torquay, but actually the famous house that is advertised is nearer Brixham.

Torquay also has fishing, as well as tour boats that go out regularly- and like Brixham and paignton, private boats and jet skis, so the harbour is quite busy.

Before, the town had a quiet spot the other side of the harbour because there wasn't much there and too far from the rest of the shops- and people didn't fancy going to a dead end, but it changed when they put a bridge in - it looks like something out of star wars with two brushed aluminium pillars that look like tusks, with blue lights running up the length of it in horizontal stripes. Then they put a sea life/ sea bird zoo up that end (obvious structure on skyline of black netting over pole supports) - and more shop units which are currently chandlery shops and cafes, which has changed that end of the town completely.

Then as you look across to the left of the bay you see Babbacombe, then St.Marychurch, Both a bit more of an old village sort of feel, then Teignmouth- but beyond that is Exeter, Starcross and Dawlish. Teignmouth and Dawlish are similar in that they have a nice town like StMarychurch with hanging coloured flags hanging across the streets and nice features, but also have a beach and pier. Starcross is very close to Exeter, and in Starcross is Powderham Castle, which has all sorts of events, like Dressage, or Jousting events. Exeter is a picturesque city. There are several pretty National Trust houses, estates and castles dotted about in that area. In Torquay there are many houses with ornate stained glass windows, and double breasted fronts - and appear to have very tall profiles. Many buildings have ornate plasterwork on their ceilings. The Russian Royal family had a house in Torquay up at Daddy hole plain, which is now a hotel which do coach holidays. Conveniently they do free taxi runs to and from town for the less mobile residents.

To paint in these different areas is great fun- you have a sense of a busy seaside town with holiday makers and lots of things going on - and seagulls in the town, but the background tends to have lots of lush greenery. Each of these areas has similar architecture, all 18th century, and very ornate,- and on the edges of the main high streets you find mazes of side streets with steep steps.

Torquay town is set around snaking hills which creates a basin effect; on the side of one of those hills is rock walk, which in the 20s was planted up with tall trees and features like a bridge to walk across. For many years it has been overgrown and looked like a dense forest, where travellers would hang out for the summer, or the occasional individual sleeping on the benches in a quiet spot. It was nice to paint looking out across the bay from there, and came across lots of other people in there; its also a convenient short cut to the other end of town, normally a much longer journey. Since then the council have cleared the whole bank and men have been abseiling down the face drilling stakes into the rock and at the same time fixing large chicken wire across it, like wallpaper in strips. The noise of the drilling and watching the abseiling was interesting. They hope to turn it back to how it was in the 20s.

Along the walk from the beach towards the harbour and town centre are two fountains - both have coloured lights in, but one is maybe Edwardian and is very ornate. Beyond that is the Pavilion which is primarily white reflective stone (looks nice at sunset) and small white lights run round its profile- along structural lengths or edges, so it looks pretty all year round. The continuation of this beautiful building is in the coloured lighting that runs along the length of torquay habour, pier and seafront, and to Corbyn head. When they were first put in in the late 1800s the locals were very impressed, and a song/poem was written, basically saying how pretty it was, it was a technical upgrade for TQ, and how it encourged people to be out later enjoying the seafront, because it felt safer being lit up.

A new proposed plan is on Torwood street, which contain a large cinema and gym amongst other things. In that area the same developers have already bought the car park space for the Queens Hotel, an art deco building which had been derelict for years because of fire damage, but is now a 1920s style bar, downstairs in the basement is an Emo rock night club. The car parking spaces will become shopping or cafe areas. Its nice that the more upmarket local clubs and bars have drawn references from the local architecture and created nice spaces- which, although completely different club owners, all have a similar vibe - Victorian and or Edwardian with 1920s thrown in. A couple of bars are ex banks, so they have a wonderful spacious feel to them. One local cocktail bar known as the priory, opposite the Pavilion and Vaughans Parade has mirrors with guilt-frames, and chandelier effect wall lighting which may well be from one of the many antique shops in Ashburton- a very old town that appears dusty because of the colours of the buildings and textures of the building materials - because of the period of the buildings; it has kept its age and style well. The bar in Torquay has elegant design features, but topped off with disco mirror ball, and a video installation which projects random images from old films, and the vibrant colours change slowly- reflected round by the mirror ball.
For an old fashioned retro seaside town there is lots of development and change - and for painting there is lots of variety, and images portray a bustling seaside town full of energy.