Plymouth still has three selective grammar schools and a small independent school. There are also a lot of private language schools, in particular in the city centre and around the railway station. Numbers swell in the summer as foreign school groups descend upon Plymouth to improve their English. This is a city from where great voyages have begun for centuries - and as no voyage can depart without supplies, there has always been a need to stock everything imaginable!
Today you'll find fashion, clothing, local food and many other items. Plymouth's city-centre shopping area is the largest and most comprehensive in the West of England outside of Bristol. These are housed in elegant s buildings erected as part of the post-war reconstruction of the city, and mostly pedestrianised.
Armada Way in particular is a broad avenue with trees, water features, and other interesting features running down the centre of the street. However, these streets have been hit in the past few years by the closure of various major stores, including Woolworth's and the Derry's department store. It would be fair to say that these streets require some regeneration. But they are still busy during the day and especially on Saturdays, and you can find most chain stores here, as well as all the banks and some building societies that operate in England.
There is a House of Fraser department stores here with entrance on Royal Parade. However, there is a Waitrose just over the Tamar Bridge, in Cornwall. There is another, older mall in the city, the Armada Centre which is on the corner of Armada Way and Mayflower Street. However, it is in decline and only features discount stores and pound-shops, though you might want to make a trip there for the big Sainsbury's supermarket.
A visit to the independent shops in the Barbican area are a must - particularly on New Street and Southside Street. Here you'll find art and prints, antiques and collectables, and all sorts of other interesting shops - see what you can find! There are also all sorts of items on the Pannier Market which is held most days around Southside Street this is not the same as the covered Pannier Market in the city-centre on Cornwall Street, which is usually known as the City Market.
The Barbican area is also a good place for souvenirs of the city, which are also stocked at the Tourist Information Centre and the Edinburgh Woollen Mill, both near the Mayflower Steps.
Many tourists like to buy sea-themed souvenirs from their trip to Plymouth. There is a good selection at the Edinburgh Woollen Mill which is in a glass-faced shop in the Barbican, near the Mayflower Steps. Plymouth is the home of Plymouth Gin, and if you like English gin you may want to pick some up from the city it was distilled in even though the business is now owned by Pernod Ricard.
The 'Independent Quarter', to the West of the city-centre, contains smaller shops including a French-family owned bakery, a specialist pipe and tobacco shop, and many charity shops where second-hand goods donated by the public are sold to raise money for good causes. Finally, you should pay a visit to the City Markets previously known as the Pannier Market - but this is also the name of another at the Barbican which was confusing.
The City Market is a covered indoor market of permanent stallholders similar to the St. Nicholas Markets in Bristol or the Grainger Market in Newcastle - but in an elegant modernist building constructed in the s. The impressive scalloped roof fills the market with natural light.
Here you'll find all manner of items for sale, including food including produce fresh from farms in the region and freshly-caught local fish , clothing, collectables, decorative items, items for the household of all kinds, and many other things - and of generally high quality.
There is no hawking or "hard sell" atmosphere as is found at some other places, nor the albeit exciting craziness and threat of the Camden Markets in London. Instead, there is a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, as a microcosm of that in the city as a whole. Some of the shops round the outside and on the mezzanine are somewhat retro. The atmosphere in the market captures the classless and community-spirited air of life in the city.
If you are staying in self-catering accommodation, or just need to buy food other essential items, try the following:. Outside of the city centre, there is another larger Sainsbury's at Marsh Mills, an Asda in Estover open 24 hours except Sunday and two large branches of Tesco one in Crownhill and one in Woolwell, the latter of which is an Extra and open 24 hours except Sunday.
For a city of its size, Plymouth does not have many fine restaurants, though it is home to the Tanners Restaurant run by brothers James and Chris Tanner. James is a well-known chef on British television. There are many good restaurants in the wider area. The Barbican has a number of restaurants and bars lined up along the quayside - notably few serve fresh locally caught fish ; a local peculiarity for a fishing city - North Sea cod is generally only served battered and fried, with chips.
As with any major city, there are plenty of takeaway and fast food retailers within easy distance of most parts of Plymouth. Buying a takeaway in Plymouth can prove a cost effective alternative to a restaurant, with as many different food choices.
Naturally, any visitor to the West Country should try a traditional pasty if in Plymouth, asking for a 'Cornish' pasty may attract some derision - just say "pasty"; they will understand! Try Ivor Dewdney's pasties to eat like the locals have done for over seventy years, or try the wonderfully entitled Oggy Oggy Pasty Company which has many branches, or the excellent Barbican Pasty Company on Southside Street in the Barbican area.
The traditional filling is a mixture of shredded beef, swede, onion and potato, but various different flavours are available now - vegetarian fillings are often available. Traditionally, you eat by holding the thick pastry crust and eating from the soft pastry side - that kept your dirty fingers off the main part of the food if you were a miner metal mining was big business in Devon and Cornwall in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially for tin, lead and copper or fisherman.
The thick crust meant that if you would be eating your lunch with poisonous tin or lead on your hands, you wouldn't be poisoned! Of course nowadays you can eat the whole thing, crust included!
If you're looking for a place to go out for a drink, there are two main places: the West End especially Union Street and around Derry's Cross , and the Barbican.
Of these, the Barbican has a somewhat nicer atmosphere, particularly on summer evenings when many people are drinking outside. However you can also find good pubs and bars in other parts of the city - including in the Mutley area, which attracts many students. There are many hotels, bed and breakfasts, guest houses, and other places to stay in Plymouth.
You can also visit the Tourist Information Centre at the Barbican, which has a more comprehensive list of places to stay. There is suddenly a surplus of medium to low-price hotel or Travelodge style accommodation in the centre of the city where deals are always to be had and which provide better value and convenience than traditional bed and breakfast hotels although dozens of these are working hard to up their game.
Andrew's Cross i. You'll find all the major English banks and building societies on the shopping streets in the city centre, nearly all of which have ATMs. The city's main hospital Derriford Hospital is located in a northern suburb of the city.
Emergency care is free to all, and holders of a European Health Insurance Card are entitled to free treatment on the NHS in all departments. It is unlikely you'll experience any problems in Plymouth as long as you use common sense. Although certainly not the most dangerous of British cities, Plymouth has several areas which are best avoided at night, especially if you are alone. These include the area around Union Street late at night, where drinkers can get rowdy and the atmosphere can be unpleasant.
It is not unusual to see drunken brawls in the Union Street area after dark. Plymouth's extensive past, dating back as far as the bronze age, has seen significant growth, many famous figures and became the centre of commercial shipping, handling of imports and passengers from the Americas since the Mayflower Pilgrims departed for the New World in With this in mind, it's fair to say Plymouth has many fascinating stories and interesting facts to catch your imagination.
Here's just a few of many:. Jackas Bakery, located on the Barbican, is reputed to be the oldest commercial bakery in the world still in operation. William Cookworthy discovered the process for making porcelain using clay from a Cornish quarry in and subsequently set up a factory in Plymouth.
Plymouth became the first town in Britain to receive a fresh water supply from outside its boundaries thanks to Sir Francis Drake constructing a mile leat from the River Meavy on Dartmoor in The original Eddystone Lighthouse - was the first offshore lighthouse in the world and constructed of wood.
The third Eddystone Lighthouse was re-erected on Plymouth Hoe in and is a now popular tourist attraction. The fourth Eddystone Lighthouse is still in use. Although some council houses and flats were built between the wars, including large council estates in the Swilly and North Prospect area, there was an ever-growing movement of people into new houses outside the City.
Plympton and Plymstock were growing fast to the east and, following a boundary change, the City was extended to the north in By , before the War had ended, there was a revolutionary plan in place to create a new modern City.
The port of Plymouth has a rich maritime history based on fishing, trade and a long and continuing association with the Royal Navy. The sea has touched the lives of everyone who has lived-in or visited the port of Plymouth. The sea continues to shape the modern City.
Plymouth Sound is a natural harbour at the meeting point of the Rivers Plym and Tamar, providing two important, navigable routes inland to West Devon and East Cornwall.
Originally a small town, Plymouth prospered as a centre of fishing and trade. Local, coastal and continental trade grew steadily, especially cross-Channel trade with France and Spain.
Past and present, Plymouth is about the sea - sailors in peace and war, voyages of adventurers and exploration; passenger arrivals and departures; ship building and ship repair; merchants and maritime traders; cargoes, docks and warehouses; the sea as both a place of work and as a place of leisure. Follow Us Facebook Twitter. Be Inspired What's On Christmas. Plymouth's Past. Plymouth's History. Like VisitPlymouth on Facebook. Search Accommodation. Add Room.
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