Paignton, Esplanade Hotel 1894
Photo ref: 33644
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More about this scene

Because of the flat roads, bicycles were in abundance both on the streets and greens, so much so that they caused problems for pedestrians. Because of their popularity and the public's enthusiasm, Dendy built a racetrack at the back of his Esplanade Hotel; we can see the entrance to Dendy's cycle track on the right.

A Selection of Memories from Paignton

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our website to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was, prompted by the photographs in our archive. Here are some from Paignton

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The caption in the Francis Frith book 'Paignton', by Peggy Parnell (p.46), reads: 'With his powerful business aptitude, Mr Dendy quickly installed the most important tourist commodity, bathing machines; those for the ladies were installed on Paignton beach, those for the gentlemen on Preston beach.' I found it interesting to read of the enactment of these strict, now quite ...see more
I worked as a novice deckhand on this vessel in the school holidays in the early 1960s. This was the largest of Mr. Bewley's small fleet. He had two other launches that did bay trips and mackerel fishing. I remember I was paid £4 a week for a 12-hr, 7 day week! I loved every minute of it. I usually worked selling tickets at the beach kiosk and then went on one the smaller boats, but occasionally I was allowed to ...see more
I was born in Paignton in 1935 in 1 Stafford Rd our house backed on to Queens Park. When I was 6 years old we moved into a flat in 26a Torbay Rd under The Devon General Bus Station. Dellers Cafe was on the opposite corner & I went to dance classes there run by Sybil Jones. i did a lot of concerts in The Palace Avenue Theatre, & entertained the troups during the war years in various venues. I was married in the ...see more
I was born in 1948 in Wallasy Cheshire, now Merseyside. As my maternal grandparents lived in Plympton, we used to spend two or three weeks with them every year. A day out to Goodrington was very popular, travelling by train from Plympton with change at Newton Abbot, and later by car. Apart from the beach I particularly enjoyed fishing from from the promenade at Roundham Head and also a ride on the motor boats. I usually ...see more