Low winter sun.

The Coffee Shack boasts that it is open everyday of the year, rain or shine. It was still doing business in the late afternoon sunshine yesterday which turned everything into a silhouette.

Winter Swimmer

There is a hardy band of people who swim in Plymouth Sound each day throughout the year.

Click to spot them in these pictures.

Although it was beautifully clear and sunny, the air temperature was only 5C but the water, at this time of the year seldom falls below a balmy 8C.

They swear that it does them good!

Looks like rain again.

The pigeons are waiting patiently for the lady who feeds them every day.

She has just finished feeding the gulls back in the harbour.

Straightjacket

This morning as I walked along Southside Street I saw this straightjacket for sale in a secondhand outlet.

It made me wonder.

Why did the previous owner sell it?

Who is likely to buy it?

Second Bomb Scare

Yesterday, for the second time in four months, a large area of the centre of Plymouth became an exclusion zone as another unexploded World War 2 bomb was uncovered by workmen preparing a site for redevelopment. St Andrews Church was once again within the danger area. The locally based Royal Navy Bomb Disposal Squad made it safe for transportation out into Plymouth Sound and safely detonated it at sea this morning.

Plymouth was one of the most heavily bombed cities in England suffering 59 bombing attacks during which 1,172 civilians were killed and 4,448 injured.

In March 1941, St Andrew's Church was bombed and badly damaged. Over the door amidst the smoking ruins a wooden sign was nailed saying simply Resurgam (Latin for I shall rise again),
Here is a short film about wartime Plymouth.

Drake Circus

The Drake Circus shopping mall is one of the most popular in the West Country, housing seventy shops.Take a look inside. But during these difficult economic times there has been an increase in the number of shops in other areas of the city centre which have closed down.



The Rogue Apostrophe

It is not only the cupcake that has taken over the UK, it is also the rogue apostrophe.

The Royal Naval Base, Devonport

Devonport is the largest Naval Base in Western Europe and clustered tightly around it are the streets that originally housed its thousands of workers. It still covers over 650 acres and has 15 dry docks, four miles of waterfront along the River Tamar, 25 tidal berths and 5 basins. Take a look at this interactive panorama of the dockyard Alongside its surface ship refitting facilities, Devonport is the only site in the UK equipped to conduct nuclear submarine refits.

But the importance of the Dockyard to employment and the economic prosperity of Plymouth has diminished over the years.  However, it is estimated that the base generates about 10% of the income for the city and creates business opportunities for 400 local firms.

The Mayflower Memorial

The small arch and balcony, in the centre foreground, commemorates the sailing of the Pilgrim Fathers to America in the Mayflower, in the year 1620.

Laid Back

Enjoying a beer at a waterfront bar on a cloudless but cold winter afternoon.

The Reader

Even though it is quite cold today at least it is not raining. So tucked away out of the wind, with coffee and book and a view over Plymouth Sound has got to beat being indoors.

Paying Off

The frigate HMS Chatham returns to her home port of Plymouth for the last time with her "Paying Off" pennant flying. (click the image to enlarge). Her days on active service are soon to end. As she sailed across Plymouth Sound, to make her way up the River Tamar to her berth in Devonport Dockyard, she fired her final salute.

Entering harbour

Craft in Plymouth Sound making their way to Sutton Harbour at sunset on bitterly cold winter afternoon. The crew of the yacht are making their own way but the small merchant ship is being led in by the Pilot.

The old and the new

The historic building on the right is tucked away down one of the city's oldest streets - the Merchant's House is Plymouth’s finest surviving example of a 16th/17th century residence. Its first recorded owner was certainly living in the house in 1608.

The Screen on the Plaza

Valentine's day messages in the sunshine.

Some quay side restaurants and bars

Even on a very cold winter's day customers still like to sit outside.

Sutton Harbour, at the heart of Plymouth's waterfront.

Many years ago Sutton Harbour was home to an important fishing fleet and a wide range of commercial maritime activity and its quays were busy with warehouses, processing and repair facilities. Nowadays it is home to a major marina complex and its quays are lined with apartments and a bewildering range of restaurants, bars, clubs and pubs.