guidedwalks

It is very foggy in Paignton today, yet the sun is trying to come out as we continue our guided walk through Paignton.  Whilst  retracing the steps back to the footpath opposite the brewery building.   I can’t help think how all of this beautiful sandstone, being in its original form, has stayed in great condition over the years. I look up to the steps towards Church Street and see a wonderful image of the Parish of St John the Baptist Church, which is circa 1600s.   Walking through the graveyard gives you an eerie feeling of what it must have been like back in the 1600s.   The ages of some of these tombstones is phenomenal and I try and imagine who these people were and whether they played a part as the medieval archers that used to sharpen their arrows on these very walls ready for battle.

Walking down the Old Brewery along the slope, I notice the buildings in front of me that I have never seen before. It is amazing that so many people live here and probably do not even know the history behind Paignton. As I approach the pathway that leads to ‘the clink’, which is an old holding cell that is believed to date back to the 1550s.   Walking past it, I can only imagine what it must have been like to be held there, so dark and scary, yet back in medieval times, prison was prison and not like it is today. This is a grade 2 listed building that must be left in its current condition.

As we cross the road at the traffic lights and turn right into Winner Street, the start of which is marked by a bronze sculpture of a mermaid. I arrive at the historic Winner Street, Winner Street is recorded in the Pembroke Survey of 1566 and was formerly known as Wynerde Street, meaning 'Vineyard Street' because during the middle ages, the Bishops vineyards lined the slopes on the left, above. As we continue to walk up Winner Street, you will notice a number of wide arched openings, these are old coaching inn archways that allowed horse-drawn carriages to pass through and park up their horses whilst the driver had a drink and a meal at the inn or stayed overnight. I never knew there was so much history in Paignton, looking around at all the people that live here, I am sure they have no idea that Paignton is full of history.

Another wonderful day in Paignton to carry on with our guided walk, it is like the sun brings out the beauty of this seaside resort.  As we continue up to the end of Fisher Street  onto the Totnes Road, notice the beautiful building on the corner which is the Torbay School of Dance. This used to be Hopkins Toffee Factory which produced toffee and boiled sweets circa 1700. There are so many buildings in Paignton that I look at and have no idea how much history is behind them.

What a beautiful day in Paignton today, the sun is shining and there are so many visitors here to spend their holidays, a great time of the year to further explore Paignton. We are now coming up to the renowed Torbay Inn on Fisher Street, which has been reported to date back to the early 1600s. The Torbay Inn is a very historic pub of great character and is Paignton's oldest public house. Records show that the English Civil War Hero General Fairfax stayed here in 1646.                                                                                 

Paignton Railway Station on a sunny day in May 2018😄🚃🚃🚃 the start of the Paignton walk

Paignton railway station built in 1859 by the Dartmouth and Torbay Railway It is a sunny day here in Paignton, yet it is always sunny in good old Paignton

Introduction to guided walks - see my website at  https://sites.google.com/view/guidedwalks/home Until the 1840s Paignton was a small agricultural and fishing town, in the mid 19th century, it became popular with retirees and it's beaches. It began to attract holidaymakers yet it was the arrival of the railway station in 1859 that triggered it's development as Torbay's seaside resort.