Plymouth, Plymouth

It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym and Tamar, where they join Plymouth Sound. Since 1967 the unitary authority of Plymouth has included the suburbs of Plympton and Plymstock, which are on the east side of the River Plym.

It has its own city council and is represented nationally by three MPs. Plymouths economy is still strongly influenced by shipbuilding, but has since the 1990s become a more service-based economy with the 11th largest university in the United Kingdom. Its naval base, HMNB Devonport is the largest operational naval base in Western Europe. Plymouth has ferry links to France and Spain and an airport with international services.

It called for the destruction of the few remaining pre-War buildings in the city centre and their replacement with wide, modern boulevards aligned east-west linked by a north-south avenue (Armada Way) providing access from the railway station with Plymouth Hoe.

The population rose rapidly during the second half of the 19th century. The decline of over 1.6% from 1931 to 1951. Plymouth's GVA (a measure of its economy) was 3.501 billion GBP in 2004 making up aprroximately one quarter of Devon's economy.

Although Plymouth has no pleasure beaches, Tinside Pool, a large lido that was restored in 2003, is at the foot of the Hoe. The city does not have a great deal of tourist accommodation compared to districts like Torbay: in 2006 it had just over 6,000 bed spaces, compared to Torbay's 44,000.

In Drake Circus the Roland Levinsky Building, part of Plymouth University opened in 2007.

The University College Plymouth St Mark & St John (Marjon), which specialises in teacher training, offers training across the country and abroad.

They study the marine ecosystems in and near Plymouth to provide future solutions for marine extinctions across the United Kingdom.

The Plymouth Morris Men perform throughout the year at many events and venues. In August 2006 the world record for the most amount of simultaneous fireworks was surpassed, by Roy Lowry of the University of Plymouth, over Plymouth Sound.

In Looe Street, Plymouth Arts Centre has a two screen cinema specialising in art house and foreign films.

It used to be renowned for its prostitures supplied to sailors from the Royal Navy docking in Plymouth.

The South West Water Authority Constitution Order 1973 (1973 No. 1307) Before the 19th century two leats were built in order to provide drinking water for the town. They carried water from Dartmoor to Plymouth. A watercourse, known as Plymouth or Drake's Leat, was opened on April 24 1591 to tap the River Meavy.

It was fed by three Dartmoor rivers: The West Dart, Cowsic and Blackabrook. It seems to have been carrying water since 1797, but it was officialy completed in 1801. It was originally designed to carry water to Devonport Dockyard, but has since been shortened and now carries water to Burrator Reservoir, which feeds most of the water supply of Plymouth.

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust operates in Plymouth and the rest of the south west; its headquarters are in Exeter. Her Majesty's Court Service provide a Magistrates' Court, Crown and County Courts in the city. The nearest High Court is in Exeter as are the police and prosecuting headquarters. There is no prison or youth detention unit in Plymouth. The Plymouth Borough Police, formed in 1836, eventually became part of Devon and Cornwall Constabulary.

The Elizabethan navigator, Sir Francis Drake is Plymouth's most notable resident. There is a Leat, a Shopping Centre, a TV series, 19 Ships and an Island named after him, as well as a statue of him touching a globe on Plymouth Hoe. He was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world and was known by the Spanish as El Draco meaning "The Dragon" after he raided many of their ships.

After the English Civil War the Royal Citadel was built in 1666 on the east end of Plymouth Hoe, to defend the port from naval attacks, suppress Plymothian Parliamentary leanings and to train the armed forces.

Source: Wikipedia > Plymouth