1.
Exeter
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Exeter is a cathedral city in Devon, England with a population of 127,300. It lies within the county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council, currently, the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district and is therefore under the administration of the County Council. The city is on the River Exe about 37 miles northeast of Plymouth and 70 miles southwest of Bristol, Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Britain, although there is evidence a Cornish tribe existed in Exeter before the Roman invasion. Exeter became a centre during the Middle Ages and into the Tudor times, Exeter Cathedral, founded in the mid 11th century. During the late 19th century, Exeter became an affluent centre for the wool trade, after the Second World War, much of the city centre was rebuilt and is now considered to be a centre for modern business and tourism in Devon and Cornwall. The name Exe is a development of the Brittonic name—meaning water or, more exactly, full of fish —that also appears in the English Axe and Esk, the Welsh Usk. Exeter began as settlements on a dry ridge ending in a spur overlooking a navigable river teeming with fish, although there have been no major prehistoric finds, these advantages suggest the site was occupied early. Coins have been discovered from the Hellenistic kingdoms, suggesting the existence of a settlement trading with the Mediterranean as early as 250 BC. Such early towns had been a feature of pre-Roman Gaul as described by Julius Caesar in his Commentaries, the Romans established a 42-acre playing-card shaped fort named Isca around AD55. To distinguish the two, the Romans also referred to Exeter as Isca Dumnoniorum, Watertown of the Dumnonii, a small fort was also maintained at Topsham, a supply depot on the route between the two was excavated at St Loyes on Topsham Road in 2010. The presence of the built up an unplanned civilian community of natives. This area was excavated in the 1970s, but could not be maintained for public view owing to its proximity to the present-day cathedral, in January 2015, it was announced that Exeter Cathedral had launched a bid to restore the baths and open an underground centre for visitors. In the late 2nd century, the ditch and rampart defences around the old fortress were replaced by a bank and wall enclosing a much larger area, although most of the visible structure is older, the course of the Roman wall was used for Exeters subsequent city walls. Thus about 70% of the Roman wall remains, and most of its route can be traced on foot, the dating of the coins so far discovered, however, suggests a rapid decline, virtually none have been discovered dated after the year 380. By that time, the city was held by the Saxons, Exeter was known to the Saxons as Escanceaster. In 876, it was attacked and briefly captured by Danish Vikings, alfred the Great drove them out the next summer. Over the next few years, he elevated Exeter to one of the four burhs in Devon and these permitted the city to fend off another attack and siege by the Danes in 893. King Athelstan again strengthened the walls around 928, and at the time drove out the remaining Britons from the city
2.
A38 road
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The A38, part of which is also known as the Devon Expressway, is a major A-class trunk road in England. The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire and it is 292 miles long, making it the longest 2-digit A road in England. It was formerly known as the Leeds–Exeter Trunk Road, when this also included the A61. Prior to the opening of the M5 motorway in the 1960s and 1970s, considerable lengths of the road in the West Midlands closely follow Roman roads, including part of Icknield Street. Between Worcester and Birmingham the current A38 follows the line of a Saxon salt road, For most of the length of the M5 motorway, the A38 road runs alongside it as a single carriageway road. The road starts on the side of Bodmin at a junction with the A30 before traversing the edge of the town to meet the A30 again. It travels through the picturesque Glynn Valley to Dobwalls and Liskeard, the Dobwalls section contains the most sophisticated bat bridge yet constructed in the UK. The A38 continues through the Cornish countryside, bypassing the centre of Saltash, immediately after the tunnel the River Tamar is crossed using the Tamar Bridge where the route resumes dual carriageway status. It is 42 miles long and was completed in the early 1970s, there are several grade separated junctions along its length mainly for local traffic, including a three-level stacked roundabout for the A386, which heads out towards Dartmoor National Park. The route was reserved for the Parkway as early as 1943, the viaducts carrying the A38 over the River Plym, which after the construction of the Marsh Mills flyover became the Exeter bound sliproads, were built in 1969–70 as part of the Plympton bypass. This required the road to be closed for only 48 hours, the South Brent bypass opened in 1974 and the Ivybridge bypass in 1973, both on new alignments. After Ivybridge, the route parallels the original route, bypassing the village of Lee Mill which is now home to a large trading estate. The road widens to a dual carriageway for the Plympton bypass. This opened in 1971 and was the first section of the Devon Expressway to be built on a new alignment, the route originally ended at the Marsh Mills roundabout, which when opened was the largest in Europe. The section of the A38 between the A382 junction and Ashburton was built on a new alignment parallel to the old road, trago Mills, a locally well known retailer, is passed by the road. The Ashburton bypass, much like the Kennford bypass, uses the alignment of a much older 1930s single carriageway bypass, which was subsequently upgraded to dual carriageway by 1974. At the town of Buckfastleigh, the once again bypasses on a new alignment, although due to the challenging topography of the area. Some of this section follows part of the old Teign Valley Line railway, before Kennford, the route splits, with the A38 heading for Plymouth and the A380 heading towards Torbay
3.
A381 road
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The route overlaps with other A-roads for several sections of its length. It is a route from Teignmouth to Salcombe than the A379 which meets it at both ends. It is under the control of Devon County Council as highway authority, the A381 starts in Teignmouth from a junction with the A379 at Shaldon Bridge, following the Teign Estuary to Kingsteignton, where it overlaps the A380 to cross the River Teign. At the Penn Inn Roundabout it then continues west on a dual carriageway into central Newton Abbot. Here it overlaps the A385 to cross the River Dart and the main London-Penzance railway line, from a junction on the west of Totnes it rises southwards into the South Hams. An identically-numbered spur from this road turns eastward to Kingsbridge. The tight-knit nature of the centres development, quickly thinning to countryside. As a rural road, the A381 has been the scene of multiple accidents. On Sunday 20 May 2012 a 0. 7-mile section of the road through Totnes was part of the Olympic Torch procession for the London 2012 Olympics and these towns and villages are either on or immediately adjacent to the road, in the order they appear travelling northeast to southwest. There are other settlements but only those with their own Wikipedia article are included here
4.
Paignton
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Paignton /ˈpeɪntən/ is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998, the Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paigntons population in the United Kingdom Census of 2011 was 49,021 and it has origins as a Celtic settlement and was first mentioned in 1086. It grew as a fishing village and a new harbour was built in 1847. A railway line was opened to passengers in 1859 creating links to Torquay, as its population increased, it merged with the villages of Goodrington and Preston. Paignton is mentioned in the Domesday Book of AD1086, formerly written Peynton and Paington, the name is derived from Paegas town, the original Anglo-Saxon settlement. Paignton was given the status of a borough having a market, Paignton was a small fishing village until the 19th century, when in 1837 the Paington Harbour Act led to the construction of a new harbour and the modern spelling, Paignton, first appeared. The historic part of Paignton is centred on Church Street, Winner Street, Kirkham House is a late medieval stone house which is open to the public at certain times of year. The Coverdale Tower adjacent to Paignton Parish Church is named after Bishop Miles Coverdale, Coverdale was Bishop of Exeter between 1551 and 1553 and is reputed to have lived in the tower although this is doubted by modern historians. The railway line to Paignton was built by the Dartmouth and Torbay Railway, the Paignton Pudding, first made in the 13th century, is the origin of the nickname pudden eaters for the people of Paignton. The puddings were made infrequently and were of great size, when thousands turned up hoping to obtain a piece of a huge pudding that had been baked to celebrate the arrival of the railway chaos occurred and the event became notorious. A Paignton Pudding was baked in 1968 to celebrate the towns charter, Oldway Mansion is a large house and gardens constructed in the 1870s for Isaac Merritt Singer, who had amassed a considerable fortune with his improvements to the sewing machine. The building was occupied by Torbay Council until an agreement was signed in September 2012 to develop the site into a hotel, other Singer legacies in Paignton include the Palace Hotel and the Inn on the Green, which were built as homes for Singers sons Washington and Mortimer. Torquay Tramways were extended into Paignton in 1911 but the network was closed in 1934, there are five parishes within Paignton, Paignton, St John the Baptist, Paignton, Christ Church, Preston, St Paul, Collaton, St Mary the Virgin, Goodrington, St George. As Paigntons population grew, it merged with the villages of Goodrington and Preston. The town was governed by a district council until 1968. The unitary authority formed in 1998 now handles all local government for Torbay and they are elected every four years. The Mayor chooses nine councillors to form the Cabinet, the Chairman of Torbay Council wears the chain of office
5.
Roads in the United Kingdom
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Roads in the United Kingdom form a network of varied quality and capacity. Road distances are shown in miles or yards and UK speed limits are indicated in miles per hour or by the use of the speed limit symbol. Some vehicle categories have various lower maximum limits enforced by speed limiters, enforcement of UK road speed limits increasingly uses speed guns, automated in-vehicle systems and automated roadside traffic cameras. A unified numbering system is in place for Great Britain, whilst in Northern Ireland, the earliest specifically engineered roads were built during the British Iron Age. The road network was expanded during the Roman occupation, some of these survive and others were lost. New roads were added in the Middle Ages and from the 17th century onwards, certain aspects of the legal framework remain under the competence of the United Kingdom parliament. Although some roads have much older origins, the network was subject to development from the 1950s to the mid-1990s. From then, construction of roads has become controversial with direct action campaigns by environmentalists in opposition. In the UK, vehicles drive on the left and on multi-lane carriageways drivers are expected to keep to the left lane except when overtaking, in Great Britain, the Highway Code applies to drivers. In Northern Ireland, the Highway Code for Northern Ireland applies, UK speed limits are shown in mph. With a few exceptions, they are in multiples of 10, unless a lower speed limit is posted on a road, the national speed limit applies, which varies between class of vehicles and the type of road. In a built-up area, unless signs indicate otherwise, a limit of 30 miles per hour applies, other limits are shown in the table. For a road to be classed as a carriageway, the two directions of traffic flow must be physically separated by a central reservation. Roads in the UK are classified as M, A, or B roads, as well as categories of more minor roads, for internal purposes. These numbers follow a zonal system, there is no available explanation for the allocation of road numbers in Northern Ireland. The majority of the major routes are motorways, and are designed to carry long distance traffic. The next category is the A roads, which form the route network. A primary route is defined as, primary destinations are usually cities and large towns, to which, as a result of their size, a high volume of traffic is expected to go
6.
Torquay
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Torquay /tɔːrˈkiː/ is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. Later, as the towns fame spread, it was popular with Victorian society, renowned for its healthful climate, the town earned the nickname the English Riviera. The writer Agatha Christie was born in the town and lived there during her years and there is an Agatha Christie Mile. Torquays name originates in its being the quay of the ancient village of Torre, the area comprising modern Torquay has been inhabited since Paleolithic times. Roman soldiers are known to have visited Torquay during the period when Britain was a part of the Roman Empire, leaving offerings at a rock formation in Kents Cavern. No evidence has found of Roman settlement in the town. The first major building in Torquay was Torre Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery founded in 1196, Torquay remained a minor settlement until the Napoleonic wars, when Torbay was used as a sheltered anchorage by the Channel Fleet, and relatives of officers often visited Torquay. The population of Torquay grew rapidly from 838 in 1801, to 11,474 in 1851, the second phase in the expansion of Torquay began when Torre railway station was opened on 18 December 1848. The improved transport connections resulted in growth at the expense of nearby towns not on Isambard Kingdom Brunels railways. The more central Torquay railway station was opened on 2 August 1859 with views of the sea from the platforms, after the growth of the preceding decades, Torquay was granted borough status in 1872. Previously regarded as a retreat, Torquay began to encourage summer visitors. Torquay Tramways operated electric trams from 1907. The line was extended into Paignton in 1911 but the network was closed in 1934, the Royal National Lifeboat Institutions Torquay Lifeboat Station was at the Ladies Bathing Cove from 1876 until 1923. A second lifeboat was kept at the harbour from 1917 until 1928, Torquay was regarded as a Spa Town after the Marine Spa was built on Beacon Hill near the harbour. Originally called the Bath Saloons complex, it had an open air tide-filled swimming bath, the complex was opened in 1853 after Beacon Hill headland was dynamited to make space for it. Charles Dickens was said to have made readings there, in the 1900s a ballroom and a new sea water-filled swimming pool were built. The Marine Spa provided various therapies such as seaweed baths, needle, douche showers, hot and cold water baths, bands such as Ivy Benson and Ted Heath played at Marine Spa ballroom. Four stone arches that were part of the Marine Spa are still visible on the outside of the harbour wall
7.
South West England
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South West England is one of nine official regions of England. It is the largest in area, covering 9,200 square miles, five million people live in South West England. The region includes the West Country and much of the ancient kingdom of Wessex, other major urban centres include Plymouth, Swindon, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Exeter, Bath, Torbay, and the South East Dorset conurbation. There are eight cities, Salisbury, Bath, Wells, Bristol, Gloucester, Exeter, Plymouth and it includes two entire national parks, Dartmoor and Exmoor, and four World Heritage Sites, including Stonehenge and the Jurassic Coast. The northern part of Gloucestershire, near Chipping Campden, is as close to the Scottish border as it is to the tip of Cornwall, the region has by far the longest coastline in England and many seaside fishing towns. The region is at the first-level of NUTS for Eurostat purposes, key data and facts about the region are produced by the South West Observatory. Following the abolition of the South West Regional Assembly and Government Office, the region is known for its rich folklore, including the legend of King Arthur and Glastonbury Tor, as well as its traditions and customs. Cornwall has its own language, Cornish, and some regard it as a Celtic nation, the South West of England is known for Cheddar cheese, which originated in the Somerset village of Cheddar, Devon cream teas, crabs, Cornish pasties, and cider. It is also home to the Eden Project, Aardman Animations, the Glastonbury Festival, most of the region is located on the South West Peninsula, between the English Channel and Bristol Channel. It has the longest coastline of all the English regions, totalling over 700 miles, much of the coast is now protected from further substantial development because of its environmental importance, which contributes to the region’s attractiveness to tourists and residents. Geologically the region is divided into the largely igneous and metamorphic west and sedimentary east, Cornwall and West Devons landscape is of rocky coastline and high moorland, notably at Bodmin Moor and Dartmoor. These are due to the granite and slate that underlie the area, the highest point of the region is High Willhays, at 2,038 feet, on Dartmoor. In North Devon the slates of the west and limestones of the east meet at Exmoor National Park, the variety of rocks of similar ages seen here have led to the countys name being lent to that of the Devonian period. The east of the region is characterised by wide, flat clay vales and chalk, the vales, with good irrigation, are home to the regions dairy agriculture. The Blackmore Vale was Thomas Hardys Vale of the Little Dairies, another and these downs are the principal area of arable agriculture in the region. Limestone is also found in the region, at the Cotswolds, Quantock Hills and Mendip Hills, all of the principal rock types can be seen on the Jurassic Coast of Dorset and East Devon, where they document the entire Mesozoic era from west to east. The climate of South West England is classed as oceanic according to the Köppen climate classification, the oceanic climate typically experiences cool winters with warmer summers and precipitation all year round, with more experienced in winter. Annual rainfall is about 1,000 millimetres and up to 2,000 millimetres on higher ground, summer maxima averages range from 18 °C to 22 °C and winter minimum averages range from 1 °C to 4 °C across the south-west
8.
Torbay
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Torbay /tɔːrˈbeɪ/ is a borough in Devon, England, administered by the unitary authority of Torbay Council. It consists of 62.87 square kilometres of land, spanning the towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, Torbay is roughly equidistant from the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. That the Torbay area has been inhabited since Paleolithic times is shown by human bones, a maxilla fragment known as Kents Cavern 4 may be the oldest example of a modern human in Europe, dating back to 37, 000–40,000 years ago. Roman soldiers are known to have visited Torquay during the period when Britain was a part of the Roman Empire, leaving offerings at a rock formation in Kents Cavern. Both Brixham and Paignton appear in the Domesday Book of 1086 and Paignton was given the status of a borough having a market, the first major building in Torquay was Torre Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery founded in 1196. William Prince of Orange landed in Brixham on 5 November 1688, during the Glorious Revolution, the historic part of Paignton is inland, the low-lying coastal fringe was originally salt marsh. Paignton remained a fishing village until the early 19th century. The second phase in the expansion of the area began when Torre railway station was opened in December 1848. The railway was extended to Torquay Seafront station in 1858, Paignton in 1859, as a result of its expansion, Torquay was granted borough status in 1872, and 1902 saw its first marketing campaign to summer tourists. Torbay Golf & Country Club opened in 1933, the club and course closed in the mid 1950s. Tor Bay hosted the events for the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. The County Borough became the Borough of Torbay under local government reorganisation in 1974 and it was made a unitary authority on 1 April 1998 making it responsible for its own affairs. The area is represented nationally at the House of Commons by two MPs, Brixham and part of Paignton fall within the Totnes constituency, with Conservative Sarah Wollaston elected. Torbay is in the South West England constituency of the European Parliament, together with the rest of South West England, until May 2011, Torbay Council had been headed by the first directly elected mayor in the South West region. Conservative candidate Nicholas Bye who won in October 2005, under a system which was later described as a total failure with Bye receiving votes from fewer than 7% of the electorate. However, running as an independent he was defeated in the May 2011 election by Gordon Oliver who stood as a Conservative, for local elections the district is divided into 15 wards. The Council elects 36 councillors in elections every four years. Since the Torbay Council election,2015, the council has a Conservative majority, the composition as of 9 May 2015, There are three main towns around the marine inlet of Tor Bay, Torquay in the north, Paignton in the centre, and Brixham in the south
9.
Great Britain
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Great Britain, also known as Britain, is a large island in the north Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of 209,331 km2, Great Britain is the largest European island, in 2011 the island had a population of about 61 million people, making it the worlds third-most populous island after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan. The island of Ireland is situated to the west of it, the island is dominated by a maritime climate with quite narrow temperature differences between seasons. Politically, the island is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, most of England, Scotland, and Wales are on the island. The term Great Britain often extends to surrounding islands that form part of England, Scotland, and Wales. A single Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the union of the Kingdom of England, the archipelago has been referred to by a single name for over 2000 years, the term British Isles derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. By 50 BC Greek geographers were using equivalents of Prettanikē as a name for the British Isles. However, with the Roman conquest of Britain the Latin term Britannia was used for the island of Great Britain, the oldest mention of terms related to Great Britain was by Aristotle, or possibly by Pseudo-Aristotle, in his text On the Universe, Vol. III. To quote his works, There are two large islands in it, called the British Isles, Albion and Ierne. The name Britain descends from the Latin name for Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The French form replaced the Old English Breoton, Breoten, Bryten, Breten, Britannia was used by the Romans from the 1st century BC for the British Isles taken together. It is derived from the writings of the Pytheas around 320 BC. Marcian of Heraclea, in his Periplus maris exteri, described the group as αἱ Πρεττανικαὶ νῆσοι. The peoples of these islands of Prettanike were called the Πρεττανοί, Priteni is the source of the Welsh language term Prydain, Britain, which has the same source as the Goidelic term Cruithne used to refer to the early Brythonic-speaking inhabitants of Ireland. The latter were later called Picts or Caledonians by the Romans, the Greco-Egyptian scientist Ptolemy referred to the larger island as great Britain and to Ireland as little Britain in his work Almagest. The name Albion appears to have out of use sometime after the Roman conquest of Britain. After the Anglo-Saxon period, Britain was used as a term only. It was used again in 1604, when King James VI and I styled himself King of Great Brittaine, France, Great Britain refers geographically to the island of Great Britain, politically to England, Scotland and Wales in combination
A38 road
A381 road
A383 road
A3022 road
A385 road
