Travel

Plymouth, The Home Of The Mayflower Voyage

As an island country, Great Britain does have quite a large coastline to investigate, and visitors to our shores have many towns and beaches to choose from. When you think of seaside towns to visit your first thoughts probably go to Brighton, Blackpool or Bognor Regis, but if you go a little further down the alphabet from B to P, you come to the historic city of Plymouth, that has so much to see and do.

Plymouth is located on the south coast of Devon, about 193 miles from London, and is well supported by rail and road links. Plymouth is a university town which mixes all the benefits of a modern city, with the more historic Barbican area, which is Plymouth’s delightful old port full of cobbled streets, Elizabethan warehouses and specialist shops, cafés and restaurants.

Plymouth also has a lido, a plethora of picturesque walks, and views, and all the expected water activities ranging from a relaxing fishing trip to a high-octane jet ski safari to delight visitors, and if you want to go a little farther afield, is also only 25 minutes away from the breath-taking scenery of Dartmoor National Park.

To my shame, I have never been to Plymouth, and so it was with great expectation that I drove past the sign welcoming me to the ‘Ocean City’, and followed the signpost directing me to The Barbican. The Barbican is the old port area and forms the heart of the city’s heritage with the oldest buildings and the most historical stories. Our first port of call was one of the oldest surviving buildings in The Barbican, The Elizabethan House. This house was built for a cost of £150 in the late 1500’s when Plymouth was a thriving port, (£150 was coincidently the same amount of money spent building the Mayflower), and despite the heavy German bombing in World War II and a demolition order in the 20th Century, it still stands today having undergone a major restoration as part of Plymouth’s Mayflower 400 commemorations.

History can be a little dry at times, but visitors to the house enjoy an immersive and authentic journey through Plymouth’s history under the watchful guidance of both a human guide and the spiritual ‘voice’ of the house. This ‘spirit’, who herself lived in the house, takes you through the history and the various residents of the house, so you have a real feel for what life was like over the past few centuries. This history is related to visitors via a multi-sensory audio-visual tour, and the hour-long tour truly flew by.

Having spent a very enjoyable hour at the house, we walked the very short walk down to the quayside to see the Mayflower Steps from where the Pilgrims are believed to have finally left England aboard the Mayflower, on 6th September 1620, to cross the Atlantic Ocean to settle in North America, finally landing at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts.

Although the actual steps the pilgrims left from are long gone, there are a number of memorials commemorating the voyage, including a granite block bearing the ship’s name, a commemorative portico with Doric columns of Portland stone that was built in 1934 (flanked by British and American flags), and historical information, and it is hard not to stand here and look out over the Plymouth Sound and think about the bravery of those original pilgrims as they set out in 1620 into the unknown on a ship which was, reportedly, very leaky!

The best effort by local historians to place the actual site of the Mayflower finally casting off is roughly where a Victorian public house, the Admiral MacBride, now stands, and is a perfect place to raise a toast to those hardy souls.

Having seen where the Mayflower set sail, it is a short walk (up a steep hill!) to Plymouth Hoe, a large south-facing open public space famous for a game of bowls! It was on Plymouth Hoe that the apocryphal story relates that Sir Francis Drake played his famous game of bowls in 1588, whilst waiting for the tide to change before sailing out with the British Fleet to engage and defeat the Spanish Armada.

In the summer months, The Hoe is a lovely place to soak up the sun and enjoy a picnic whilst gazing out over the Plymouth Sound, and soaking up Plymouth’s history. Prominently sited near the Royal Citadel, at the eastern end of the Hoe, is Smeaton’s Tower, which is the upper portion of John Smeaton’s Eddystone Lighthouse, which was originally built on the Eddystone Rocks (located 14 miles to the south) in 1759, and moved to The Hoe, stone by stone in 1877, when it was discovered that the sea was undermining the rocks it was

Bistrot Pierre

Room in Bistrot Pierre

standing on. The lighthouse stands 72 feet high, and once you have negotiated the 93 steps and ladders up to the top, you are afforded amazing views across Plymouth, as well as the Tinside Lido, perched on the shore line, which has welcomed bathers since the 1930’s.

Having enjoyed the bright wintery sun, we returned to our car, and left one historic area and made our way to another, the Royal William Yard, where we found Bistrot Pierre, our accommodation for the trip.

The Royal William Yard was constructed between 1825 and 1831 as a naval victualling yard, and was recently sympathetically redeveloped into an array of eating and drinking establishments, as well as hosting many events and music events, and a local traders market on the first Sunday of each month.

Our accommodation was in Room 15 at Residence One, by Bistrot Pierre, which is perfectly located on the Yard’s main green. The building used to be the home of a royal navy admiral and has been lovingly restored to its former glory to house 14 individually styled rooms, Our room, on the 2nd floor, had wonderful views of the sea and had a luxury double bed with indulgent goose feather and down pillows and duvet, which gave us a wonderfully refreshing night’s sleep. The room also has all the expected mod cons, including a large Samsung TV, complimentary tea and coffee making facilities, free wifi, and breakfast at Bistrot Pierre’s restaurant just across the green.

Although Bistrot Pierre is slightly outside Plymouth City centre, it is a wonderful place to stay on your visit, as the rooms are luxurious and well equipped, their restaurant is welcoming and serves a mean breakfast, and it isn’t hard to reach the city centre via the plentiful buses or the ferryboat which will take you to the heart of The Barbican. The staff are also very helpful, and for residents of the hotel, the parking is free. There is an outdoor dining area in front of Bistrot Pierre in front of the green, where children and dogs can run around freely whilst you enjoy a delicious meal or drink. Bistrot Pierre’s menu has something for everyone, at very good prices. It even has an incredible six-course dinner for £24.95 on some Tuesday evenings.

Food options at Royal William Yard are plentiful, but we were invited to visit an independent restaurant, so headed to the Hook & Line for dinner. Hook & Line is the brainchild of fisherman, Ben Squire and hospitality expert Steve Page, and it is advisable to book, as when we visited all of the tables were full. The interior is quirky and rustic with wonderfully vaulted ceilings and stone walls and makes maximum use of the space whilst still retaining the character of the original use of the building. As the name suggests this is a fish restaurant, but with a twist, as how many restaurants do you know where much of the fish has been caught by the owner in his boats?

After a refreshing night’s sleep and hearty breakfast, we started our second day at the National Marine Aquarium, located in Sutton Harbour. The National Marine Aquarium is run by the Ocean Conservation Trust, a charity dedicated to connecting people with the ocean and, as well as providing visitors with the opportunity to see animals you would never be able to see in the flesh, it endeavours to educate about the oceans and its wildlife, in an accessible and engaging way. It seems that they have got the balance between education and enjoyment just right, as, when we visited, it was lovely to see the number of children there all excitedly running from one educational display or exhibit to a tank full of rays and sharks, and engaging with each equally.

View from Smeaton’s Tower

In the summer months, The Hoe is a lovely place to soak up the sun and enjoy a picnic whilst gazing out over the Plymouth Sound, and soaking up Plymouth’s history

National Marine Aquarium

A visit to the aquarium takes you from the shores of Plymouth across all of the oceans of the world and there are over 4,000 animals to meet including sharks, sting rays, octopuses, jelly fish, and my favourite, turtles. It also boasts the deepest and largest tank in the UK, and with the cleverly designed arched glass viewing panel, you can get spectacular views of the turtles or rays as they gracefully glide over your head.

Having spent a wonderful couple of hours at the Aquarium (and you could spend much longer if you wanted to), we headed next to The Box Museum, and after a lovely lunch at the Box Kitchen & Bar, where I can totally recommend their homemade flatbreads, especially the spiced chicken, harissa yoghurt, dukkah and coriander one, turned our attention to the myriad of exhibitions and galleries housed here.

The Box is a major new museum and art gallery for Plymouth and the South West, and mixes permanent galleries showing the history of the area with temporary exhibitions. One such temporary exhibition is ‘Another Crossing’, which forms part of the Mayflower 400 commemorations. This exhibition has been created by asking a number of artists to portray their vision about the Mayflower voyage and what it meant to them, and it is well worth a visit as some of the exhibits will totally surprise you. The exhibition runs until 5th June. You will also be able to visit Mabel, a life sized woolly mammoth!

Having visited a lot of Plymouth’s older sights, our final destination was The Market Hall, which is certainly as modern as it gets, having launched in mid-July 2021. The Market Hall has introduced a worldclass space for creative, digital innovation, learning and immersive experiences in the heart of Plymouth. It also boasts an aweinspiring 15 metre immersive dome - the first of its kind in Europe - which is at the cutting edge of immersive technology, and we came to view one of these interactive experiences.

Visitors sit on large, comfy, bean bags in the centre of the dome (there are chairs available as well), and are treated to an immersive experience without the need for a VR headset, and you can take a trip to space, deep underwater, or an evening of cutting-edge cultural content, all whilst comfortably ensconced on a bean bag. The other thing that makes this place unusual is that there are no set ticket prices, and visitors are asked to pay what they thought the experience was worth for them at the end of their visit.

Those visiting Plymouth are not short of great dining experiences, but the pinnacle must be the Acléaf restaurant at Boringdon Hall. The restaurant has just been awarded a 4th AA Rosette and our visit here finished off our trip to Plymouth with a gastronomic flourish.

The 5* Boringdon Hall Hotel and Spa’s history dates back to the Doomsday Book and is an eclectic mix of styles, as it just oozes history from every stone, whilst also offering all of the modern facilities hotel guests would expect, including an ultra-exclusive spa which is just spectacular, but our destination was Acléaf, which means ‘oak leaf’ in Anglo Saxon, and is situated in the main house. The restaurant overlooks the ornate Great Hall, and under the expert oversight of Head Chef, Scott Paton, diners are treated to inventive British food using the finest locally sourced ingredients. The menu is a 4 course tasting menu (£120) and is laid out in 4 courses of 4 dishes, where you select a dish from each course, which you may think would be easy as there are only 4 choices, but it is much harder than you think, as they all sound so delicious. We also were struggling with what wine to choose, so opted for the wine flight to go with the meal at £55, so we could leave that choice to the sommelier!

Initially, we were served a couple of Amuse Bouches, which were delicate and bursting with flavour, and accompanied ably by one of my favourite British sparkling wine’s, namely, Gusbourne. This wine is from one of the finest estates in England, and is a wonderful mixture of acidity and creaminess in the same mouthful, and is just delightful.

Our first courses, were the Duck Terrine with quince, and my wife chose the Chicken Liver. My terrine was rich and the duck surrounded a generous serving of fois gras, all supported by the quince that provides sweet and sour at the same time. The chicken liver was so smooth and the brioche that accompanied it was crispy on the outside and so light on the inside it almost melted in your mouth. Our second courses, were the Scallop with maitake and soy, and Veal, celery root and pepper. The veal sweet breads were delicate and perfectly sautéed, and the scallop was meaty and had been given just enough additional flavour by the salty soy sauce. These courses were accompanied by perfectly selected wines, so much so that we decided to stick with the Pouilly Fume which had already been served, for the rest of the courses! The journey through the finest British ingredients continued with the third course, Turbot with pumpkin and lemon, and Venison with salsify and cocoa. As a fish, turbot is pretty hard to beat, as its buttery soft flesh and subtle salty flavour is a firm favourite, and with the addition of a hint of citrus from the lemon the flavour was taken to even greater heights. Venison is lean and bursting with flavour and mine was cooked to perfection with a vibrant pinky interior.

Desserts are as tasty as they are visually appealing, and Acléaf combine a number of classic combinations with a few little twists, to ensure a fine end to the meal, and it is surely only a matter of time before a Michelin star will be awarded.

I am not sure if it is fair to describe Plymouth as a ‘Hidden gem’, especially as it is the second largest city in the region and attracts thousands of visitors, but until I visited, I didn’t realise just how much there is to see and do here, both on and off the water. From the history of the Mayflower, Drake’s defeating of the Spanish Armada or jet ski safaris, there is something for everyone.

The Market Hall

Acléaf Elizabethan House Email: www.theboxplymouth.com/ outside-the-box/elizabethan-house Smeaton’s Tower Email: www.theboxplymouth.com/ outside-the-box/smeatons-tower Bistrot Pierre Email: www.bistrotpierre.co.uk/rooms/ residence-one/ The National Marine Aquarium Email: www.national-aquarium.co.uk/ The Market Hall Email: www.realideas.org/our-spaces/ market-hall/ Acleaf Restaurant Email: www.boringdonhall.co.uk/diningdrinks/acleaf-restaurant/