The Southwest port city of Plymouth, England extends a flowery welcome to visitors. The floral design is spelled out on the Hoe, or high ground overlooking the seafront.
American and British flags flying over Pilgrims' Point, Plymouth, leading to the entrance to the Mayflower Steps. The steps are believed to be the ones the Pilgrims descended when boarding the Mayflower, before setting sail for America. In 2000, visiting for the first time, tears came to my eyes at the unexpected sight of the American flag.
The Mayflower Steps, Plymouth. Travelers descended these steps to board the Mayflower, bound for a new world.
A plaque at the Mayflower Steps honours those who made the long ocean voyage in search of religious freedom and tolerance.
The list of names of citizens sailing on the Mayflower. Perhaps William Bradford was an ancestor.
Severe August storms forced many boats to abandon the Rolex Fastnet Yacht Race and take shelter in Plymouth Harbour. Some 291 boats set out from the Isle of Wight, but few were able to complete the race.
Fastnet yachts docked following the August racing event.
Plymouth Harbour. In August, the Mountbatten breakaway was the launching pad for spectacular fireworks, set off by five professional teams participating in the British Fireworks Championship.
A working boat in the waters of Plymouth Sound.
Prayer icon for mariners on a stone wall across the road from the Mayflower Steps.
The British flag flying over stone walls at the Plymouth Citadel on the edge of Plymouth Hoe. When the Spanish Armada was sighted on 19 July, 1588 Sir Francis Drake was playing a game of bowls on Plymouth Hoe. Legend has it that he finished the game before boarding the Revenge. As the English fleet pursued the Armada up the Channel, Drake captured the Spanish galleon Rosario.
Children pose atop an old cannon at The Citadel.
An Art Deco swimming pool, club and cafe complex that has been partially restored to its 1930s glory.
Her Majesty's Customs House on the Barbican. My Plymouth-born husband once worked here. Nearby is a large stone building labeled "The Queen's Warehouse." When I first saw it, I thought it was where the Queen kept her extra furniture (a considerably bigger version of our cave). Of course, it's where contraband seized from ships is stored temporarily.
The hand-carved entryway to a corridor leading to an Elizabethan garden, near the Barbican, Plymouth.
The stone arched entrance to Elizabethan gardens.
Elizabethan gardens in Plymouth's "Old Town" are surrounded by renovated apartment buildings, designed to blend with their historic surroundings.
An arched window and stone walls, once part of an Elizabethan house.
An historic Elizabethan house with its original leaded windows near the Barbican, Plymouth. It is now a museum.
Brick streets in Plymouth's "Old Town" near the Barbican. Shops, art galleries and restaurants line these streets.
Retirees enjoy ice cream cones during a day out at the Barbican, Plymouth.
A memorial stone and boat filled with flowers is bordered by palm trees on Plymouth Hoe.
Photos by Tara Bradford and David Holmes.
Hi to all that have commented on Plymouth England. This is were i was born and is my home town.
I have to say i could not imagine living antwere else!
I intend to visit New England soon and can't wait to see the end of the pilgrim journey. Thank you for complimenting my Home..
Paul Robert Jordan.
Posted by: Paul Jordan | 23 April 2008 at 21:42
Lovely pictures, Tara! Plymouth reminds me a lot of Victoria, BC, where I lived for five years. Also loved your "Sunday Scribblings" on "If I were Queen...." great graffiti photo, too.
Thanks!
Posted by: Laurie | 26 October 2007 at 02:24
I did read this yesterday, but I didn't comment, I was burning the supper! Yikes..
You know, when I read the stone, I noticed William Bradford and thought right away of you...glad you noticed it too. I wonder? Wouldn't that be so inspiring, to trace your lineage back to the very place you stood that day. And beyond...I love that. My mother is working on our family tree right now...we go as far back now as 17something...I love that. She is getting help from an English blogger.
Do you know anything of your family tree?
Your Elizabethan garden pictures, with the remains of the house intrigue me. I would be gobsmacked if I was standing there looking at that. History, right there. You must have been transported back hundreds of years in that moment. So many things come to mind...what did they eat, wear, think, feel.
Sigh. I hope to visit it one day. Plymouth now especially.
Thanks for the tour Tara. This blog is an absolute treasure.
xo
Gillian
Posted by: Gillian | 23 October 2007 at 15:17
Those are stunning photos.
Posted by: Yoli | 23 October 2007 at 14:52
I loved all of your photographs.......
Love all that you share.
Love you
Jeanne ^j^
Posted by: Jeanne | 23 October 2007 at 13:22
How long did it take you to get all those great photos? I have a new respect for postcard photographers after our trip last month, it is so hard to get good shots without traffic, people etc in the wrong places! Sadly we didn't get to Plymouth (or a lot of other places, either - I'd love to have a year to tour instead of a month).
Posted by: Catherine | 23 October 2007 at 11:29
oh,
these are the best photos!
i love the blue framed Madonna
for the sailors
and
the angels
carved into the entryway door frame.
:-)
mostly i enjoy how you looked up
and close
and here and there.
and really saw details and texture
and contrast
and old people and young children.
thank you and do carry on...
Posted by: somepinkflowers | 23 October 2007 at 05:19
I just want to jump inside your pictures sometimes ... are you part Mary Poppins?? xx, JP/deb
Posted by: JanePoe (aka Deborah) | 23 October 2007 at 03:11
Great photographs Tara, Ilove the Elizabethan gardens too :)
Posted by: robyn | 23 October 2007 at 02:25
I think that it's interesting that the plaque with the Pilgrim names on it also lists their professions. I like the profession-- "wife."
Lovely photos.
Posted by: Ally | 23 October 2007 at 01:28
Ah, wonderful! What a treat to be able to travel and not even leave home! The steps at Plymouth are amazing, hard to believe thats where is all happened!
And the guy in the kilt below, He is Beautiful!
Sandra Evertson
Posted by: Sandra Evertson | 22 October 2007 at 19:30
wow ~ i'm so excited to see this lovely place through your gorgeous lens. it's an important reminder to honor what those brave people were striving for. and i really appreciate seeing how plymouth looks today. thank you so much for sharing it!
Posted by: studio wellspring | 22 October 2007 at 19:12
How wonderful that you got to see where the Pilgrims started the journey that helped lead to our "new" country! I probably would have teared up, too, seeing the flag there. Thanks for taking us along on this trip.
Posted by: The Bold Soul | 22 October 2007 at 18:54
More travel!! I didn't know of Plymouth in England...how very interesting! and of course all the architecture and people, really wonderful photo's.
Living in the states we just don't have any idea of 'old' and 'antiquity' and 'tradition'. That hundreds and hundreds of years are layered into everyday life. Making it so rich...
Posted by: stephanie | 22 October 2007 at 17:40
Every photo is amazing. Such rich history. But I have to say, can't you totally see me living in that garden, through the stone passage way?????? I need that garden here. It is so super magical!!! xoxoxooxoxoxo
Posted by: A Fanciful Twist | 22 October 2007 at 16:50
This is an exciting post -- I didn't know that there were "monuments" to the Pilgrims and the Mayflower in Plymouth, England! Thank you for this wonderful cyber-travelogue! (and great photos!). I used to live on the cape where the Pilgrims landed in the U.S.
Posted by: fleur | 22 October 2007 at 16:32
I loved the arched windows and stone walls and narrow
pretty alleys - and the gardens:)
the scope of life in your photography is gorgeous -
hugs:)
Posted by: maddie | 22 October 2007 at 15:56
those stairs is an amazing shot; as is that shrine with flowers - and the guy in the kilt below: priceless. You never fail to come through with thought provoking photos and subjects
Posted by: AscenderRisesAbove | 22 October 2007 at 15:41
Tara thank you for this tour. This is my ancestry...my grandfather was from the Plymouth area (a small town outside of Plymouth) and this looks like photographs my mother brought home from her one and only trip to see her roots. Simply beautiful and rich with history.
Posted by: cherie | 22 October 2007 at 14:19
Oh my poor slow internet connection! Gorgeous post though - I had no idea Plymouth was so pretty, although of course that's a gorgeous part of England. I have a friend studying at Falmouth and he has taken some lovely pictures.
The swimming baths are particularly interested - the British Isles have lots and lots of them, but most have been allowed to rot away. There are a few in Dublin, but they're practically abandoned, which is a terrible pity.
Posted by: Sarah in Marrakech (soon to be in Paris!) | 22 October 2007 at 13:35