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Plymouth - Transfer & Transportation Guides

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About Plymouth

City and unitary authority in England

Plymouth ( (listen)) is a port city situated on the south coast of Devon, England, approximately 37 miles (60 km) south-west of Exeter and 190 miles (310 km) west-south-west of London. Enclosing the city are the mouths of the river Plym and river Tamar, which are naturally incorporated into Plymouth Sound to form a boundary with Cornwall. Plymouth's early history extends to the Bronze Age when a first settlement emerged at Mount Batten. This settlement continued as a trading post for the Roman Empire, until it was surpassed by the more prosperous village of Sutton founded in the ninth century, now called Plymouth. In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers departed Plymouth for the New World and established Plymouth Colony, the second English settlement in what is now the United States of America. During the English Civil War, the town was held by the Parliamentarians and was besieged between 1642 and 1646. Throughout the Industrial Revolution, Plymouth grew as a commercial shipping port, handling imports and passengers from the Americas, and exporting local minerals (tin, copper, lime, china clay and arsenic). The neighbouring town of Devonport became strategically important to the Royal Navy for its shipyards and dockyards. In 1914, three neighbouring independent towns, viz. the county borough of Plymouth, the county borough of Devonport, and the urban district of East Stonehouse were merged, becoming the County Borough of Plymouth. In 1928, it achieved city status. During World War II, due to the city's naval importance, the German military targeted and partially destroyed the city by bombing, an act known as the Plymouth Blitz. After the war, the city centre was completely rebuilt. Subsequent expansion led to the incorporation of Plympton, Plymstock, and other outlying suburbs, in 1967. The city is home to 262,100 (mid-2019 est.) people, making it the 30th-most populous built-up area in the United Kingdom and the second-largest city in the South West, after Bristol. It is governed locally by Plymouth City Council and is represented nationally by three MPs. Plymouth's economy remains strongly influenced by shipbuilding and seafaring but has tended toward a service economy since the 1990s. It has ferry links to Brittany (Roscoff and St Malo) and to Spain (Santander). It has the largest operational naval base in Western Europe, HMNB Devonport, and is home to the University of Plymouth. .... Learn more at Wikipedia

Transportation in Plymouth

The A38 dual-carriageway runs from east to west across the north of the city. Within the city it is known as 'The Parkway' and represents the boundary between the older parts of the city and more recently developed suburban areas. Heading east, it connects Plymouth to the M5 motorway about 40 miles (65 km) away near Exeter; and heading west it connects Devon with Cornwall via the Tamar Bridge. Bus services are mainly provided by Plymouth Citybus and Stagecoach, but a few routes are served by smaller local operators. There are three Park and ride services at Milehouse, Coypool (Plympton) and George Junction (Plymouth City Airport), which are operated by Stagecoach South West. A regular international ferry service provided by Brittany Ferries operates from Millbay taking cars and foot passengers directly to France (Roscoff) and Spain (Santander) on the three ferries, MV Armorique, MV Bretagne and MV Pont-Aven. The Cremyll Ferry is a passenger ferry between Stonehouse and the Cornish hamlet of Cremyll, which is believed to have operated continuously since 1204. There is also a pedestrian ferry from the Mayflower Steps to Mount Batten, and an alternative to using the Tamar Bridge via the Torpoint Ferry (vehicle and pedestrian) across the River Tamar.The city's airport was Plymouth City Airport about 4 miles (6 km) north of the city centre. The airport was home to the local airline Air Southwest, which operated flights across the United Kingdom and Ireland. In June 2003, a report by the South West RDA was published looking at the future of aviation in the south-west and the possible closure of airports. It concluded that the best option for the south-west was to close Plymouth City Airport and expand Exeter International Airport and Newquay Cornwall Airport, although it did conclude that this was not the best option for Plymouth. In April 2011, it was announced that the airport would close, which it did on 23 December. A local company, FlyPlymouth, put forward plans in 2015 to reopen the airport by 2018, providing daily services to various destinations including London, but as of now, these projects have stalled.Plymouth railway station, which opened on its present site in 1877, is managed by Great Western Railway and is also served by trains on the CrossCountry network. The station was previously described as 'Plymouth North Road', when there were other main line stations in the city at Millbay and Friary. These have now closed. Smaller stations in the suburban area west of the city centre are served by trains on the Tamar Valley Line to Gunnislake and local services on the Cornish Main Line, which crosses the Tamar on the Royal Albert Bridge. This was designed by Brunel and opened in 1859. The parallel road bridge was completed in 1961. There have been proposals to reopen the Exeter to Plymouth railway of the LSWR which would connect Cornwall and Plymouth to Exeter using the former Southern Railway main line from Plymouth to Exeter via Okehampton, because the main line through South Devon is vulnerable to damage from rough seas at Dawlish, where some of the cliffs are also fragile. There are related proposals to reopen part of the old main line from Bere Alston on the Plymouth-Gunnislake line as far as Tavistock to serve a new housing development, but although the idea has been discussed since 2008 at least progress has been slow. Plymouth is at the southern end of the 99-mile (159 km) long Devon Coast to Coast Cycle Route (National Cycle Route 27). The route runs mostly traffic-free on off-road sections between Ilfracombe and Plymouth. The route uses former railway lines, though there are some stretches on public roads.

Name Plymouth
Long Name Plymouth, England
Region England
Country United Kingdom
Map Open Map

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