by Tim Higgins

Created on: March 21, 2009   Last Updated: March 29, 2009

Upon arrival at Plymouth, it felt to me very similar to a hundred other towns around the UK. Eventually, I found it's unique point, and it was worth seeking out. After a day wandering around, exploring the city centre - Identikit shops like any other town or city, with well-known coffee houses around every bend - and the cultural' side of the city (two museums, one of which was mostly closed), I finally made it to the waterfront. Beautiful. At least, not bad for a coastal city with no beach - its harbour knocks the spots of Liverpool's Dock front.

There's no dodgy pier a la Bournemouth (sorry pier fans, it's not the structure itself, it's the old biddies and ghostly atmosphere pier towns always have that puts me off) or gorgeous beaches or dramatic peninsulae like nearby Weymouth, set to host the sailing events for the 2012 London Olympics. But it does have a certain something. Character. History. Nearly all of the worlds most life changing voyages started from this bay, the meeting point of two of Devon's rivers, the Plym and the Tamar (the latter the natural border between Devon and western land's end county, Cornwall). Francis Drake left from here to circumnavigate the globe AND meet the Spanish Armada (not at the same time, mind you - he was good, but not that good!).

There's a statue of him just behind Plymouth's lighthouse, though he isn't holding any bowling balls (NOT the ten pin kind, American readers!) Captain James Cook, who actually hails from the North of England, like myself, left Plymouth for all four of his famous voyages, charting the southern half of the globe, and most famously, Australia and New Zealand. In Plymouth's city museum, I found a small chart showing the journeys and stopping points for each of these globe-trotting expeditions. There was also quite a lot of detailed text on Britain's naval history, as this port has been the home to the Royal Navy pretty much since Drakes time. The term 'Royal Navy' was first used, I believe, during the civil war, as Plymouth was one of the towns to remain loyal to Charles and the cavaliers. Darwin left here on his well documented trip around the better part of the world, stopping off at the Galpagos Islands, where he studied the strange and wonderful creatures for as long as he could (as well as eating a fair few of them). Plymouth city makes a big deal out of this chap in particular, with large exhibitions telling you all you need to know about not only Darwin and evolution itself, but the routes

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