Torquay Things to Do

Torre Abbey was built as a monastery in 1196, this prestigeous building has been well looked after over the past 800 years and is a delight to visit. It later became a family home to the Cary family, who played a major part in the development of Torquay. Apart from the house itself with its art galleries and Agatha Christie room, there are gardens and palm house to explore. Also within the grounds a Spanish Barn, so called as it housed Spanish prisoners from the Spanish Armada in the late 1500s. Torre Abby was bought in 1930 by Torbay council and is now the Mayors Parlour.

Admission is £3.50, opening times are daily between April1st to November 09:30 to 18:00.

View of the centre of Cockington Village.

The low roofed building is the Forge and this is one of the most photographed buildings in the country. It dates from the 14th century. Some of the older pictures of Cockington Forge show my great grandfather who was one of the many Ironsmiths over the centuries. Unfortunately, no longer a working forge, it is now home to the famous miniature horseshoe.

This is a sand and shingle beach and again will get mostly covered when the tide comes in.

This is more of a family beach and there are beach huts along the beach wall - these huts can be hired along with deck chairs and sunbeds.

Facilities: Parking 1/4 mile from beach; dogs banned; swimming, safe with care; warning flags in operation; life saving equipment; toilets nearby; deck chair/sun bed hire; chalet hire
Disabled: easy access; toilets nearby

The Marina area starts at Torquay Pier (next to the Princess Theatre) and runs along the coast next to the Pavillion, along the Strand and upto the Living Coast aviary and sea life attraction.

Mooring your craft here will cost you quite a lot of money, however if you can afford it you will be in the company of other rich people!

The newly built foot bridge (completed 2003) joins the two sides of the inner harbour together making it much easier to navigate the Strand area of Torquay.

The center span opens to allow tall boats into the inner harbour.

History comes alive at Torbay's most historic building. Built in 1196 you can trace the 800 years of development from monastery, imposing home of wealthy families, to Mayor's official residence of modern day.

It is advised to set aside at least up to 3 hours (sounds alot to me!).
Attractions include:

Historic rooms, including the beautiful dining room and family chapel.

Art galleries containing a stunning collection of pictures, silver, glass and Torquay pottery.

The most complete medieval Abbey ruins in Devon and Cornwall, including the "Spanish Barn" of Armada fame.

The Agatha Christie memorial room.

Colourful gardens and palm house.

A fantastic display of Antique & funky Retro items in lovely surroundings - I was amazed at the range of stock they had and spent well over an hour browsing and chatting to the friendly staff. They have some rare bits and bobs dotted around and I managed to find myself a stunning piece of Victorian glass to add to my collection.

I was very happy with the price and service - I shall certainly be putting 'Antique & Retro' on my agenda for when I call down again in the Summer! A must visit shop in my humble opinion!

Laser Quest is a live action game where you are armed with a laser gun and an energy pack. The aim of the fame is to shoot the opposition with laser beams and drain away their energy and save your own "life".

I didn't really think much of this when I tried it, but I think it's because it was my first time and it's kind of hard to understand the game the first time. It seemed like the other people enjoyed it and it is a fun way to spend your time. At the end of the game you get a list of who was the best players.

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Kant's Cavern is the oldest known dwelling in Britain. It holds beautiful geological formations and significant prehistoric finds. The caves are over 2 million years old, and it feels like walking through historic amidst the stalagmites and stalactites.

We did a tour around the caves and we listened to what was supposed to be the spooky tales of strange happenings in the caves. I remember that the "actors" were kind of amateurs, so we didn't get the spooky feeling when we were there. It was however an interesting cave to see with the "drips" of salt from the ceiling, the prehistoric remains and what seemed like faces in the rock.