Plymouth in the Eighties

Description

The Eighties in Plymouth witnessed many major developments: in the City Centre, the Theatre Royal appeared on Royal Parade; Armada Way was pedestrianised; the Sundial arrived; Plymouth’s first indoor shopping mall, the Armada Centre, was opened, as was the Copthorne Hotel, while on Western Approach, Sainsbury’s added to their substantial supermarket offer with a Homebase outlet adjacent to a five storey car park.

A little to the north a bypass, that had been planned back in the 1930s, was created and given the name that had been suggested 50 years earlier ‒ the Parkway. The road now took traffic through the middle of the city rather than around the north of it and, when it crossed the Tamar, there was a new tunnel to divert traffic away from Saltash’s shopping centre on Fore Street.

Meanwhile, in what in the eighties was the north of the city, Brymon Airways were championing new routes in and out of Plymouth airport, including a direct line into the new City of London airport. Nearby to this facility, the eighties also saw the formal opening of a massive new hospital that would both serve the local area and hasten the demise of Devonport, Freedom Fields, Greenbank and the Royal Naval Hospital.

Local educational arrangements were also to be on the end of a massive shake up with the closure of Public, Tamar, Stoke Damerel, Sutton and Widey Technical School, as well as an even greater number of secondary moderns.

On the sporting front Plymouth Argyle reached the semi final of the FA Cup for the first time, and achieved promotion from the 3rd Division, Plymouth Albion were promoted and Plymouth Raiders and Plymouth Admirals both arrived on the scene.
In other news we had the introduction of computers for home and office use, a move that was to have a profound effect on the way we all worked, rested and played.

To learn and see more ‒ there are over 800 eighties illustrations in this delightful book ‒ get your copy of Chris Robinson’s Plymouth in the Eighties and settle down for a few hours of seriously nostalgic, informative and entertaining reading.