Paignton Web cam LIVE from Paignton, Devon, UK

Welcome to Paignton. Paignton is a part of Torbay, the English Riviera. It is situated at the heart of 22 miles of coastline. Apart from it's outstanding natural beauty, the area offers a wealth of attractions for all ages. The seafront offers all types of watersports, boat trips, a multiplex cinema and a pier, whilst Paignton's famous Zoo, Quaywest Water Park, Cockington Village and Kent's Caverns are just a short drive away.


View from the waters edge at the Redcliffe Hotel Paignton.

 

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Interesting information about Paignton

History
Paignton is mentioned in records dating back to the Domes day Book of 1086 AD. The town's name has also been spelled as Peynton and Paington and is derived from Paega's town, the name of the original Celtic settlement.

Paignton was a small fishing village until the 19th century, when the Paington (sic) Harbour Act led to the construction of a new harbour in 1837. It was also around this time that the modern spelling of Paignton appeared. The historic part of Paignton is centered around Church Street, Winner Street and Palace Avenue and contains fine examples of Victorian architecture. Kirkham House is a late medieval stone house in the town which is open to the public at certain times of year. The Coverdale Tower is adjacent to Paignton Parish Church and is named after Bishop Miles Coverdale, who published an English translation of the Bible in 1536. Coverdale was Bishop of Exeter between 1551 and 1553 and is said to have lived in the tower during this period, although this is regarded as doubtful by modern historians.


The railway line to Paignton was built by the Torbay and Dartmouth Railway, and was opened to passengers on 2 August 1859. This gave Torquay and Paignton a link to London. The people of Paignton acquired the nickname of pudden eaters when thousands turned up hoping to obtain a piece of a huge pudding that had been baked to celebrate the arrival of the railway. A Paignton Pudding was baked in 1968 to celebrate the town's charter, and another was baked in 2006 to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Oldway Mansion is a large house and gardens in Paignton that was built in in the 1870s for Isaac Merritt Singer, who had amassed a considerable fortune as a result of his improvements to the sewing machine. The building now acts as the local council offices and the meeting place of Torbay Council [3]. Other Singer legacies in Paignton include the Palace Hotel and the Inn On The Green, which were built as homes for Singer's sons Washington and Mortimer respectively.

As Paignton's population grew, it merged with the coastal villages of Goodrington and Preston. Paignton had its own urban district council until 1968, when the creation of Torbay Council led to a single body covering Torquay, Paignton and Brixham. The unitary authority created in 1998 handles all of the local government for Torbay, and has its own directly elected mayor.
Places of interest

The Torbay Picture House (now closed) is believed to have been Europe's oldest purpose-built cinema and was built in 1907. Seat 2 Row 2 of the circle was the favourite seat of crime novelist Agatha Christie, who lived in neighbouring Torquay. The cinemas and theatres in her books are all said to be based on the Torbay Picture House. It was also used as a location for the 1984 Donald Sutherland film Ordeal by Innocence and the 1981 film The French Lieutenant's Woman (which was filmed mainly at Lyme Regis in Dorset). [5] [6]
The Royal Bijou Theatre is now demolished, but a blue plaque marking its former location can be found next to the Going Places travel agency in Hyde Road. The Royal Bijou Theatre was the venue for the first ever performance of The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan on 30 December 1879. The performance was given at short notice in order to secure the copyright on the work after problems had arisen with unauthorised performances of HMS Pinafore in the USA. [7]
The mathematician Oliver Heaviside lived in what is now Barclays Bank in Palace Avenue from 1889 to 1897, and the building has a blue plaque to commemorate this. He is buried in Paignton Cemetery.

Trivia

Paignton was used as a location in several episodes of the television comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus. In Episode 23, entitled "Scott of the Antarctic", Paignton Pier and seafront can be seen. Episode 18, "Live from the Grill-o-Mat", was hosted by John Cleese from the (fictional) Grill-o-Mat snack bar in Paignton. During the location filming of these scenes in May 1970, the Python team stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, which subsequently provided John Cleese with the inspiration for Fawlty Towers.
The town has also been used for filming by Spike Milligan, Little and Large and Dick Emery. Oldway Mansion was used as a location for Isadora (1968), a film about the dancer Isadora Duncan.
Paignton is the location of the annual national exhibition for waste management in the United Kingdom. The exhibition has taken place in Paignton every June since the 1970s. The exhibition is the largest of its kind in the world and is staged by the Chartered Institute of Wastes Management.
Sue Barker, the television presenter and former professional tennis player, was born in Paignton on 19 April 1956. During her tennis career she won the women's singles title at the French Open in 1976 and reached a career-high singles ranking of world number 3.
Suttons Seeds, a major suppliers of seeds, bulbs and horticultural products, is based in Paignton.