GOING BACK IN TIME
I visited the English Riviera and found delicious seafood festivals and hidden beaches
Dolphins, seals and porpoises that frequent the coast and you may be lucky to spot them
THE sun-bleached boards of Torquay’s Princess Pier have seen millions promenading along them over the years.
But I’d do anything to go back in time and watch queen of crime novels Agatha Christie rollerskating along them at the start of the 20th century.
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In full Edwardian skirts and jaunty feather-trimmed hat, a young Agatha sashayed along with giggling friends when what we think of as a very modern craze first became popular.
My guide Graham, from English Riviera Walking Tours, describes the moment so evocatively that if I close my eyes against the bright September sunshine, I can picture it perfectly.
We’re midway through a fascinating tour of Agatha Christie’s Torquay, the town where she was born in 1890 and spent her formative years.
Notorious villains
Graham’s walk reveals her links to Torquay — and surrounding English Riviera — and the places that inspired many of her most popular novels.
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At Torre Abbey we learn Agatha met Belgian refugees at social functions there, one no doubt the inspiration for that most famous of detectives, Hercule Poirot.
Today, the Abbey is a public art gallery and its manicured, landscaped grounds feature a quirky hidden gem — Agatha Christie’s Potent Plants Garden, filled with plants used to create poisons beloved by some of her most notorious villains.
The two-and-a-half-hour tour flew by, from the Grand Hotel where Agatha and Archie Christie spent their one-night honeymoon to the Imperial Hotel that featured in three of her novels, being visited by Poirot and Miss Marple.
We end on the seafront having built up quite the appetite. At the Offshore Bar & Restaurant on the harbourside we wolf down a seafood platter.
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Plump prawns and steaming mussels are accompanied by fresh crab, hot smoked salmon and a delicate pan-fried sea bass.
The platter was created as part of the annual England’s Seafood Feast — held this year from September 26 to October 12.
The 25 Boutique B&B in Torquay named the 'Best Bed and Breakfast' in the world for second year running
The event celebrates the best of the English Riviera’s fish and seafood, with everything from tours of Brixham Fish Market to barbecues and kayak cookouts.
There are special offers at more than 30 restaurants across Brixham, Paignton, Torquay and the surrounding countryside.
At night, we take the fishy feast up another level with a £55 five-course tasting menu featuring bass, brill and more at Circa, the intimate restaurant at the Sandridge Barton vineyard in the Dart Valley.
A chance to explore the coastline on a thrilling, high-speed RIB (rigid inflatable boat) brought a completely different perspective of the sea.
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Setting out from the marina, Torquay Water Sports’ Coastal Explorer was a 90-minute thrill ride across Torbay, our enthusiastic skipper full of fabulous facts about the unique geography that has seen the area awarded Unesco Global Geopark status.
We whizz past limestone cliffs, secluded coves and beaches before spotting birdlife on Thatcher Rock and at Hope’s Nose, a rugged headland.
While we failed to spot the dolphins, seals and porpoises that frequent the coast, the blue skies and birdlife made up for it.
And more animal encounters were to come. Behind an unremarkable wooden door in a modern building in Torquay lies an astonishing secret — a labyrinth of prehistoric caves.
At Kents Cavern, guides will lead you through the complex of caves formed 2.5million years ago.
Explorations over the last 200 years have uncovered the remains of woolly mammoths, woolly rhinos, cave bears, sabre-toothed cats and hyenas.
And the 1927 discoveries of a jaw fragment and three teeth, dating back around 40,000 years ago, were later confirmed to be the oldest evidence of modern humans in Europe.
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Best vistas
There was more modern history at our hotel, the Headland, which was formerly a grand villa built by the imperial Russian Romanov family.
It has fabulous views, a lovely terrace and cosy spa. Ask for a room high up at the back for the best vistas.
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It was also a world away from the other hotel Torquay has become synonymous with — Fawlty Towers.
Although, as Basil once referred to his wife Sybil in the ’70s sitcom as a “sabre-toothed tart”, you do wonder if they too were visitors to the ancient caverns.
GO: English Riviera
STAYING THERE: The Headland hotel has a special Sunday Stay offer for February with a one-night visit including breakfast, spa access and a cream tea from £50pp. See .
OUT & ABOUT: Agatha Christie tour is from £20pp, see ; Coastal Explorer 90-minute boat tour, from £45, see ; Kents Cavern tours, book in advance, £16 for adults and £14 for children age three to 15. Under-threes are free. See .
MORE INFO: See .
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