Culture of Plymouth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The city of Plymouth in the United Kingdom has theatres, cinemas and art galleries as well as television stations.

Outdoor events and festivals are held including the British Fireworks Championships and Music of the Night, an outdoor production held every two years in The Royal Citadel when amateurs sing to service unit musicians. The Plymouth Morris Men perform throughout the year at many events and venues.

Contents 1 Theatres and cinemas 2 Museums, art galleries and historic buildings 3 Nightlife 4 Sport 4.1 Team Sports 4.2 Water sports 4.3 Racquet sports 4.4 Target sports 4.5 Other sports 5 Media 6 References

[edit] Theatres and cinemas

The Theatre Royal is a provincial producing theatre and incorporates a studio theatre (The Drum). Its production and education centre, TR2, is in an award-winning building at Cattedown.^[1]. The Barbican Theatre is in a converted Mission.[1]. The University has two well-equipped theatres within the Roland Levinsky Building. Amateurs perform at the Athenaeum Theatre, Devonport Playhouse, and the Globe Theatre (within Stonehouse barracks). The Plymouth Pavilions stages music concerts from rock and pop to ballet, as well as hosting basketball, wrestling and line dancing.

There is a multiplex cinema at the Barbican Leisure Centre and a small cinema at Derry's Cross. In Looe Street, Plymouth Arts Centre has a two screen cinema specialising in art house and foreign films. The Levinsky arts building at the university has a film centre.

[edit] Museums, art galleries and historic buildings

The Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery in Drake Circus has collections of fine and decorative arts, natural history and human history. It is closed for renovation until autumn 2008.

The Plymouth Arts Centre, established in 1948, is located near the Barbican, and regularly offers visiting displays of work by a wide range of local, British and international artists such as Beryl Cook, Richard Deacon, Andy Goldsworthy and Sir Terry Frost. As well as promoting visual arts, many independent art house and foreign films are shown.^[2] The City Council have offered that Art Centre the whole of the Victorian/1950s guildhall as a new site for the Arts Centre.^{[citation needed]}

A converted church on North Hill, now the Sherwell Centre and part of the university, hosts regular exhibitions, concerts, recitals, lectures and other public events. There are smaller and privately owned retail galleries in the Barbican.

Also in Plymouth are the Plymouth & West Devon Record Office; Smeaton's Tower; the Elizabethan House and Merchants House in The Barbican. Plymouth is home to the National Marine Aquarium. The Ashkenazi synagogue, in Catherine Street, was built in 1762.

[edit] Nightlife

Union Street has been the centre of Plymouth's nightlife for over a century.^{[citation needed]} Previously lined with music halls and cinemas, the street is now run down^[3] but is still home to a number of bars, clubs and casinos. Although most clubs play commercial dance and R&B, there are some which play less popular genres.^{[citation needed]} Other clubs and bars are at the Barbican Leisure Park and on Lockyer Street. There are a number of bars with live music. Mutley Plain has many student bars.

[edit] Sport

[edit] Team Sports

Plymouth Argyle play professional football in the English Football League's Championship division. The club is based at the Home Park stadium in Central Park.

Plymouth Albion play professional Rugby Union in the National League Division One and play their home games at the Brickfields. There are also many junior rugby union clubs playing in regional, Devon and Plymouth Combination leagues.

Plymouth Rugby League Football Club play in the Rugby League Conference South West Division.

Plymouth Raiders Play Professional Basketball in the British Basketball League and play their home games at the Plymouth Pavilions. The Plymouth Marjon Cannons, based at the College of St Mark & St John, play in the English Basketball League.

Plymouth Devils are a new Speedway team who reformed in 2006 after closing in 1970. The Club are members of the Conference League Whos home meets are at the St Boniface arena. The first track in Plymouth was located at the greyhound stadium in the Pennycross area and this operated both sides of WWII. The site was redeveloped for a school. Another Motoring event in the city is The Plymouth-Banjul Challenge is an annual car rally for charity, similar to the Dakar Rally.

Plymouth Cricket Club has teams at all levels. As of December 2007 it was threatened with eviction from its home at Peverell Park.^[4] Other cricket clubs are at Plympton and Plymstock.

Plymouth Admirals and the Plymouth Blitz are the cities two American football teams who compete in the British American Football League.

Among the several hockey clubs in the city is Plymouth Marjon Hockey Club, one of the West of England's clubs in field hockey which is also based at The College of St Mark and St John, along with an ice hockey team at the Plymouth Pavilions. Other prominent clubs include OPMs and PGSOB.

Plymouth and District Netball League is one of the biggest and most competitive in the country with junior and senior sections. Lacrosse is also enjoying a revival particularly among girls.

Also in Plymouth is the Plymouth Mariners Baseball Club, which has its baseball diamonds and fields situated at Wilson's Field in Central Park. There is currently a youth team, and a developing adult team.

[edit] Water sports

Inshore and offshore yacht racing is organised from the Royal Western Yacht Club at Queen Anne's Battery and there is a thriving coastal and cross channel passage racing calendar. The long-established Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club has its clubhouse on the Hoe foreshore and there are several other sailing clubs on the rivers Plym, Tamar and Yealm. Several of these provide members and visitors with weekly 'round the cans' divisional weeknight racing in Plymouth Sound.

There are facilities for other watersports including water-skiing, windsurfing and diving and there is a well-used watersports centre at Turnchapel. There are rowing clubs on both rivers and a growing interest in gig racing. In 2006 after three years competitive inshore power boat racing, Plymouth lost the event to the Solent.

Plymouth Leander and Port of Plymouth are successful swimming clubs; there are several indoor and outdoor public pools.

There are sea-angling options from boats based on the Barbican and a large number of Plymothians fish from hundreds of spots around the Sound and along the rivers.

[edit] Racquet sports

Tennis is played in many clubs; there are indoor tennis courts at Derriford and Ivybridge and outdoor public courts spread across the city including at St Budeaux, West Hoe and Plymstock.

The city has many public and private squash courts, no racquets courts but badminton is widely played.

[edit] Target sports

Bowls is popular because of the link with Sir Francis Drake and there are many public and club greens. Plymouth Croquet Club is at Hartley and there is another club at Durnford Street.

There is a golf club at Staddon Heights overlooking Plymouth Sound and a 9 hole pitch and putt course in Central Park. There is a large commercial driving range near Elburton.

[edit] Other sports

Plymouth Judo Club is one of the oldest in the southwest and there several other martial arts clubs in the city.

Adjacent to the Brickfields rugby stadium is the Plymouth athletics track.

The annual Plymouth half marathon starts and ends on The Hoe.

For skateboarders there is an outdoor concrete skate park at Central Park Youth Park.

[edit] Media

Plymouth is regional television centre of BBC South West. Itv's television studio at Langage is to close in 2008

The regional stations include BBC Radio Devon, BBC Radio Cornwall, South Hams Radio, Plymouth Sound and Pirate FM.

The main regional newspaper is the Western Morning News, whose local publishing and print centre at Derriford were designed by architect Nicholas Grimshaw. The local city paper, from the same publisher, Northcliffe Media group, at the same print centre, is the Plymouth 'Herald'.

Hospital Radio Plymouth is a station dedicated to the city's patients, broadcasting to Derriford Hospital, The Royal Eye Infirmary and on 87.7fm.

[edit] References