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92-526: Paignton ( / ˈ p eɪ n t ən / PAYN -tən ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon , England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1968. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton has origins as a Celtic settlement and was first mentioned in 1086. It grew as a small fishing village and
184-506: A submerged forest in the bay. It was overwhelmed during the Flandrian transgression which started about 10,000 years ago. Because it is sheltered from the prevailing south-westerly winds, Tor Bay has long been one of the safest refuges for shipping between Land's End and the Isle of Wight . In the mid-17th century, the bay was occasionally used by the naval fleet as an anchorage and as
276-433: A candidate at the renowned engineering school École Polytechnique , but as a foreigner, he was deemed ineligible for entry. Brunel subsequently studied under the prominent master clockmaker and horologist Abraham-Louis Breguet , who praised Brunel's potential in letters to his father. In late 1822, having completed his apprenticeship, Brunel returned to England. Brunel worked for several years as an assistant engineer on
368-712: A considerable fortune with his improvements to the sewing machine . The building was occupied by Torbay Council until an agreement was signed in September 2012 to develop the site into a hotel and retirement apartments. 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. Torquay Tramways were extended into Paignton in 1911, but
460-598: A fire aboard the ship as she was returning from fitting out in London. As the fire delayed the launch several days, the Great Western missed its opportunity to claim the title as the first ship to cross the Atlantic under steam power alone. Even with a four-day head start , the competing Sirius arrived only one day earlier, having virtually exhausted its coal supply. In contrast, the Great Western crossing of
552-551: A gathering place for convoys. These uses were greatly expanded during the wars with France up to 1815, though the bay's exposure to easterly winds caused a number of near disasters when the wind changed direction unexpectedly. On 5 November 1688 William of Orange landed at Brixham, starting the Glorious Revolution . During the COVID-19 pandemic , restrictions on the cruise industry led to Tor Bay being used as
644-642: A grade II listed monument in 2007) and at Starcross . A section of the pipe, without the leather covers, is preserved at the Didcot Railway Centre . In 2017, inventor Max Schlienger unveiled a working model of an updated atmospheric railroad at his vineyard in the Northern California town of Ukiah. Brunel had proposed extending its transport network by boat from Bristol across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City before
736-542: A happy childhood, despite the family's constant money worries, with his father acting as his teacher during his early years. His father taught him drawing and observational techniques from the age of four, and Brunel had learned Euclidean geometry by eight. During this time, he learned to speak French fluently and the basic principles of engineering. He was encouraged to draw interesting buildings and identify any faults in their structure, and like his father he demonstrated an aptitude for mathematics and mechanics. When Brunel
828-413: A haunt of the rare cirl bunting . Hollicombe beach, situated at Paignton's northern boundary with Torquay, features a geological stratotype at its northern end, known as the "Corbyn's Head Member" Elberry Cove is used by jetski enthusiasts, while Saltern Cove is a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to its distinctive geology and its marine biology. Paignton railway station is situated close to
920-539: A large fireworks display. Later in August is Children's Week, which includes a wide range of events and competitions. Paignton has a variety of holiday accommodation, complemented by numerous pubs , nightclubs and restaurants. Tourist attractions include Paignton Zoo and the Dartmouth Steam Railway , which operates steam trains from Paignton to Kingswear , from where a ferry can be taken across
1012-411: A large six-bladed propeller into his design for the 322-foot (98 m) Great Britain , which was launched in 1843. Great Britain is considered the first modern ship, being built of metal rather than wood, powered by an engine rather than wind or oars, and driven by propeller rather than paddle wheel. She was the first iron-hulled, propeller-driven ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Her maiden voyage
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#17327757986081104-585: A larger ship would take proportionately less fuel than a smaller ship. To test this theory, Brunel offered his services for free to the Great Western Steamship Company, which appointed him to its building committee and entrusted him with designing its first ship, the Great Western . When it was built, the Great Western was the longest ship in the world at 236 ft (72 m) with a 250-foot (76 m) keel . The ship
1196-410: A layup location to anchor numerous cruise ships including five Holland America vessels, as well as Tui ships Marella Explorer and Marella Explorer 2 . Cunard anchored ships in nearby Babbacombe Bay . The bay contains two sheltered harbours, at Torquay and Brixham. Almost the whole of the bay affords good anchorages and shelter from westerly winds. The bay's sheltered nature makes it
1288-610: A major means of transport for goods. This influenced Brunel's involvement in railway engineering, including railway bridge engineering. In 1833, before the Thames Tunnel was complete, Brunel was appointed chief engineer of the Great Western Railway , one of the wonders of Victorian Britain, running from London to Bristol and later Exeter . The company was founded at a public meeting in Bristol in 1833, and
1380-464: A new harbour was built in 1847. A railway line was opened to passengers in 1859 creating links to Torquay and London. As its population increased, it merged with the villages of Goodrington and Preston . Paignton is around 25 miles (40 km) north east of Plymouth and 20 miles (32 km) south of Exeter . A Roman burial was discovered in 1993 on the Hookhills estate by a householder digging
1472-457: A patio. At first thought to be Neolithic , it was later radiocarbon dated to be between 230 and 390 CE. The burial is of a young woman aged between 15 and 25 years. The burial included oysters and her teeth and bone reveal a diet rich in carbohydrates and proteins. Despite living near the sea marine food only accounted for 10% of her diet. The skeleton is the most complete yet found in Devon and
1564-610: A pirate-themed Adventure Golf course and the Paignton Geoplay Park, a children's play area, which has the area's geology as its theme, inspired by the UNESCO Global Geopark of which Paignton is a part. Immediately to the east of Paignton Harbour is Fairy Cove, which has no facilities, but features good exposures of the Torbay Breccia, a red sandstone with pieces of rock which washed into it when
1656-414: A popular location for watersports . There are regular passenger ferry services across the bay between Torquay and Brixham. Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( / ˈ ɪ z ə m b ɑːr d ˈ k ɪ ŋ d ə m b r uː ˈ n ɛ l / IZZ -əm-bard KING -dəm broo- NELL ; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who
1748-618: A series of technical achievements— viaducts such as the one in Ivybridge , specially designed stations, and tunnels including the Box Tunnel , which was the longest railway tunnel in the world at that time. With the opening of the Box Tunnel, the line from London to Bristol was complete and ready for trains on 30 June 1841. The initial group of locomotives ordered by Brunel to his own specifications proved unsatisfactory, apart from
1840-479: A train ferry across the Hamoaze —the estuary of the tidal Tamar , Tavy and Lynher . The bridge (of bowstring girder or tied arch construction) consists of two main spans of 455 ft (139 m), 100 ft (30 m) above mean high spring tide , plus 17 much shorter approach spans. Opened by Prince Albert on 2 May 1859, it was completed in the year of Brunel's death. Several of Brunel's bridges over
1932-459: A year, from 1847 (experimental service began in September; operations from February 1848) to 10 September 1848. Deterioration of the valve due to the reaction of tannin and iron oxide has been cited as the last straw that sank the project, as the continuous valve began to tear from its rivets over most of its length, and the estimated replacement cost of £25,000 was considered prohibitive. The system never managed to prove itself. The accounts of
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#17327757986082024-472: Is a late medieval stone house which is open to the public at certain times of the year. The Coverdale Tower adjacent to Paignton Parish Church 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 reputed to have lived in the tower although this is doubted by modern historians. The railway line to Paignton
2116-488: 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 Torquay-born crime novelist Agatha Christie , who lived in neighbouring Galmpton . The cinemas and theatres in her books are all said to be based on the Paignton Picture House. It was also used as a location for the 1984 Donald Sutherland film Ordeal by Innocence and
2208-477: Is bounded by outcrops of Devonian limestone forming its northern limit at Hope's Nose and its southern at Berry Head . The geology of the area is varied and complex, recognised by the 2007 designation of the English Riviera Geopark which includes all of Tor Bay's coastline. During the last glacial period , when sea level was much lower, Tor Bay was dry land, as is shown by the existence of
2300-529: Is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history", "one of the 19th-century engineering giants", and "one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution , [who] changed the face of the English landscape with his groundbreaking designs and ingenious constructions". Brunel built dockyards, the Great Western Railway (GWR), a series of steamships including
2392-401: Is dominated by Paignton Pier , a 780-foot (240 m) long structure opened in 1879. It was designed by George Soudon Bridgman, the local architect who also designed the original Oldway Mansion . The Festival Theatre , opened in 1967, was once a seafront theatre capable of staging large summer shows. In 1999 it was converted into a multiscreen cinema . The Torbay Air Show, launched in 2016,
2484-480: Is held over the Bay in front of Paignton Sands in early June annually. The Paignton Festival (formerly known as the "Torbay Carnival") is over 100 years old and is held annually in late July. It features a Carnival Procession together with various entertainments and charity stalls on The Green. Regatta Week during early August is the peak holiday season. During this period there is a funfair on Paignton Green, along with
2576-577: Is on display in the Torquay Museum . Paignton is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Peintone in the ancient hundred of Kerswell. Formerly written Peynton , Payngton and Paington , the name is derived from Pæga , an Anglo-Saxon personal name, -ing meaning "the people of" and tun an enclosure, estate or homestead, the original Anglo-Saxon settlement. Originally, the beach was backed by low sand dunes with marshes behind on
2668-600: Is operated by National Express . Ferry services are provided seasonally by Paignton Pleasure Cruises and We Ferry to Torquay and Brixham from Paignton Harbour. Tor Bay Tor Bay (sometimes written as Torbay ) is a bay on the south-east coast of the county of Devon , England. Facing east into the English Channel , it is about 4.5 mi (7.2 km) wide from north to south. The settlements of Torquay , Paignton and Brixham , which lie along its coastline, are known collectively as Torbay . Tor Bay
2760-727: The Conservative MP with a majority of 3,286. He retained it with a majority of 14,283 in 2017. Some areas in the southern and western parts of the town are in the South Devon constituency . In 2015, Sarah Wollaston retained the seat for the Conservative Party with a majority of 18,385, reduced to 13,477 in 2017. Wollaston resigned from the Conservative Party in February 2019, moving between various political parties and sitting as an independent MP, before standing for
2852-492: The Dartmouth Steam Railway , is adjacent to the main railway station on the beachside of the level crossing . A service of steam trains is provided from February to December, although it is daily only between April and October. The other railway station in Paignton is Goodrington Sands (opened in 1928), which is now part of the Dartmouth Steam Railway. The bus and coach station faces the main entrance to
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2944-730: The East London Line now incorporated into the London Overground . Brunel is perhaps best remembered for designs for the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol , begun in 1831. The bridge was built to designs based on Brunel's, but with significant changes. Spanning over 702 ft (214 m), and nominally 249 ft (76 m) above the River Avon , it had the longest span of any bridge in
3036-627: The English Reformation in the 16th century. Paignton then remained a small fishing and farming village (noted for grapes, cabbages and cider) until the 19th century, when in 1837 the Paington Harbour Act led to the construction of a new harbour. Around the same time, the modern spelling, Paignton , first appeared. The historic part of Paignton is centred on Church Street, Winner Street and Palace Avenue which contain fine examples of Victorian architecture . Kirkham House
3128-682: The Liberal Democrats at the December 2019 general election . She was defeated by the Conservative candidate, Anthony Mangnall , with a majority of 12,724. At the 2024 General Election , Kevin Foster was replaced by Liberal Democrat Steve Darling and Anthony Mangall by Liberal Democrat Caroline Voaden . Paignton's economy relies extensively on tourism and the town is marketed as a location for family holidays. The main seafront area
3220-576: The Marlborough Downs —an area with no significant towns, though it offered potential connections to Oxford and Gloucester —and then to follow the Thames Valley into London. His decision to use broad gauge for the line was controversial in that almost all British railways to date had used standard gauge . Brunel said that this was nothing more than a carry-over from the mine railways that George Stephenson had worked on prior to making
3312-546: The North Star locomotive , and 20-year-old Daniel Gooch (later Sir Daniel) was appointed as Superintendent of Locomotive Engines . Brunel and Gooch chose to locate their locomotive works at the village of Swindon , at the point where the gradual ascent from London turned into the steeper descent to the Avon valley at Bath . After Brunel's death, the decision was taken that standard gauge should be used for all railways in
3404-562: The River Dart to Dartmouth . The line was sold in 1972 without cessation of services by British Rail in the aftermath of the cutbacks of the Beeching era in the 1960s, and is operated today as a heritage railway line . The 630 mile South West Coast Path National Trail runs along the coast. Suttons Seeds , a supplier of seeds , bulbs and horticultural products , is based in Paignton. The Paignton Picture House (now closed)
3496-964: The Royal Albert Bridge spanning the River Tamar at Saltash near Plymouth , Somerset Bridge (an unusual laminated timber-framed bridge near Bridgwater ), the Windsor Railway Bridge , and the Maidenhead Railway Bridge over the Thames in Berkshire . This last was the flattest, widest brick arch bridge in the world and is still carrying main line trains to the west, even though today's trains are about ten times heavier than in Brunel's time. Throughout his railway building career, but particularly on
3588-588: The SS ; Great Western (1838), the SS Great Britain (1843), and the SS Great Eastern (1859). In 2002, Brunel was placed second in a BBC public poll to determine the " 100 Greatest Britons ". In 2006, the bicentenary of his birth, a major programme of events celebrated his life and work under the name Brunel 200 . Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born on 9 April 1806 in Britain Street, Portsea , Portsmouth , Hampshire , where his father
3680-508: The South Devon and Cornwall Railways where economy was needed and there were many valleys to cross, Brunel made extensive use of wood for the construction of substantial viaducts; these have had to be replaced over the years as their primary material, Kyanised Baltic Pine, became uneconomical to obtain. Brunel designed the Royal Albert Bridge in 1855 for the Cornwall Railway, after Parliament rejected his original plan for
3772-459: The Teredo [Shipworm] suggested to Mr. Brunel his method of tunnelling the Thames." The composition of the riverbed at Rotherhithe was often little more than waterlogged sediment and loose gravel. An ingenious tunnelling shield designed by Marc Brunel helped protect workers from cave-ins, but two incidents of severe flooding halted work for long periods, killing several workers and badly injuring
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3864-545: The first tunnel under a navigable river (the River Thames ) and the development of the SS Great Britain , the first propeller-driven, ocean-going iron ship, which, when launched in 1843, was the largest ship ever built. On the GWR, Brunel set standards for a well-built railway, using careful surveys to minimise gradients and curves. This necessitated expensive construction techniques, new bridges, new viaducts, and
3956-603: The 1981 film The French Lieutenant's Woman (which was filmed mainly at Lyme Regis in Dorset). The Royal Bijou Theatre is now demolished, but a blue plaque marking its former location can be found next to the Thomas Cook travel agency in Hyde Road. The theatre was the venue for the premiere of The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan on 30 December 1879. The performance was given at short notice to secure
4048-420: The 20th century. Like many of Brunel's ambitious projects, the ship soon ran over budget and behind schedule in the face of a series of technical problems. The ship has been portrayed as a white elephant , but it has been argued by David P. Billington that in this case, Brunel's failure was principally one of economics—his ships were simply years ahead of their time. His vision and engineering innovations made
4140-621: The Admiralty included, the experiments were judged by Brunel to be a failure on the grounds of fuel economy alone, and were discontinued after 1834. In 1865, the East London Railway Company purchased the Thames Tunnel for £200,000, and four years later the first trains passed through it. Subsequently, the tunnel became part of the London Underground system, and it remains in use today, originally as part of
4232-513: The Atlantic took 15 days and five hours, and the ship arrived at her destination with a third of its coal still remaining, demonstrating that Brunel's calculations were correct. The Great Western had proved the viability of commercial transatlantic steamship service, which led the Great Western Steamboat Company to use her in regular service between Bristol and New York from 1838 to 1846. She made 64 crossings, and
4324-687: The British copyright on the work after problems had arisen with unauthorised performances of HMS Pinafore in the USA. The Palace Theatre in Palace Avenue has been the main theatre in the town since the conversion of the Festival Theatre to a cinema in 1998. The department store Rossiters was a centrepiece of the town until its closure in January 2009. The store is said to have been
4416-599: The Great Western Railway might be demolished because the line is to be electrified, and there is inadequate clearance for overhead wires. Buckinghamshire County Council is negotiating to have further options pursued, in order that all nine of the remaining historic bridges on the line can be saved. When the Cornwall Railway company constructed a railway line between Plymouth and Truro , opening in 1859, and extended it to Falmouth in 1863, on
4508-465: The Great Western Railway opened in 1835. The Great Western Steamship Company was formed by Thomas Guppy for that purpose. It was widely disputed whether it would be commercially viable for a ship powered purely by steam to make such long journeys. Technological developments in the early 1830s—including the invention of the surface condenser , which allowed boilers to run on salt water without stopping to be cleaned—made longer journeys more possible, but it
4600-406: The Great Western Railway. The Didcot Railway Centre has a reconstructed segment of 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 2,140 mm ) track as designed by Brunel and working steam locomotives in the same gauge. Parts of society viewed the railways more negatively. Some landowners felt the railways were a threat to amenities or property values and others requested tunnels on their land so
4692-581: The River Avon to survey the bank of the river for the route. Brunel even designed the Royal Hotel in Bath which opened in 1846 opposite the railway station. Brunel made two controversial decisions: to use a broad gauge of 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 2,140 mm ) for the track, which he believed would offer superior running at high speeds; and to take a route that passed north of
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#17327757986084784-482: The SDR for 1848 suggest that atmospheric traction cost 3s 1d (three shillings and one penny) per mile compared to 1s 4d/mile for conventional steam power (because of the many operating issues associated with the atmospheric, few of which were solved during its working life, the actual cost efficiency proved impossible to calculate). Several South Devon Railway engine houses still stand, including that at Totnes (scheduled as
4876-418: The advice of Brunel, they constructed the river crossings in the form of wooden viaducts, 42 in total , consisting of timber deck spans supported by fans of timber bracing built on masonry piers. This unusual method of construction substantially reduced the first cost of construction compared to an all-masonry structure, but at the cost of more expensive maintenance. In 1934 the last of Brunel's timber viaducts
4968-414: The air from a pipe placed in the centre of the track. The section from Exeter to Newton (now Newton Abbot ) was completed on this principle, and trains ran at approximately 68 miles per hour (109 km/h). Pumping stations with distinctive square chimneys were sited at two-mile intervals. Fifteen-inch (381 mm) pipes were used on the level portions, and 22-inch (559 mm) pipes were intended for
5060-489: The area was a desert. Also within the former Urban District of Paignton lies Goodrington which has another popular beach backed by Young's Park, with its boating lake, and a large outdoor waterpark, Splashdown Quaywest . Beyond Goodrington are Waterside and Saltern Coves, which have no facilities and are accessed through fields, followed by Broadsands, on the Brixham border. The reed beds found behind Broadsands beach are
5152-413: The arrival of the railway in 1859 chaos occurred and the event became notorious. A Paignton Pudding was baked in 1995 to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the town's market charter, and another 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 constructed in the 1870s for Isaac Merritt Singer , who had amassed
5244-471: The bridge finished, although his colleagues and admirers at the Institution of Civil Engineers felt it would be a fitting memorial, and started to raise new funds and to amend the design. Work recommenced in 1862, three years after Brunel's death, and was completed in 1864. In 2011, it was suggested, by historian and biographer Adrian Vaughan, that Brunel did not design the bridge, as eventually built, as
5336-446: The building of large-scale, propeller-driven, all-metal steamships a practical reality, but the prevailing economic and industrial conditions meant that it would be several decades before transoceanic steamship travel emerged as a viable industry. Great Eastern was built at John Scott Russell 's Napier Yard in London, and after two trial trips in 1859, set forth on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 17 June 1860. Though
5428-505: The country. At the original Welsh terminus of the Great Western railway at Neyland , sections of the broad gauge rails are used as handrails at the quayside, and information boards there depict various aspects of Brunel's life. There is also a larger-than-life bronze statue of him holding a steamship in one hand and a locomotive in the other. The statue has been replaced after an earlier theft. The present London Paddington station
5520-410: The first purpose-built transatlantic steamship , and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering. Though Brunel's projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his career, Brunel achieved many engineering firsts, including assisting his father in the building of
5612-466: The flat land between the sea and the hills behind. The settlement grew up on the dry ground at the foot of the hills, and also as a separate hamlet in the shelter of Roundham Head, which was a fishing settlement. The first church was probably built using wood in the eighth century. In late Saxon times, the manor was owned by Leofric, the Bishop of Exeter . Later bishops built the Bishop's Palace adjoining
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#17327757986085704-723: The inspiration for the sitcom Are You Being Served? In 2010, it reopened as a discount store. From 1889 to 1897 the mathematician Oliver Heaviside lived in Palace Avenue, in the building now occupied by Barclays Bank . A commemorative blue plaque can be seen on the wall. Heaviside is buried in Paignton Cemetery. Paignton beach and the nearby Preston Sands, which are continuous at low tide, are used for water sports including kite surfing and dinghy sailing. Both are sandy and gently shelving and have no strong currents, making them popular with swimmers and families. Both have green spaces immediately inland. Paignton Green has
5796-423: The later changes to its design were substantial. His views reflected a sentiment stated fifty-two years earlier by Tom Rolt in his 1959 book Brunel. Re-engineering of suspension chains recovered from an earlier suspension bridge was one of many reasons given why Brunel's design could not be followed exactly. Hungerford Bridge , a suspension footbridge across the Thames near Charing Cross Station in London,
5888-455: The network was closed in 1934. There is only one tier of local government covering Paignton, being the unitary authority of Torbay , which covers a larger area than just Paignton, also including Brixham and Torquay . Torbay Council is based at Torquay Town Hall . Paignton was an ancient parish . The parish included the hamlets of Goodrington and Preston , which were gradually absorbed into Paignton's urban area as it grew. Until 1863
5980-453: The old Town Hall. In 1968, the urban districts of Paignton and Brixham, the municipal borough of Torquay and the parish of Churston Ferrers were all abolished. A county borough called Torbay was created to cover the whole area (with some adjustments of the boundaries to neighbouring parishes at the same time). As a county borough, Torbay was administratively independent from Devon County Council . Six years later, in 1974, local government
6072-417: The parish church, some remains of which, including the Coverdale Tower are still standing. Winner Street owes its name to a corruption of the word "Wynerde", referring to vineyards or, at least to traders in wine in the medieval period. The bishops secured a charter from Edward I in 1294 giving the right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair, making Paignton a market town . The market declined following
6164-469: The parish was administered by its vestry in the same way as most rural areas. Paignton was made a local government district in 1863, governed by a local board. The local board built itself what is now the Old Town Hall, Paignton , at the corner of New Street and Totnes Road, being completed in 1870. Local boards were reconstituted as urban district councils in 1894. In 1946, the council bought Oldway Mansion to serve as its headquarters, having outgrown
6256-409: The project to create a tunnel under London's River Thames between Rotherhithe and Wapping , with tunnellers driving a horizontal shaft from one side of the river to the other under the most difficult and dangerous conditions. The project was funded by the Thames Tunnel Company and Brunel's father, Marc, was the chief engineer. The American Naturalist said, "It is stated also that the operations of
6348-460: The railway could not be seen. Though unsuccessful, another of Brunel's uses of technical innovations was the atmospheric railway , the extension of the Great Western Railway (GWR) southward from Exeter towards Plymouth , technically the South Devon Railway (SDR), though supported by the GWR. Instead of using locomotives , the trains were moved by Clegg and Samuda's patented system of atmospheric ( vacuum ) traction, whereby stationary pumps sucked
6440-402: The railway station. Bus services are provided by Stagecoach South West , Torbay Minibuses, Country Bus (Newton Abbot) and the Dartmouth Steam Railway & Riverboat Company. Principal services lead to Totnes and Plymouth ; Torquay and Newton Abbot ; Torquay , Teignmouth and Dawlish Warren ; Brixham ; and Kingswear , for the ferry to Dartmouth . A range of long-distance coach services
6532-409: The steeper gradients. The technology required the use of leather flaps to seal the vacuum pipes. The natural oils were drawn out of the leather by the vacuum, making the leather vulnerable to water, rotting it and breaking the fibres when it froze during the winter of 1847. It had to be kept supple with tallow , which is attractive to rats . The flaps were eaten, and vacuum operation lasted less than
6624-561: The town centre and is a short walk from the beach along Torbay Road. Train services are provided mainly by Great Western Railway ; these consist of approximately half-hourly services to Torquay , Newton Abbot , Exeter and Exmouth along the Riviera Line , with some longer distance services to Taunton , Bristol , Cardiff and London Paddington . CrossCountry provides two services per day currently to Manchester Piccadilly station via Bristol. Queen's Park station, for services on
6716-485: The two-mile-long (3.2 km) Box Tunnel . One controversial feature was the " broad gauge " of 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 2,140 mm ), instead of what was later to be known as " standard gauge " of 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ). He astonished Britain by proposing to extend the GWR westward to North America by building steam-powered, iron-hulled ships. He designed and built three ships that revolutionised naval engineering:
6808-518: The world at the time of construction. Brunel submitted four designs to a committee headed by Thomas Telford , but Telford rejected all entries, proposing his own design instead. Vociferous opposition from the public forced the organising committee to hold a new competition, which was won by Brunel. Afterwards, Brunel wrote to his brother-in-law, the politician Benjamin Hawes : "Of all the wonderful feats I have performed, since I have been in this part of
6900-408: The world's first passenger railway. Brunel proved through both calculation and a series of trials that his broader gauge was the optimum size for providing both higher speeds and a stable and comfortable ride to passengers. In addition the wider gauge allowed for larger goods wagons and thus greater freight capacity. Drawing on Brunel's experience with the Thames Tunnel, the Great Western contained
6992-555: The world, I think yesterday I performed the most wonderful. I produced unanimity among 15 men who were all quarrelling about that most ticklish subject—taste". Work on the Clifton bridge started in 1831, but was suspended due to the Queen Square riots caused by the arrival of Sir Charles Wetherell in Clifton. The riots drove away investors, leaving no money for the project, and construction ceased. Brunel did not live to see
7084-402: The younger Brunel. The latter incident, in 1828, killed the two most senior miners, and Brunel himself narrowly escaped death. He was seriously injured and spent six months recuperating, during which time he began a design for a bridge in Bristol, which would later be completed as the Clifton Suspension Bridge . The event stopped work on the tunnel for several years. Though the Thames Tunnel
7176-496: Was built by the Dartmouth and Torbay Railway , and opened to passengers on 2 August 1859, providing Torquay and Paignton with a link to London. The Paignton Pudding, first made in the 13th century, is the origin of the nickname pudden eaters for the people of Paignton. The puddings were made infrequently and were of great size. When thousands turned up hoping to obtain a piece of a huge pudding that had been baked to celebrate
7268-471: Was constructed mainly from wood, but Brunel added bolts and iron diagonal reinforcements to maintain the keel's strength. In addition to its steam-powered paddle wheels , the ship carried four masts for sails. The Great Western embarked on her maiden voyage from Avonmouth , Bristol, to New York on 8 April 1838 with 600 long tons (610,000 kg) of coal, cargo and seven passengers on board. Brunel himself missed this initial crossing, having been injured during
7360-400: Was cutting-edge technology for her time: almost 700 ft (210 m) long, fitted out with the most luxurious appointments, and capable of carrying over 4,000 passengers. Great Eastern was designed to cruise non-stop from London to Sydney and back (since engineers of the time mistakenly believed that Australia had no coal reserves), and she remained the largest ship built until the start of
7452-425: Was designed by Brunel and opened in 1854. Examples of his designs for smaller stations on the Great Western and associated lines which survive in good condition include Mortimer , Charlbury and Bridgend (all Italianate ) and Culham ( Tudorbethan ). Surviving examples of wooden train sheds in his style are at Frome and Kingswear . The Swindon Steam Railway Museum has many artefacts from Brunel's time on
7544-497: Was dismantled and replaced by a masonry structure. Brunel's last major undertaking was the unique Three Bridges, London . Work began in 1856, and was completed in 1859. The three bridges in question are arranged to allow the routes of the Grand Junction Canal , Great Western and Brentford Railway , and Windmill Lane to cross each other. In the early part of Brunel's life, the use of railways began to take off as
7636-667: Was eight, he was sent to Dr Morrell's boarding school in Hove , where he learned classics . His father, a Frenchman by birth, was determined that Brunel should have access to the high-quality education he had enjoyed in his youth in France. Accordingly, at the age of 14, the younger Brunel was enrolled first at the University of Caen , then at Lycée Henri-IV in Paris. When Brunel was 15, his father, who had accumulated debts of over £5,000,
7728-456: Was eventually completed during Marc Brunel's lifetime, his son had no further involvement with the tunnel proper, only using the abandoned works at Rotherhithe to further his abortive Gaz experiments. This was based on an idea of his father's and was intended to develop into an engine that ran on power generated from alternately heating and cooling carbon dioxide made from ammonium carbonate and sulphuric acid. Despite interest from several parties,
7820-448: Was generally thought that a ship would not be able to carry enough fuel for the trip and have room for commercial cargo. Brunel applied the experimental evidence of Beaufoy and further developed the theory that the amount a ship could carry increased as the cube of its dimensions, whereas the amount of resistance a ship experienced from the water as it travelled increased by only a square of its dimensions. This would mean that moving
7912-573: Was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1835. It was Brunel's vision that passengers would be able to purchase one ticket at London Paddington and travel from London to New York, changing from the Great Western Railway to the Great Western steamship at the terminus in Neyland , West Wales. He surveyed the entire length of the route between London and Bristol himself, with the help of many including his solicitor Jeremiah Osborne of Bristol Law Firm Osborne Clarke who on one occasion rowed Brunel down
8004-483: Was made in August and September 1845, from Liverpool to New York. In 1846, she was run aground at Dundrum, County Down . She was salvaged and employed in the Australian service . She is currently fully preserved and open to the public in Bristol, UK. In 1852 Brunel turned to a third ship, larger than her predecessors, intended for voyages to India and Australia. The Great Eastern (originally dubbed Leviathan )
8096-527: Was opened in May 1845. Its central span was 676.5 feet (206.2 m), and its cost was £106,000. It was replaced by a new railway bridge in 1859, and the suspension chains were used to complete the Clifton Suspension Bridge. The Clifton Suspension Bridge still stands, and over 4 million vehicles traverse it every year. Brunel designed many bridges for his railway projects, including
8188-498: Was reformed again, with Torbay becoming a non-metropolitan district and Devon County Council providing county-level services to the area again. Torbay regained its independence from the county council in 1998 when it was made a unitary authority. Torbay remains part of the ceremonial county of Devon for the purposes of lieutenancy . Most of Paignton is in the Torbay constituency . At the 2015 general election , Kevin Foster became
8280-556: Was sent to a debtors' prison . After three months went by with no prospect of release, Marc Brunel let it be known that he was considering an offer from the Tsar of Russia . In August 1821, facing the prospect of losing a prominent engineer, the government relented and issued Marc £5,000 to clear his debts in exchange for his promise to remain in Britain. When Brunel completed his studies at Henri-IV in 1822, his father had him presented as
8372-493: Was the first ship to hold the Blue Riband with a crossing time of 13 days westbound and 12 days 6 hours eastbound. The service was commercially successful enough for a sister ship to be required, which Brunel was asked to design. Brunel had become convinced of the superiority of propeller -driven ships over paddle wheels. After tests conducted aboard the propeller-driven steamship Archimedes , he incorporated
8464-501: Was working on block-making machinery . He was named Isambard after his father, the French civil engineer Sir Marc Isambard Brunel , and Kingdom after his English mother, Sophia Kingdom . His mother's sister, Elizabeth Kingdom, was married to Thomas Mudge Jr, son of Thomas Mudge the horologist . He had two elder sisters, Sophia, the eldest child, and Emma. The whole family moved to London in 1808 for his father's work. Brunel had
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