The city of Plymouth, on the south coast of Devon, has been a maritime
settlement since its earliest days. A trading port in Roman and Saxon
times, fishing and boat building have also been mainstays of the local
industry for centuries. The original town of Plymouth was historically
the commercial shipping and passenger port--the Pilgrim Fathers left for
the Americas from Plymouth in 1620--and the neighboring town of
Devonport, which is today merged with Plymouth, has been associated with
the Royal Navy for the last three centuries. This era saw a massive rise
in the Dockyard, probably peaking during World War II, when it became
the target for heavy aerial bombardment, and although it is now in
decline, Devonport Dockyard is still a major naval shipyard and the only
naval base in Britain that refits nuclear submarines. The local
topography has also had a role to play in the industries that have
characterized Plymouth over the years. The city is largely built on
limestone and there are huge areas which have been quarried away over
the centuries; the West Hoe area used to be a large hill but has been
flattened by the extraction of stone and another huge quarry site ran
alongside Stonehouse Creek. Other minerals nearby have also long being
exported from Plymouth Docks alongside other special Plymouth products
as Plymouth Gin, the distillery of which was established in the city in
1793. Today, although many of the traditional industries have declined
or closed, Plymouth is home to several high-tech industries, including
Plessey Semiconductors. Plymouth at Work explores the working life of
this Devon city and its people, and the industries that have
characterized it. The book will appeal to all those with an interest in
the history of Plymouth.
