Made a mad dash down to Paignton in South Devon to see me my old mate Garry and carry his bags while he made a stalker video – his latest project.
Paignton was a small fishing village until the 19th century, when in 1837 the Paington Harbour Act led to the construction of a new harbour and the modern spelling, Paignton, first appeared.
Paignton is now a dilapidated, run down dump of a place that makes Illfracombe feel like Nice. Everything about the town is slightly depressing, there appears to be no hope, no future, no dreams – I love the place and could see myself happily living there.
Out of the ruins creativity smoulders
The historic part of Paignton is centerd around Church Street, Winner Street and Palace Avenue which contain fine examples of Victorian architecture. Kirkham House is a late medieval stone house which is open to the public at certain times of 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.
Uploaded by Yrraktombs (aka Garry) on Feb 25, 2012
“A literal, visual version of one of my all time favourite singles by one of the, then, best live acts around.
The Dancing Did, (from Evesham, Worcestershire, UK and active in the early 1980s) took the essence of rural song, story telling, urban attitudes, punk’s musical aggression, New Wave’s sensibilities and then gloriously spun the whole thing on its tail with rather impressive results. ‘Neo rustic pagan bop’ as singer and lyricist Tim Harrison better described it.
(The name ‘Dancing Did’ is not a pretentious playing with an auxiliary verb but ‘did’ is a short form of ‘didicoi’, a local term for gypsy.)”
Coverdale Tower in Paignton. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)