Category Archives: The Hoe

Plymouth Sound

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Plymouth Sound

The question has to be asked – what is Plymouth Sound exactly? The easiest way to describe it is if you stand on Plymouth Hoe and look out to sea everything in front of you is Plymouth Sound, but there’s a bit more to it than that.

The word ‘Sound’ in the geographical sense is basically a body of water that is connected to the sea, but not all look the same. Many appear as fjords like Milford Sound in New Zealand, but others are more like straits such as Vineyard Sound in Massachusetts which separates the Elizabeth Islands from Martha’s Vineyard.

Plymouth Sound on the other hand, is basically where a number of fresh water rivers meet a deep water inlet of the sea. If you weren’t sure what a Sound was before, you’re probably more confused than ever now, but if you’ll allow me to briefly explain how these rivers end up in The Sound, it might all start to make a bit more sense.

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Originally posted 2023-12-10 18:55:21.

Plymouth Hoe

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Plymouth Hoe

The Hoe is one of the first places people head for on their first visit to Plymouth – and for good reason. This large open public space has one of the most fantastic views of any city in the country.

The views stretch out across The Breakwater and Plymouth Sound into the English Channel, and from Devon’s South Hams coastline in the east to Cornwall’s Rame Head in the west.

‘Hoe’ is an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning ‘High Ground’, and although it isn’t that high above sea level it still affords commanding views, such as those that can be had from the colonnaded Belvedere near West Hoe.

Built on the site of a previous camera obscura, it was completed in 1891 at the end of a decade that saw the Hoe change from farmland to a city park.

Below it is a former bull ring that is now a memorial garden for various veterans’ associations from WW2 onwards.

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Originally posted 2019-02-13 15:43:00.