Note for the English Riviera Council (Formally Torbay)

On the Harbour in Torquay there are two sets of benches that run the length of the Strand for people to sit on and enjoy the view and a have little rest. Two or three hundred people can be accommodated here. A few days ago I was down there and in need of a rest so I looked for somewhere to sit not expecting to find a space as it was a bright, sunny, hot day. However there was a 5 metre stretch where no one was sitting so I gratefully sat down and soon discovered why there was no one else resting and viewing in this spot. The back rest, as you can see has become detached from it's support and slipped down 10 cm making it very uncomfortable to sit for more than a minute. I wouldn't mind but these benches were all done up and painted only last summer.

There was a council meeting last night in which the idea of renaming Torbay 'The English Riviera' was discussed. The mind set behind this proposed change is that residents and visitors alike are unsure where, or for that matter what, Torbay is. I used to get asked when driving a bus what Torbay was. I explained that Torbay was actually two things. One, it is the body of water between Berry Head in the south and Hopes Nose in the north and is visible from space (just like the Great Wall of China). It is also the name of the local authority and in that respect was made up of the towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham. Half way through my explanation most visitors eyes would have glazed over and their brains would have turned to mush.

The Riviera is of course in the South of France where the climate is mild all the year round (as it is in Torbay, sorry The English Riviera) and was the meeting place of the Jet Set between the wars. It's a posh place, or it was last time I was there in 1963. I wonder if any of it's benches fall apart only a year after they were fixed. Anyway there are 39 comments by readers of the local paper that ran the story about the name change, most think the idea is as daft as renaming London 'Thames Side' or San Francisco 'The San Andreas Fault'. The basic idea of the name change is to improve the market image of the area and most people who made a comment think the best idea would be to improve Torbay's image up from dump with closed shops, boarded up sea front, hundred year old hotels to somewhere visitors would actually like to return to.

What ever it is called.