Of all my childhood holidays, it's family trips to the seaside village of Hope Cove five miles west of Salcombe that evoke the happiest memories. The idyllic harbour with its thatched guest houses, together with such picturesque south-coast towns as Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, are what earns this part of the world the nickname of the English Riviera, and tourism still powers much of the county's economy today.
Researchers are served by three archives, two administered by the South West Heritage Trust ( -the Devon Heritage Centre (DHC) in Exeter () and) – and a separate record office for Plymouth. The latter now lives in the arts and heritage venue The Box, which opened in 2020 around the time of the 400th anniversary of the voyage of the (). The original Devon Record Office was first set up by the doyenne of county archivists Joan Sinar in 1952, whose other claim to fame was that as a student she had lent silk petticoats to future prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
