The 200th anniversary of the Devonport area in Plymouth

German bombs, a giant wall and years of struggle haven’t affected the pride locals feel in Devonport, which was founded 200 years ago by royal decree. Chrissy Harris met some longstanding Plymouth residents to unearth some neighbourhood memories

In the mayor’s parlour at Devonport Guildhall, Richard Gere has just appeared in his navy whites, ready to scoop up Debra Winger and carry her off to their new life together.

The classic scene from the film An Officer and a Gentleman is met with cheers and claps from the audience at today’s Red Velvet Cinema.

Red Velvet Cinema club regulars in discussion over tea and cake. (Image: SG Haywood Photography) This fortnightly meet-up is a film club but also a social project, designed to bring together older people in Plymouth who are living on their own.

Members get to watch a movie, chat and enjoy a refreshment or two, usually provided by longstanding Red Velveteer, Pat Wall, 85. She makes three cakes and 20 sausage rolls for each cinema session.

‘The majority of us here today are on our own so to get out and do this, it’s lovely,’ says Pat above the hum of the post-film discussions. ‘It’s just nice to meet people your own age, isn’t it?’

Pat Wall is a regular at the Red Velvet Cinema club in Devonport. (Image: SG Haywood Photography) It’s buzzing in here today – probably because Richard Gere has just been on – but also because this is what Devonport does best. This historic part of Plymouth is a proudly proactive community hub that’s been two centuries in the making.

This year marks Devonport 200 - the anniversary of Devonport’s foundation by Royal Decree. Since then, the neighbourhood has gone through some seismic changes, witnessed, in part, by some of the longstanding Plymouth residents at the Red Velvet Cinema club.

We’re sat around the cake table now, sharing lemon drizzle, thoughts on Richard Gere and memories of Devonport’s old days.

Devonport is full of historic buildings. (Image: Mariusz Zarzycki / Getty) ‘You would travel through this area and there was lots of poverty, lots of pubs everywhere, drinking problems,’ says Geoffrey Sloggett, 87. ‘My mother told me she could remember barefooted children standing outside the dockyard gates, begging for food from the ‘dockyardies’ when they came off duty. This was in the late 1930s.

‘There were a lot of slum properties. What Hitler didn’t destroy was cleared away in the end and that was actually quite positive.’

‘I think it gets a bad name, but I love the historical part of it,’ says Hilary Williams, 90. She lived in nearby Charlotte Street when her family was rehoused during the war.

The Naval Base is a key part of Devonport's history. (Image: Roger Mechan / Getty) ‘I mean, there were some lovely things I remember about it,’ says Hilary, talking about the open-air swimming pools at Mount Wise (they’re still here). ‘We used to love going there. I used to go down with my friend when we were about ten. There used to be a shop on the way that had this big glass thing full of this drink they’d knocked together. It wasn’t a squash - we didn’t have that then - but it was something similar.

‘You’d say you wanted a drink of it and for a ha’penny, you’d get a big glass full.’

As the home of the largest naval base in western Europe, Devonport (and the rest of Plymouth) was a prime target for German bombers during the Second World War.

Devonport has undergone two decades of redevelopment which has involved building new homes and restoring old buildings (Image: Getty) The area was hit hard and then struggled through years of decline and neglect for the next few decades. The giant wall didn’t help. In the 1950s, the Navy requestioned Devonport’s bomb-damaged centre as a storage enclave and enclosed it with a three-metre-high wall. Known by residents as the ‘Berlin Wall’, the structure literally divided the neighbourhood and was locally loathed. There was much celebration when the diggers arrived in 2007 to begin taking it down, marking the start of Devonport’s two decades-long regeneration programme. In that time, around 1,500 homes have been built, as well as commercial units and community buildings. Historical buildings have been renovated, repurposed and incorporated into the redevelopment of the area.

Devonport Guildhall – where we’re sat – has become a hive of community activity. This regency style building designed by the famous architect John Foulston fell into disrepair in the 1980s but has been restored and now has event spaces and offices. It also hosts the local foodbank. Nearby Devonport Column, also designed by Foulston, is open to the public for tours, while the previously dilapidated Devonport Market Hall is home to an ‘immersive dome’, a 360-degree virtual reality experience.

Devonport Column was designed by the architect John Foulston. (Image: Martyn Cruise / Getty) There’s also a theatre (Devonport Playhouse) and creative arts centre (Flameworks), plus a successful amateur boxing club, running club and rugby club. Plymouth Argyle Football Club is planning to turn the nearby Brickfields recreation ground into a permanent home for its new academy.

Lindsey Hall is CEO of Devonport-based Real Ideas, the social enterprise involved in the transformation of the guildhall and market hall. The organisation is helping to organise a series of events to commemorate Devonport 200.

‘I’ve seen the physical changes that have happened over the past couple of decades that have made Devonport a nicer place to be,’ says Lindsey. ‘There’s also a much more diverse population,’ she adds, talking about people who have been here for generations living alongside new communities. ‘It’s also a place of innovation, which historically, Devonport has always been.’

Devonport still has some striking looking buildings, including the lodge in Devonport Park (Image: Getty) There’s work to be done. Social and economic issues still deeply affect daily life here and the area has to work hard to promote its history and attributes to a wider audience.

Devonport is on a journey that isn’t over by any means but, as Lindsey says, ‘it feels like a community that has made some very positive strides’.

A back row seat at Red Velvet Cinema is proof of that. Things are wrapping up now. Chairs and tables are being moved, Tupperware clicked closed and taxis are waiting outside.

The regulars here today agree Devonport has changed and become a place people choose to spend time in.

It's a work in progress - there are some buildings in Devonport that still need some tlc, such as the Odd Fellows Hall (Egyptian House) (Image: Getty) ‘I do love coming here with all of these people,’ says Pat, who lives in the city centre.