Post by Dave on Dec 18, 2010 19:00:42 GMT
18th December 2010
They say there is no smoke with out fire, well the lesson today for the Bays firemen was, just because there is no smoke, does not mean there is no fire. I decided to do a very rare thing and catch the bus over to Torquay, I would so loved to have had Carol with me to check out the new Rock walk, but sadly she is not well enough at this time.
I had to get off the bus at the Grand Hotel as the whole seafront was closed off, I arrived about 2.30pm and the sun was shining and the Bay looking over toward the harbour looked splendid in the afternoon winter’s sun. People were still being allowed to walk past the hotel on the seaward side path and so I was able to take a good number of pictures from the front of the hotel.
The fire sure looked out as there was not one puff of smoke coming from the building at all and the firemen were just damping down. Happy with the pictures I had taken I walked along the promenade past the new shop and toilet block to get past the cordons so I could get over to Rock Walk.
I have taken some great shots of the new Rock Walk and will do a separate report with pictures very soon. I walked up to the new viewing platform and then along the new walkway that heads back over towards the back of the Palm Court Hotel. My plan was just to take some overhead shots that would have shown the damage at the top of the building.
As I walked along the pathway and got closer to the Palm Court Hotel, I could see smoke rising from the hotel and was able to get some fantastic shots of the firemen up in the cradle of the bronco fighting the fire up high. It was amazing to see them one second then lost in the smoke the next.
I was able to talk with a fireman as I made my way back past the hotel to walk to the Grand Hotel to catch a bus back to Paignton. He told me the call came in at 6.30am and when they arrived the hotel was well and truly on fire. He said it must have started a good number of hours before due to how well it was alight when they got there.
It’s very sad to see this once great building now completely ruined, but some have been pushing for it to be demolished while others wanted the building restored to its former glory. The big question now is was it torched deliberately? My only personal feeling is that it was. How many times have we seen an issue over such things as planning permission and then the building concerned goes up in flames?
If the building as it was looked an eyesore on our seafront before, it looks an even bigger one now. The best we can hope is it gets demolished as soon as possible and something really good gets built there.
The pictures below are in the order they were taken; I did take over 200 in total and have selected 32 that I hope will tell their own story.
Finally after a such a sad day here in Torbay, a reminder why we all love living here.
They say there is no smoke with out fire, well the lesson today for the Bays firemen was, just because there is no smoke, does not mean there is no fire. I decided to do a very rare thing and catch the bus over to Torquay, I would so loved to have had Carol with me to check out the new Rock walk, but sadly she is not well enough at this time.
I had to get off the bus at the Grand Hotel as the whole seafront was closed off, I arrived about 2.30pm and the sun was shining and the Bay looking over toward the harbour looked splendid in the afternoon winter’s sun. People were still being allowed to walk past the hotel on the seaward side path and so I was able to take a good number of pictures from the front of the hotel.
The fire sure looked out as there was not one puff of smoke coming from the building at all and the firemen were just damping down. Happy with the pictures I had taken I walked along the promenade past the new shop and toilet block to get past the cordons so I could get over to Rock Walk.
I have taken some great shots of the new Rock Walk and will do a separate report with pictures very soon. I walked up to the new viewing platform and then along the new walkway that heads back over towards the back of the Palm Court Hotel. My plan was just to take some overhead shots that would have shown the damage at the top of the building.
As I walked along the pathway and got closer to the Palm Court Hotel, I could see smoke rising from the hotel and was able to get some fantastic shots of the firemen up in the cradle of the bronco fighting the fire up high. It was amazing to see them one second then lost in the smoke the next.
I was able to talk with a fireman as I made my way back past the hotel to walk to the Grand Hotel to catch a bus back to Paignton. He told me the call came in at 6.30am and when they arrived the hotel was well and truly on fire. He said it must have started a good number of hours before due to how well it was alight when they got there.
It’s very sad to see this once great building now completely ruined, but some have been pushing for it to be demolished while others wanted the building restored to its former glory. The big question now is was it torched deliberately? My only personal feeling is that it was. How many times have we seen an issue over such things as planning permission and then the building concerned goes up in flames?
If the building as it was looked an eyesore on our seafront before, it looks an even bigger one now. The best we can hope is it gets demolished as soon as possible and something really good gets built there.
The pictures below are in the order they were taken; I did take over 200 in total and have selected 32 that I hope will tell their own story.
Finally after a such a sad day here in Torbay, a reminder why we all love living here.
