Plimuff aticle in the graun

Oh dear, the author used 'nitty gritty' in the article

Interesting article. Maybe in years to come Plymouth may benefit from the endless millions of regeneration money like that thrown at the North East for what seems like decades, but I won't hold my breath.
Decent transport links would help. Changing the A38 to a motorway, better rail links & a real airport, not the toy-town boxed in one at Roborough.
Can't see the city attracting rich incomers, most avoid it like the plague (with good reason). Even visiting cruise ships avoid Plymouth, a port perfect for them to berth, preferring to be towed backwards into the tiny river at Dartmouth.

Interesting that it is mainly positive (compare it with the article on Bradford earlier in the series).

Also interesting that despite being mainly about regeneration projects, there's no mention of Brent - it's as if the council don't think the regeneration projects he's involved with will ever come off! Presumably no-one involved with Brent's schemes directly contacted the journo either.

I can never decide if I 'miss' Plymouth or not.

I'll decide for you. You don't.
Plymouth has always been a cultural backwater catering for the likes of Woodford Willy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I saw the  Akkeron name recently somewhere in the Theatre Royal, maybe an auditorium gateway, so Brent's not totally yesterday's herald.
Little ol' Totnes has more going for it on the cultural front, as do other areas around the two counties. Calstock has a great arts centre that knocks spots of anything in Plymouth, ask Knecht.

There is a local side of Plymouth that can be quite sweet, as with most places, but "educated wankers" relocate because of job possibilities elsehere.
I agree that the Council has to put on a few events, it's what communities have always done. . But as for well off middle class jobs and people moving into the city, just maybe the fact it has rusting nuclear reactors right slap bang in the middle of it, might put some people off. Just a guess. The Monday morning siren blasting over the place says it all. Brenty trying to squat forever in several Plymouth icons without any effect whatsoever gives a clue to the demand for Plymouth inward investment.

I can buy quails eggs in a North Cornwall corner co-op ffs, Veggie Clive's Pies at Yelverton Co-op, but 4 tinnies for £3 in Exeter St. co-op. The Co-op is always an indication of what goes down where you are.

New 1,300-person nightclub to open in Union Street with Dance Academy and White Rabbit men at helm

“I want to start booking artists straight away but it’s going to take time to build the venue. The more people we can get into the venue, then the bigger acts will want to come down.”

The music promoter has previously told The Herald he feels Plymouth is missing a medium sized venue after the White Rabbit closed and is excited for his new venture.

“We can get in more acts from across Devon and Cornwall now. We have proven a venue this size can work with the White Rabbit. We have also been in talks with Plymouth University who want to use this venue,” he said.

“The thing about live music is there needs to be a hierarchy of venues for the bands to move between. They need to be able to play in places like The Junction, move to The Hub and then go somewhere in-between before a venue like the Pavilions.


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Plymouth could do with a version of what The Cooperage used to be: live bands nearly every night. It still amazes me that The Retreat never made it big; they were the best Plymouth band I ever saw with the now long defunct The Five second. Happy days.

The Coop used to be a brilliant venue and now with the 1000s of students we have in Plymouth a similar place must be viable, surely?

What's happening to The Cooperage anyway? That Antonucci fella bought it, then he went bust and it has been boarded up ever since...

A very old friend of mine, and erstwhile fellow Argyle fan, was the first music promoter at the cooperage for quite some time, until a certain owner thought he could do a better job. He couldn't, and it tailed off eventually. Typical small time Plymouth. My friend has been off all over the world since, managing big names and thoroughly enjoying it. He used to put on a few things at the Palace too, for a year or so, and even the Brit for a spell.. Some good gigs there too. But I guess that's just about Plymouth's idea of culture, live pub rock for students and 40 somethings on a second wind. All a bit basic.
I think overall, the Theatre Royal has done a fairly decent job for that kind of theatre.

When it was first being converted, the firm i was working for doing the Elec/Plum pulled us off the job because the owner had not paid his bill. The owner at that time lived in the house at Henders Corner

Sir John Hawkins wrote:

A very old friend of mine, and erstwhile fellow Argyle fan, was the first music promoter at the cooperage for quite some time, until a certain owner thought he could do a better job. He couldn't, and it tailed off eventually. Typical small time Plymouth. My friend has been off all over the world since, managing big names and thoroughly enjoying it. He used to put on a few things at the Palace too, for a year or so, and even the Brit for a spell.. Some good gigs there too. But I guess that's just about Plymouth's idea of culture, live pub rock for students and 40 somethings on a second wind. All a bit basic.
I think overall, the Theatre Royal has done a fairly decent job for that kind of theatre.

The Cooperage was rather more than a "live pub rock" venue even if it was a pub, sort of, that had live rock.

"Live pub rock" suggests a load of chugging r'n'b covers or some God-awful Whitesnake/T-Rex/Coldplay covers band with a singer who can't get the high notes. That was never The Cooperage's game.

Sir Francis Drake wrote:

Sir John Hawkins wrote:

A very old friend of mine, and erstwhile fellow Argyle fan, was the first music promoter at the cooperage for quite some time, until a certain owner thought he could do a better job. He couldn't, and it tailed off eventually. Typical small time Plymouth. My friend has been off all over the world since, managing big names and thoroughly enjoying it. He used to put on a few things at the Palace too, for a year or so, and even the Brit for a spell.. Some good gigs there too. But I guess that's just about Plymouth's idea of culture, live pub rock for students and 40 somethings on a second wind. All a bit basic.
I think overall, the Theatre Royal has done a fairly decent job for that kind of theatre.

The Cooperage was rather more than a "live pub rock" venue even if it was a pub, sort of, that had live rock.

"Live pub rock" suggests a load of chugging r'n'b covers or some God-awful Whitesnake/T-Rex/Coldplay covers band with a singer who can't get the high notes. That was never The Cooperage's game.

The White Rabbit took over duties from the Cooperage, all be it on a slightly smaller scale when Antonucci decided to fill it with, well, chugging r'n'b and Whitesnake cover bands, as well as the sort of clapped out wrecks from the 60s and 70s that still have the original drummer...

The guy behind the Rabbit is the guy now running the JFK/C103/Brewhouse place. Good luck to him - Dan is very much one of the good guys.

The chapel at Calestock is great, but many of the acts that play there also play in and around Plymouth. Besides, Calestock is only 35mins by train, and they set up their shows so you can get the last train back - always plenty of Janners at the station when I'm going home.

The main Theatre Royal part never puts on anything of interest to me, but apparently their ballet performances are good (or so the wife tells me). The Drum does some excellent stuff though. Hopefully the renovation of the Princess fills another gap. The museum and art gallery is underrated, but we could do with more gallery space. Does anyone know if Urban Splash's plans for the Civic Centre include an arts centre?