Plymouth, England

Located 190 miles (310 kilometers) southwest of London, Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area built between the mouths of the rivers Plym and Tamar. Plymouth’s early history goes back to the Bronze Age when it was a trading post for the Roman Empire. In 1403 the Breton raiders burned the town down, which lead to a series of fortifications being built including four round towers. The remains of two of these towers can still be found at Mount Batten and Sutton Pool below the Royal Citadel. During the 17th century Plymouth gradually lost its prominence as a trading port and ended up opening its first dockyard in 1690 with additional docks being built between 1727 and 1793. With the growth of the dockyard the population grew by more then 900%, from 318 people in 1712 to 3000 people in 1733. During World War II the Germans bombed Plymouth in 59 raids known as the Plymouth Blitz. The city centre and over 3700 homes were destroyed, and over 1000 people perished. Charles Church was also hit and partially destroyed; it continues to stand as an official monument to the bombing. Today it is England’s 15th most populated city with over 250,000 people calling it home. The dockyard port of Plymouth lies at the mouth of River Tamar and River Plym, and embraces the commercial harbors of Millbay Docks, Cattewater and Sutton Harbor, together with HM Naval Base Devonport. The port is a major naval dockyard, a ferry port and an important port of call for cruise liners and cargo ships, including refined oil products.