Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ART ON THE BARBICAN
Plymouth's Barbican, with its scattering of galleries, is a place to track down works by two very different Ply-
mouth painters. The representational artist Robert Lenkiewicz (1941-2002; www.lenkiewiczfoundation.org ),
likened by some to a modern-day Rembrandt, was the son of European Jewish refugees. This brooding, eccentric
philosopher was a fixture of the Barbican for decades and developed a special bond with alcoholics, drug addicts
and homeless people, often offering them a meal and a bed for the night. The painter also, notoriously, embalmed
the body of a local tramp. Lenkiewicz's murals still dot the Barbican. The Elizabethan Mural MAP
GOOGLE MAP , the biggest and also the most peeling, sits in the Parade, alongside his former studio. Another
huge painting, the Last Judgement , is outside the Barbican Pannier Market MAP GOOGLE MAP (5 Southside
St). In Prete's Café MAP (15 Southside St) you can sip a coffee while looking up at his Last Supper .
In an utterly different artistic vein, Plymouth-based Beryl Cook (1926-2008; www.berylcook.org ) was
renowned for her cheerful depictions of brash, large ladies sporting unfeasibly small clothes. Her exuberant, al-
most comic-book artwork features a dizzying variety of Barbican scenes and a popular local game is to try and
spot (in the flesh) the type of characters that people her paintings. To get an insight into this breezy, slightly saucy
world head for the gloriously unreconstructed Dolphin ( Click here ) for a pint. Cook immortalised this Barbican
institution in several paintings, famously often sitting on one of the well-worn settees as she gathered material for
her work; some of her paintings still hang on the walls.
Sights
Plymouth Gin Distillery
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DISTILLERY
GOOGLE MAP
( 01752-665292; www.plymouthdistillery.com ; 60 Southside St; tours from £7; tours hourly 10.30am-4.30pm)
They've been concocting gin at this heavily-beamed distillery since 1793, making it the
oldest producer of the spirit in the world. The Royal Navy was responsible for taking it
around the world in countless officers' messes, while in the 1930s Plymouth Gin featured
in the first recorded recipe for a dry martini. Tours thread past stills and huge copper vats,
and you'll sniff the sometimes surprising raw ingredients (called botanicals) and indulge
in a tutored tasting, before retiring to the medieval bar for a complementary G&T. The
Connoisseur's Tour (£20) involves comparing other styles of gin, while the Master Distil-
ler's Private Tour (£40) will have you creating and distilling your very own recipe; you
can take a bottle of it home as a souvenir. Bookings required.
Plymouth Hoe
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NEIGHBOURHOOD
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To get under Plymouth's skin, head for the Hoe. Crowned by the former lighthouse,
Smeaton's Tower, this grassy headland provides 180-degree views of rolling hills and a
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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