About


Contact

I can be reached at.... Liz@DevonportOnline.co.uk


2009

Hi, I'm Liz Cook, I launched this site during 2009 with the following goals:
  • promote a greater awareness of Devonport's history and heritage, & provide information for local historians and genealogists,
  • encourage visitors to our waterfront, our parks and our listed buildings
  • be comprehensive, covering all aspects of daily life in Devonport,
  • encourage senior citizens to relive their memories
  • encourage contributions - communications from Devonport residents and businesses are welcomed and invited.

2010

I learned a lot in year one, mostly that it's too big a task for one person to maintain current information of an entire community, Devonport is a neighbourhood of a large city after all. I gave it a good try in year one, producing and uploading 115 pages, and now have over 1200 different persons logging on regularly each month - but a large current-affairs site is not sustainable on my input alone. In a community where some businesses stop trading, new ones start, people move in, others move out, and so on, one person cannot keep on top of such constant changes.

In order to stop this site becoming out-dated I decided to change focus - to convert Devonport Online to a history site.

During 2010, this site was converted into two history sections. The section headed 'Millennium Devonport' contains contemporary material I've grouped into the categories of .... 'Living, Working, Playing and Visiting'. This information is a snapshot of life in millennium Devonport - recorded as I witnessed it, daily, weekly... The other section, 'Historic Devonport', contains (and there's more to come) all my archives, being material I've gathered and/or written myself, on Devonport's pre-millennium history.

2012

Steady growth ..... In the month of July DevonportOnline achieved 3193 site visits, with over 2000 of those being unique visitors. That progress continued for each following month, and over 3000 per month is now regular. The growth pattern for this website has been:-
- Over 240 pages now uploaded
- In 2009 only 100 different persons visited each month
- 2010 - over 1000 different persons a month.
- 2011 - over 2000
- 2012 - over 3000
- DevonportOnline is consistently in the top three on Google, and quite often is first (when a search is made on the term 'Devonport History', which is what this site is all about.)

Thank you to all supporters and users of this site, thank you.

2013

During March 2013 this site received 4000 separate visitors (with over 23,000 hits). Every year an extra 1000 persons per month visits. Thank you all for your support, and for the lovely letters I've received.

2014

I've been ill with arthritis, so only added a handful of new pages over the year.

2017

Still going strong. Receiving several requests for information - from both home and overseas. I won't be updating this particular page any more; its purpose has been achieved, to track growth at the beginning. I do have plans for two-way communications, letting visitors add their views and stories online, but haven't decided whether to add a 'Comments' section at the bottom of every article, or to have a separate 'Forum'. If you'd like a Forum I'd be interested to hear from you.

HISTORY DATES

Although there are two categories of history, in practise of course the dates overlap, depending which article you are reading, but the two categories are a useful and simple method of grouping the material. For millennium Devonport I try to write and present the material as an eye-witness to history, giving a first-hand account where possible, since I lived in Devonport for most of the millennium decade. Material for the second category has been gathered from everywhere/anywhere..... the internet, PWDRO, newspaper archives, personal contacts, library books, and also from artifacts, which often tell their own stories about our history - see my magazine publication Made in Devonport.

My opening sentence on the day this website was launched is still, and will always be, true - Devonport is ... one of the most historic neighourhoods in Plymouth.


(Page updated October 2012 and July 2017) .

This site is listed in the British Towns and Villages Encyclopaedia of Great Britain.