A new book showing how Plymouth looked in the 1980s via hundreds of stunning pictures has become a mega hit.
City historian Chris Robinson’s new release Plymouth in the Eighties, from Pen and Ink Publishing, is already selling very well.
“This book has struck a chord with a certain generation, that has related to it or has got it for mums, dads, aunts and uncles,” Chris said. “There are about 800 images in the book, each one a memory jerker, a trigger.”
The 1980s saw Plymouth undergo major changes with the Theatre Royal built, the city centre pedestrianised, the Sundial installed and the Parkway constructed.
And Chris has captured all that in a 256-page glossy, large format, paperback which also documents how things were in Devonport, the airport, and Crownhill, and looks back at how people shopped, worked, learned and let their hair down.
There are sections on restaurants, nightclubs, the era’s TV stars and celebrities, and what was a generally successful decade for Plymouth Argyle.
And, of course, there is the waterfront, where Chris said: “The Hoe always looks fantastic in any era.”
Chris wrote the text and the photos come from various sources with special mention going to Steve Johnson’s Cyberheritage site, the Plymouth Barbican Trust’s South West Image Bank, The Herald, Western Morning News, and individuals including Trevor Burrows, Betty Fox, Keith Davey, Mike Cox and many more.
“In some respects it took over 40 years to put together, but the book was mainly done in eight months,” Chris said. “I laid the pictures out and wrote them.”
Chris has written more than 40 books focusing on the history of Plymouth and said: “I’m working my way through the 20th Century. I did the Victorian period too so I’ve covered the era of photography, from 1850 to 1989 now.
“The 1990s book will be out in about two years time and then we will have covered the 20th Century.”
Plymouth in the Eighties is available from bookshops, including Waterstones, and from www.chrisrobinson.co.uk, priced £21.95.