Tag: Wyles family

King’s Gardens appears to have been the result of slum clearing in Torquay with a place called ‘Rotton Row’ being demolished for new houses (King’s Drive) in 1877. We only hope that the people once living in ‘Rotton Row’ were re-housed and not left homeless (as happens far too often today). Originally called ‘Alexandra Gardens’, it was re-named just after opening in 1904 as ‘King’s Gardens’ after Edward VII. When driving into Torquay on numerous of our visits from London, we have often seen free-roaming swans on a patch of ornate and picturesque landscape to the right of Abbey Grounds (separated by a small road). We finally got round to visiting this area yesterday – despite the howling wind and freezing rain! We did try to ‘walk’ from the house to this area, but the waves were coming over the wall and we had to retreat to the safety of the car and slowly drive through the storm of rain and sea-spray… The children – who are strong-willed and usually wanting to press-on – decided that a tactical retreat to the relative safety of the car was in order!