ENGLAND: Palm Trees Grace Torquay : Palms Trees Grace the Sunny English Southwest

The British don’t have to travel to Cannes or St. Tropez for palm trees and sunshine. They have their own British Riviera, a superb stretch of south Devon coast from Torquay to Dartmouth on the River Dart.

Torquay has its own palm-lined Promenade along the blue waters of the English Channel, warm and balmy during summer and the warmest part of the British Isles come winter.

Torquay and the charming towns of Paignton, with cliff walks for a panoramic view, and Brixham, where William of Orange landed to assume the British throne, are among England’s most popular holiday resorts. The three towns form the Borough of Torbay, where beaches of sand and shingle, shops and water sports, fishing, golf and tennis form all the ingredients for a lovely holiday.

Sand, Cliffs and Coves

Dartmouth, harbor town below Brixham on the edge of wild Dartmoor, is just a short ride south along the Torquay Road. Devon’s entire south coast is a wonderful mixture of red sandstone cliffs, pebble beaches, lovely bays and sheltered sandy coves. Plenty of fascinating places to visit and unusual things to do give a fascinating insight into how the British spend their holidays.

Be sure to pronounce Torquay, a lovely Mediterranean-type town, “Torky,” or the British won’t know what you mean. Exotic plants and palms unexpectedly thrive in this mild southwesterly climate. The palm-lined waterfront walk leads along a green park with fountains, flowers and a pavilion built in the wonderful British Raj architecture of Queen Victoria’s time.

During the summer concerts, dances and other public entertainments are held in the pavilion, while daytimes, lazy holiday-makers loll about on the lawns. The boardwalk, facing the harbor filled with sailboats and yachts, is lined with multi-striped lawn chairs waiting for sunbathers.

For the energetic, there are other sights. Torre Abbey was founded in 1196 and remained church property until Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1539. Only ruins are there today, but the present 18th-Century building houses the Torbay Municipal Art Gallery and Museum, with collections of 17th-Century silver and 18th-Century glass.

Cultural Interests

Extensive formal gardens include a tropical palm house. (Torquay Sea Front, open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., April 1 to Oct. 31; weekends only from Nov. 1 to March 31, by appointment.)

Torquay Museum of Natural History has exhibits illustrating the natural history, archeology and folk life of Devon, with extinct animal remains from Torquay’s famous Kent Caverns. (529 Babbacombe Road, open 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday to Saturday, March to October; Monday to Friday only, November to February.)

The British holiday maker evidently likes miniatures. A Model Village has thatched farmhouses, a lake and a waterfall, a modern town and a railroad (open summers from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.; winter from 9 a.m. to dusk); Silvers Model World is a collection of moving model figures made by the Silvers family (in the historic Spanish Barn on the Torre Abbey Gardens grounds), and the Torbay Model Railroad and Torbay House Miniatures are in the Victorian Arcade by the harbor.

For sailors, Torbay Seaways Cruises offers Sunday afternoon band cruises, and excursions to the Channel Islands from Beacon Quay. Landlubbers’ fun is the Victorian Evening at St. Marychurch Shopping precinct each Thursday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., June 21 to Aug. 30.

Compton Castle

Charming Paignton, whose bed-and-breakfast inns and boarding houses cater to summer regulars, is just south on the Torquay Road. Compton Castle there is the home of the Gilberts, descendants of Sir Walter Raleigh.

The fortified manor house, with restored Great Hall, dates from the 14th Century. (Open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 30 to Oct. 31, other times by appointment; phone Kingskerswell 2112.)

Oldway House, a “miniature Versailles,” was once the home of Sir Isaac Singer. The architecture is in the grand style, with a ballroom full of silver mirrors. Gardens designed by the French landscape artist Duchesne are extensive. (Torquay Road, open all year 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2:15 to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 2 to 5 p.m. Sundays.)

Old and New Mix

Kirkham House, a fine example of 15th-Century architecture, has kept many features that show what a town house was like before the days of the Tudors. A timber doorway, cobbled inside passages and a roof-high bay are settings for exhibits of modern furniture made by local craftsmen.

(Kirkham Street off Cecil Road, open 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 2 to 6:30 p.m. Sundays, April to September.)

Paignton’s not just old houses. The Torbay Trains, Robes, Roses and Aircraft Museum covers just about everything, including another model railroad. (Kenneth Moore Gardens, open all year, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. summer, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. winter.)

Paignton’s famous zoo, one of the best in the kingdom, has 75 acres of gardens along with the animals. (Open daily 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. summer, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. winter.) And Paignton Pier has Pirate Pete’s Adventure Playground as well as cruises along the Devon coast and down to the River Dart.

Golden Hind Replica

At the picturesque fishing port of Brixham you can see the stone William of Orange stepped on when he came ashore in 1688. There’s a statue of him, too, at the harbor, and just beyond, open to view, a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s Golden Hind is moored, a brightly-painted small ship in which he sailed around the world.

The British Fisheries Museum, part of the National Maritime Museum, chronicles the history of British coastal fishing, portraying the tough life of fishermen. (Old Market House, The Quay, open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., April to October.) Brixham Museum adds exhibits of local geology, archeology and history.

Take the nostalgic old-fashioned Torbay & Dartmouth Railroad along the spectacular Torbay coast to Kingswear Ferry to reach Dartmouth on the River Dart, the “English Rhine.” Old World charm and moorland scenery are guarded by Dartmouth Castle, built by Henry VIII against sea invaders. The 15th-16th-Century castle is open daily all year.

Wild Dartmoor

Wander, but don’t get lost, on Dartmoor, a 365-square-mile national preserve, where the adventurous seek remote granite tors, wild ponies and strange mounds of stones with names such as Bowerman’s Bose, erected for long-forgotten purposes.

Part of the appeal of the Devon countryside lies in the friendliness of its residents, with their broad Devonshire speech, their fresh country fare. Mingle on market days where colorful stalls of fresh country produce or bric-a-brac cluster in the market square or line the main shopping street.

Take out a holiday membership in the Pot Black Snooker Club in Paignton; lunch on “hot fillings” or “cold snacks” in Torquay’s Wig & Pen Pub; take in an attraction at one of the Torbay theaters--the Princes in Torquay, the Festival in Paignton, the Brixham in Brixham--where anything from the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, playing Mendelssohn and Delius, to a road company performing an Agatha Christie thriller, might be on the boards.

Devon, home of Devonshire cream, cider and cheese, offers the different British experience of cozy seaside resorts along a superb coastline, picturesque villages, friendly holiday makers and more than 2,000 square miles of glorious southern English countryside.

Torquay is 2 1/2 hours from London’s Paddington Station via fast and frequent trains.

For more information, contact the British Tourist Authority, 612 S. Flower St., Los Angeles 90017, phone (213) 623-8195.