Tavistock Street

Tavistock Street was named in 1971 after a main road through Plymouth in England. 

Elaine Gill (ONZM) remembers that she, her husband and their first baby had just moved to New Plymouth from England about that time. "I started looking for a home to purchase. This was not easy at that time, as in order to obtain a mortgage from a bank one had to have a home ownership account with a track record of savings. As new immigrants, we had neither of these. Fortunately the Labour Government was trying to encourage an increase in the housing stock and sections and loans were on offer. The sections were balloted and we were lucky enough to win a steep section in Tavistock Street.  We were then eligible for a loan from Sate Advances, this gave up to $11,000 which was insufficient for a house but a further loan could be obtained from the Housing Corporation and the bank would give us an overdraft for the rest. Thus with three loans in place we signed up for a Keith Hay home. This was a house built off site and then trucked into position, a very difficult manoeuvre on our very steep section.  I loved our new home."

The original Tavistock Road through Plymouth boasts several buildings of architectural merit or significance, including the Gaiety Theatre.  Property values posted on a real estate agent's website show a variation in value of Tavistock Road houses from £233,000 to £600,000. McDonald's is also on Tavistock Road.

Tavistock, located in South West Devon on the River Tavy, from which its name derives, boasts a successful farmers' market. Its annual Goose Fair dates from the eighteenth century; since the 1820s it has been held on the second Wednesday in October. 

In 2009 an enterprising developer hoped to build 750 new houses in Tavistock. To aid the approval, the company, Kilbride Community Rail Group, proposed to re-open the Tavistock to Plymouth railway. The eight kilometre stretch of rail had been closed by a government decision in 1962, a loss lamented by advocates of rail the world over. The original broad gauge line was opened in 1859.

The ruins of Tavistock Abbey, established in 961 AD, remain in the town centre. 

Famous sons of Tavistock include Francis Drake, the English sea captain of the Elizabethan era who helped fend off the Spanish Armada in 1588. Tavistock is a name that attaches to other famous people. A part of Tavistock House in London was leased by the author Charles Dickens, who lived there with his young family from 1851. He wrote four novels while living at Tavistock House.

The weather in Tavistock would be familiar to citizens of Taranaki. King Charles declared that "If it is raining anywhere in my kingdom, it will be raining in Tavistock."

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News, with additional information added in 2024 from Elaine Gill, The Kiwi with the funny accent: a memoir, [New Plymouth N.Z.]: Elaine Gill, 2020, p.21-22.