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)
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