Description
Dartmouth's claim to fame in the Mayflower story was accidental - the ship, along with the Speedwell, pulled into the small harbour after the latter sprung a leak. Commemoration in Dartmouth did not really start until the 1950s. In 1970, however, there was more interest. Dartmouth’s ‘Mayflower regatta Week’ began with on the 24th of August with “olde worlde fayre,” attracting over 2,000 people. The Torbay Express and South Devon Echo reported that ‘dressed in period costume’ various ‘organisations in the town ran stalls along the quay’ whilst others ‘gathered around the Mayflower Stone recalling the history of the Pilgrims’ landing’. The Mayor of Dartmouth, Mr. Eric Cook, made the flowing speech from the Mayflower Stone: 'The men of Dartmouth have always imprinted their names, and the name of the town, in the history books, of this country and the world, and the sailing of the Mayflower is such an example […] Three hundred and 50 years ago, the Mayflower sailed from this quay which has hardly changed its face over the years, and tonight, we shall re-live those moments once again.'