English: Armada Way, Plymouth Armada Way is a broad thoroughfare running north-south from the railway station to the Hoe - it is nowadays pedestrianised. The Second World War blitz, in which Plymouth's city centre was virtually destroyed, gave post-war planners the opportunity to open out the previous tightly packed street layout. A key figure in doing this was James Paton-Watson the City Engineer. Today, the post-war architecture is unfashionable but it is difficult not to be impressed by the original vision. In the foreground of this picture, taken from where Armada Way meets Royal Parade, a vast billboard celebrates the local artist, the late Beryl Cook, and her distinctive podgy female characters.