ASHLEIGH GUESTHOUSE

Paignton is a coastal town on the English Riviera, located immediately to the south of Torquay in the county of Devon in the United Kingdom. Over the years Paignton and Torquay have grown into each other, and together with Brixham (to the south) they form the unitary authority of Torbay which was created in 1998. Paignton's population in the United Kingdom Census of 2001 was 47, 398. Since then the rise of tourism has fuelled an even greater expansion which led to Paignton effectively merging with the adjacent coastal villages of Goodrington and Preston.

Oldway Mansion, formerly the home of the Singer family (of sewing machine fame) lies between Preston and Paignton, and now acts as the local council offices and the meeting place of Torbay Council. Other Singer legacies in Paignton include the Palace Hotel and the Inn On The Green, both of which were homes for Isaac Singer's sons, and Paignton Green itself, which was used as a runway for their private aircraft. Paignton Green is also where the young Torquay-born novelist Dame Agatha Christie helped tend the wounds of allied Belgian and Japanese soldiers during the Great War of 1914 to 1918.

It is believed that the inspiration for her literary creation Hercule Poirot came from a Belgian captain that she met during this period.