Exeter

On the Thursday of our second week after Caroline, Tee and Charlie had gone home William and I took a trip into Exeter.

 

The main reason for our visit was to hire a canoe and paddle it up the canal.  It was my idea and I had been really looking forward to it all the holiday.  So, we made our way to the Historic Quayside, spotted the canoes, saw a few empty ones and thought, yeah, that looks like fun let’s do it.  ‘Twas not to be, the flipping things were booked solid all day!  However, we’re going back to Devon in a few weeks so we’ll have another bash at it then.  Perhaps next time we’ll get it right and book ahead of time like they advise in the brochure.  The hire shop is called Saddles and Paddles, here’s a link to their website.

Of course, we had planned to have a look around the place too and there’s plenty to look at.  For one thing the place is steeped in history and there are cafes, bars and an antique centre or two.  We mooched around the antiques shop in the picture above left and then sat outside it with a cappuccino and watched swans and ducks “heads down, tails up, dabbling free”  on the river before us.

There’s a good visitor information centre and free guided walking tours are available too.  We intend to take the Historic Quayside tour on our next visit.

From here we walked into the city centre and took a quick look at the cathedral, it was only a quick look too.  There’s a £5 entry charge and I don’t really like the idea of being charged to go in God’s house.  A donation would be quite in order but a charge doesn’t seem right to me.

This row of fine old Tudor buildings stands opposite the cathedral.  The little red brick building on the left is St. Martin’s Church and was consecrated in 1065.  There’s a plaque inside the doorway stating this fact and the shiniest place on it is where goodness knows how many fingers have pointed in awe to the date just like we did.

 

We drove into Exeter with the kayak on the roof rack.  William didn’t want to go the hassle of taking it off and putting it back on again with only me to help him.  We never gave the parking a thought but I certainly did when we drove into a low ceilinged multi-storey car park.  I couldn’t look.  I was sure we were going to come unstuck and that the kayak was going to come off with or without my help!  Miraculously we made it in and out without mishap but I’ll bet there was only an inch or two clearance.  Oh well, all’s well that ends well.

More of the holiday to follow tomorrow.

TTFN.

I’m linking to Outdoor Wednesday over at http://www.asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/  If you have a few minutes to spare click over there and enjoy a little bit of armchair travelling.