We visited Exeter - it is not far away - but it is one of those places you pass by when going somewhere else. Originally settled by the Romans (little evidence of that except for remnants of a city wall that has been patched by many over the centuries). There are some lovely old buildings which managed to escape the bombings of WWII. In the 16th century a canal was built and the quay was built which provides a focus for the town (the scene for the Onedin Line - yes some of us are old enough to remember that tv series). Along the quayside are warehouses built into the cliffs which have been renovated and turned into little boutique shops selling a range of high quality jewellery, pottery, wooden things. We wandered around the wharves and crossed the bridge to the other side (if we were lazy we could have caught the cable boat for 50p). We then wandered up the hill to the town and the cathedral taking more photos along the way.
We wandered the town for a while enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the place and found an amazing chocolate shop. After blind folding Harry and putting a peg on his nose I managed to steer him out of the shop without any purchases. Funny though - while we were standing in the Exeter passages way below ground level the guide told us that we were directly under Hotel Chocolat. From the look on Harry's face I could tell he had an inspiration - it involved dynamite and a pick axe!! The passages were built to provide Exeter with a water supply back in Roman times - water was piped through lead pipes that sat in passages (rather than tunnels they were created in small valleys and a brick roof built over them). The passages are small - I even banged my hard hat on the roof and had to walk sideways along some of them. I did wonder how the ghost cyclist managed to get through and perhaps that is why we didn't see him - he only cycles the passages when no-one is around. We had dinner in Exmouth and watched the game between Wales and Ireland which Wales won - it wasn't a particularly inspiring game (but my Welsh workmates didn't seem to care) and at half time I went for a wander along the beach - it was golden sand!!
We've decided to try and see some more local scenery and on Sunday we visited Oldbury Court Estate - it has been around for a while as it was first mentioned in the Domesday Book but we've only just discovered the place about 10 miles away. The park runs down to the River Frome and has lots of spring flowers, places for kids to play, squirrels that have plenty of trees to escape from barking dogs. It took the little terrier a long time to realise he was never going to catch a squirrel by standing at the trunk of the tree barking. We actually think the squirrel was teasing him. Kids swam in the river (pretty cold) but we were happy to walk along beside the flowing water and then up the hill back to our picnic. Before venturing back to the house we had a quick wander through the Arnos Vale Cemetery (my idea not Harry's). It is so like Karori cemetery - old, broken gravestones, long grass and a group of 'friends' attempting to tidy it up. It has a history which is why I was keen to visit. In the mid 1800's it was decided that Bristol's old graveyards were a bit overcrowded and a health hazard. A 'stylish yet spacious alternative' was created and a cemetery that would be filled with sun, fresh air, trees was created by designing it on classical Greece landscape. Little can be seen of what was created but still an interesting place, as cemeteries go.
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