In the run up to Christmas, ‘Shop Local’ is the mantra. It’s a noble sentiment. After a year of lockdowns closing high streets and causing businesses to suffer, support local is a welcome gesture. Personally, I include writers and artists in that, local or not; after all, books, art and crafts make wonderful gifts, and go a long way in bringing a smile to the face of the creator.
It seems to have been a year of mantras. I do hope some of them stick around when the pandemic eventually recedes. Like appreciating your local surrounds. A couple of months back, I took a wander around Exeter’s city centre, reminding myself of all my favourite places nestled in this hillside town, edged by the river Exe.
‘The house that moved’ was a prominent feature when I first moved here, positioned on my regular route into town, up an enormous number of steep cobbled steps.
It’s a place where old meets new, where remnants of the old Roman wall feature in the Northernhay Gardens and beyond.
And period architecture spills out of Cathedral Yard, coexisting with the modern day.
There are oddities, like Parliament Street. The plaque boasts, ‘Believed to be the narrowest street in the world’, although apparently that should read ‘in Britain’. Since at its narrowest section it is only 25 inches, it could be true… Either way, it’s original name of ‘Small Lane’ was probably more fitting.
Ice-cream carts roam the squares and quaint narrow lanes, like Gandy Street, a place that allegedly part inspired Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley.
Murals, museums and places of art entertain and inspire.
And perhaps my favourite of all are those spontaneous events you stumble across, like the animal carnival of a couple of years ago:
My list could go on. It’s an eclectic, colourful, inspiring place, with a trove of treasures. And when the pandemic finally subsides and life returns to the streets, I look forward to revisiting my favourite places and to find others to add to my list.
