Info : You can see all these photos on our Flickr Photostream.

The continuing search for the new Syntagma Towers goes on. I was up early today marching around Exeter and environs on the lookout for a suitable building — as I have been for many days (see previous posts).

The first pic was taken at lunchtime yesterday and shows how the Cathedral Close is used as a picnic ground by canny residents and tourists :

I do envy the tower of the cathedral, but don’t whisper it to a soul, will you?

So how about Parliament Street? Surely that must be grand enough for the new Syntagma HQ? I should tell you in passing that there hasn’t been a Parliament in Exeter for a great many centuries. Maybe that’s why the street has slimmed down a bit :

Amazing, isn’t it? It’s just over 2 feet in width and even has its own grafitti artist. If John Prescott ever got stuck in there, I doubt anyone would pull him out. He’d be yet another tourist attraction.

So no Syntagma Towers there then. Right, let’s look at the Elizabethan end of town :

Not quite towerish enough, is it? And the encroachment of the modern shops below doesn’t quite hit the spot. How about this then?

The building just visible on the extreme left is the Royal Clarence Hotel where Sir Francis Drake, of Mayflower fame, is reputed to have sunk the local ale. It’s now run by a trendy celebrity chef, so No Thanks.

OK, we’ll try the Georgian town, Southernhay, on the other side of Princesshay :

Now this is a distinct possibility … except, the place is full of lawyers and upmarket estate agents. Alas, not for us.

Something modern then? Here’s the entrance site of the new Princesshay Shop-Till-You-Drop zone, which is still under construction :

Alas, we’re going to have to take a trip out of town in our search for a new Syntagma Towers. There’s a holiday weekend coming up, so I’ll be looking further afield, along the coast and around the Dart Estuary and river.