This morning I headed down to the Quay area of Exeter in our continuing quest for a new HQ for Syntagma Media. The Quay is now a rather upmarket resort for both residents and tourists.

Although Exeter is a little way inland from the sea at Exmouth, the river Exe runs through it. In Elizabethan times (1500s) they made the Exe navigable for cargo boats beyond the Port of Topsham by building a canal and quay in Exeter itself. The picture below shows part of the waterfront.

The Watergate (no connection to President Nixon), built in the ancient Roman town wall, was the last of the Gates to be constructed.

Below you can catch a flavour of the touristy atmosphere now with one of the riverboats ready to chug off.

And here’s a sniff of the older feel to the place. Each of these warehouses and storage buildings is now converted to modern use.

Ah, a welcome wateringhole — The Prospect Inn — one of the many old pubs along the quay. Loading those boats with wool and woollen products must have been thirsty business, as is taking photos.

So that’s the Quay. Not a lot for us there, alas, but worth photographing nonetheless.

You can see the whole set of these pictures in larger sizes by clicking on the Flickr logo at the top of the sidebar.