No news yet on the Lodge at Exeter Castle, which we hoped might be a candidate for the new Syntagma Towers. It’s looking unlikely as I write, for a variety of reasons.

However, since my short, mocking piece on photographs of desks, I’ve been inundated with … pictures of desks.

I’m just going to publish one of them to show you what splendid readers we have here.

This is the “office” — or library — at Humdrumming Mansions, a stately pile in Shakespeare’s Stratford on Avon, occupied by Steve Newman, a Syntagma author of peerless works of literary magnificence, including a novel, The Crime of the Crimea; a fictionalized biography of Ernest Hemingway; and his “blog”, Our Man in Stratford.

Note the volume on Elgar on the table (2007 is Elgar’s 150th anniversary year), and the picture of John Wayne on the wall-to-wall bookcases. A man of many talents clearly.

Apart from being Senior Director and Editor of the Humdrumming Publishing House, Steve is Director and driving force behind the Stratford International Festival of Literature, the first of which is to be held in September this year. The event will feature such mega-luminaries as Colin Wilson and Guy Adams (another Syntagma author), and is being jointly sponsored by Syntagma Media.

What more could you possible desire?

It’s been wet and windy for days here so my customary morning walk has been disrupted for a week. Today though, I braved the elements as a startling piece of intelligence assailed my ears.

You may remember that I rather fancied Rougement Castle as our new HQ – a bit fanciful even though it was up for sale. Then it sold to a property company. End of story? Well, not quite.

First off, I spotted this banner draped over the splendid admin buildings in the courtyard of the ancient pile — now renamed Exeter Castle.

Rougemont becomes the “Covent Garden of the West” with “Exceptional Retail and Entertainment Opportunities”. William the Conqueror must be twirling in his tomb, not to mention the Roman Proconsul who built the original walls nearly 2000 years ago.

But my real reason for going there this morning was because of the Lodge, neatly situated just within the main gates.

Now that is a very nice building indeed. Lots of space and wonderful views of the castle ghosts walking the ramparts at night. And guess what?

It’s for sale or to let. I’m going to inquire after the particulars to see if it’s suitable for us. The only thing that might put me off is all that entertainment billed for the place. It might be a tad noisy at night.

I’ll tell you tomorrow.

It must be a quiet day for news when people start showing you pictures of their desks. It could be a lot worse, of course, so we shouldn’t complain. Duncan Riley did it yesterday, and I’ve seen any number around the blogosphere.

My excuse is that it’s been raining here for days so I can’t fulfil last week’s promise of pics taken along the Devon coast. I also get a bit twitchy when I can’t photograph anything. I know that sounds like an addiction but I call it Window-On-The-World Syndrome.

So, yes, here’s a snap of my desk in the Syntagma Towers’ office :

The box on the left is a Windows Vista machine, which I use nearly all the time now. On the right, is the old XP box. There’s still a lot of stuff left on it which I can’t move over : programs incompatible with Vista and mountains of Word and Excel documents.

Incidentally, I’ve discovered a good way of transferring material between computers without fitting a cable between them or burning a disk. Just put it in a Gmail attachment — you’re allowed up to 20MB now — and email it to yourself. Switch on the other computer, and there it is waiting for you. But I expect you knew that.

The boiling question of the day is, what does your desk say about you? Is it cluttered or uncluttered? And if you think that’s a silly inquiry, one business guru wrote an entire book about cluttered desks. I suppose it was a gap in the market.

In case you missed the first pic, here’s a wider shot showing a bit of context. Not much, but you can’t have everything :

But I’ve entertained you long enough …

I just can’t resist taking pictures on my customary morning walk through sumptuous historic Exeter, capital of the West Country of England — more or less. We don’t count Bristol this far West.

The first is a building dated 1596 which, typically has been converted to commercial use. I don’t know what it was used for originally, but they obviously foresaw a future gap in the market for backdrops to TV series like, Miss Marple and Midsomer Murders.

Below is the ancient Guildhall — would you believe more than 800 years old? It was once used as a market for the wool trade as well as for gatherings of the local Council.

Finally, sauntering through the new Princesshay mega shopping mall and chill-out zone, I caught these glimpses of the old town and cathedral, nicely set against the modern stuff.

I’ll be heading down the road to the coast next week to sample the delights of Exmouth, Topsham and Dartmouth (the original, not the American college town).

You can see all of this clutch of pictures on our new Syntagma Flickr Photostream.

Could this be the first glimpse of the new Syntagma Towers?

It’s not what you think. I’ve drawn the building rather than show you a photograph, in case others move in before us. It’s a cut-throat market here.

This extraordinary house is situated on the edge of a fabulous country estate on the River Dart in Devon, England. It was designed in the 19th century by a famous cathedral architect in the Gothic (medieval) style when John Ruskin was all the rage.

The window lights are exquisitely carved out of sandstone, as is the noble fireplace. There’s also a tower nearby, designed by the same architect.

Needless to say, my drawing doesn’t do justice to the place, but is designed to keep the predators at bay.

More on this later. It’s the first prime candidate for the new Syntagma Towers.

Stay close.

Syntagma’s continuing Quest for a new Syntagma Towers is now documented on our Flickr account H E R E.

We’ll be posting new pics throughout the summer of our search for the perfect home for our new HQ. The photostream will also document the fabulous environment which is Exeter, Devon, England, plus surrounding areas.

Mind how you go.

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.

This is an unusually quiet period here at Syntagma, helped by the English weather, which thinks it’s mid-summer.

Meanwhile, Thord is working hard on our new network magazine, Moneyizor, from his Swedish castle, amid the snows of the North Lands — and between watching the world snooker championships on TV. He’s busy forging our newest design, which should be unveiled next week. Mark it in your diary.

As we have now got the office in some order, after building work and new computers, I thought I would regale you with some pics taken on my morning walk. I know, I’m too good to you!

The Morning Walk has taken on added significance since we’ve been looking for a replacement for Syntagma Towers. Regular readers will know that we were beaten to the punch on Rougemont Castle, which was sold to a property company, by Charlie Falconer of dubious provenance.

However, my early morning trek of around five miles takes in some of the most historic sites in East Devon, so should provide possible substitutes. Not this next building though :

For it is Exeter Cathedral, and even I can’t bring myself to covet it, given its present owner (touches forelock).

Apart from the castle and the cathedral, the route takes me through our Farmers’ Market (pictured) :

and through some very ancient buildings and byways. I’ll show you Parliament Street at a later date. Astonishingly, it’s only 3 feet wide. Don’t believe me? Wait and see. Who says size zero is a modern phenomenon?

The route also takes me into the most spectacular development in Devon — the new shopping and chill-out zone at Princesshay. Most of it is still being built, but the bits that are open for business have attracted some upmarket clients, including a genuine Spanish tapas bar (which takes me back to the seven years I spent in Andalucia) a Trattoria and French coffee shop. Whatever happened to Anglo-Saxon England?

I’ll show you some pics of Princesshay tomorrow.

My route then circles round the historic centre and rises up and out of the city back to Syntagma Towers, from whose heights you can see America (I jest), and which makes the Leaning Tower of Pisa seem an upright sort of edifice.

One final glimpse then of Rougemont Castle and thoughts of what might have been :

Ah, the impregnability of the place!

Idly examining the potential of Rougemont Castle as the next Syntagma Towers (see previous post), I’ve discovered it has now been sold.

It has apparently been flogged to a property company which wants to use it as an entertainment venue — very 20th century.

Intriguingly, it was sold by the Department of Constitutional Affairs, a tinpot Ministry in the Blair government that replaced the 1300-year-old Office of the Lord Chancellor, and which will soon morph again into the Napoleonic Ministry of Justice. Heaven forfend!

Worse, the Department is run by Charlie Falconer, whose only claim to fame is that he once shared a flat with Tony Blair and gave us the delights of the Millennium Dome.

Here’s another memorable view of this glorious pile, taken this morning.

Soon, maybe, the ghost of Elvis will walk the battements. Thanks a bunch, Charlie.