My Exeter Day

If there's one place I love to spend a Saturday in this beautiful county, it's Exeter. Devon's thriving capital is undoubtedly my favourite place in the region and if you know the city well, you can eschew the crowds of the high street and still never be short of things to do.

Tris and I like to start our visit to the city with a trip to our favourite bar, The Oddfellows. It's a sophisticated place with an air of class and style that is becoming more and more reputed for its delicious, locally-sourced food. Top of the list for most people comes the Sunday roast, but the imaginative menu has many tasty and interesting delights on any day of the week. I also think the bar is one of the cosiest in the city - the perfect place to while away a winter's evening. Here, one reprobate waits for his drinks at the bar:

One of the best things about visiting Exeter on a Saturday is seeing how lively and bustling the city is. For me, this is best experienced by watching one of the many local talents performing in the streets. My favourite in a guy called Jerri Hart, who fills the streets with fabulous renditions of the old crooner songs. I didn't see him yesterday, but one of my other faves, a band called Spin 2, were in position outside Marks and Spencers. Spin 2 play Irish folk style music, and are great entertainment, always drawing a crowd.

If it's Saturday and we're heading down the high street, it's very likely that we're on our way to the quay, via the individual shops of Fore Street. There are two or three absolute gems down here - a great toyshop, two lovely vintage clothes shops, and a unique place at the very end of the road called Otto Retro. Otto is quite an experience - a mixture of the old, the classic, the kitch and the chic, you can find almost anything within its four walls, and no two days are ever the same. Tris is usually seen making some sort of purchase in here, whilst I'm likely to be found fawning over a piece of furniture, in this case, a beautiful cocktail cabinet. If only I had the space for it, this would be a definite for me.

From Otto, it's just a short walk past the Medieval Bridge to the beautiful quayside. On summer days this is the place to be in the city, and the bars and ice cream stalls are packed out with people enjoying the sunshine. Yesterday was a slightly calmer affair, but it is still a lot of fun to browse the shops. There is an antiques mall here, local craft workshops, and souvenir shops, but I'm mostly interested in a shop called Eclectique, selling a variety odds and ends, the perfect place for gift ideas.

The most enjoyable way back to the city, I think, is to head up to Colleton Crescent, a masterclass in late Georgian architecture that, fortunately, survived the Blitz when so many other period buildings were destroyed. This probably comes top of my list in places I would like to live in the city, and the main reason I come this way is to play a little fantasy, and choose which house is mine. I nearly always opt for the one with the biggest balcony, this lovely property below. Not ever so long ago, one of the apartments here sold for a million pounds; I suppose for now the fantasy will have to remain just that!

Back in the city centre, and getting towards the end of the day, there is one more place that would complete our visit; Exeter Cathedral. The Cathedral Church of St Peter was completed around 1400, and has the longest uninterrupted vaulted ceiling in the country. It is also said that the nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock was written about a mouse seen in this cathedral. On our visit yesterday, there was a choir practice in session and, let me tell you, the acoustics of the building are phenomenal.

Every day in Devon's capital is different, every weekend bringing with it new shops, new stock and new bands. And the wonderful thing is, you don't need to step into any of the main shops to find them. I'm already looking forward to the next time I can get up to this wonderful city!