The canal basin in Exeter sits at the city end of the 5 mile long canal that once took commercial traffic from the River Exe up to the city all that ended in 1973, Now it’s mostly used by leisure boaters, kayakers and the rowing club. But enough of that Hivers lets save the canal for another day.
Most of the restoration work was carried out in 2002 the mix of Georgian and Victorian buildings were converted to mostly pubs bars and restaurants on the city side of the quay a real haven for locals and visitors.
They did manage to retain a number of original features like street lights which I think are Victorian and are quite ornate and elegant.
The opposite bank or non city side of the River Exe has some residential property’s and water sports shops and facilities so you can hire kayaks and paddle boards.
The 1681 Customs House with it’s cannons is one of the fine more original examples and open to the public throughout the year with small free exhibition.
One of the more original pub buildings is the Prospect Inn. First opened around 1800 as the Fountain Inn it’s customers had a reputation for drunkenness and bad behaviour along with a few drownings no handrails around the canal basin on this side, and there still aren’t for the most part. It was renamed the Prospect in 1957 and opened by the actress Diana Dors.
Some of the older buildings are the cellars situated further down the quay are some of them are now small shops coffee bars and work shops.
There are a couple of options for getting across from one side of the Exe to the other the Cricklepit Bridge is a cycle and pedestrian crossing and about a 1K walk back to the quay where the bars are.
But if you’re feeling particularly lazy for 50p you can go across on the Butts Ferry, a hand pulled barge that crosses the basin straight to the main area where the pubs and bars are.
And it was also my first stop for a coffee and a huge slice of carrot cake at the Coffee Cellar one of the converted Victorian units.
After a coffee at the Coffee Cellar I headed down to the Port Royal for a quick cider. Before realising my on street parking was running out so a brisk walk back to the car and the end of my photo Wednesday walk along the Quay in Exeter.
Finally Hivers a nice bit of street art on one of the building ends. It’s almost mono but colours really do make it pop.
