Exeter must be one of the most unsung and delightful of English cities, and Gandy Street one of its most magical features. It's my favourite part of the city and brings back lots of happy memories.
My photos are quite old, the black & white ones taken some 30 plus years ago and the colour ones around 15 years later. I don't have very many photos, and I'd really love to go and take more, but can no longer travel for the hour plus it takes, so I'm going to manage with what I have for now.
Situated at right angles from the top of Upper Paul Street at the side of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum - seen above and below - and parallel to the main Queen Street, it dates back to Alfred the Great's time in the Saxon era.
Named Gandy Street after Henry Gandy, who was the Mayor of Exeter in 1661 and 1672, its previous names were St Lucie's Lane in 1669 and Correstrete in 1265. Correstrete is the Middle English for Currying Street - currying being the curing of leather.
This attractive cobbled street is only short but it's full of independent shops, pubs and cafes. Looking at my black and white photos, it looks a little bland but more recent photos online show it full of bunting, flower baskets in the summer and magical trees and lights at Christmas time. One photo has a string of large lanterns above the street, which looks fabulous.
Most of my photos were taken at the end of Gandy Street near to Upper Paul Street. The ones above and below are of the top of Paul Street, showing the side of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (called RAMM for short). On the right side is a building with the name City Chambers on. I haven't been able to discover anything historic about it but it appears to be used for rented business offices now.
The strange chinese dragon like objects on the left, below, were quite popular canopies above shop windows in the 1990s, made from a stiff plastic instead of the usual canvass. Oddly enough, I think the shop was a chinese restaurant at the time, lol.
The photo below is of the side opposite the City Chambers, with Ramm behind it. Interestingly, the wall has been shaved off from just below the street sign, making a curve which was either to give clearer sight going around the corner, prevent accidental bashing from vehicles or because of one having happened! One of my favourite photos. :)
As well as the main Gandy Street there are two alleyways leading off it. One is Queen's Walk, which connects to Queen Street and can be seen below.
On the left of the above photo is the entrance to an underground pub and music venture called the Cavern Club. Some of us from our University building on Queen Street went in there occasionally for coffee during the daytime.
The other one is the delightful New Buildings, which was added circa 19th century (new at the time!). I don't remember the exact date, but it was mentioned during an Exeter Red Coat tour I once went on. Sadly, I can't find it anywhere online so I contacted RAMM to see if they can help. I'll add it here if they do.
Inside the entrance to New Buildings is a wall which was built using Dutch bricks brought back from the Netherlands in a trading ship as ballast.
The alleyway itself is totally charming with lots of interesting independent shops and colourful bunting.
To finish off, one taken from Bradninch Place, just above the top of Upper Paul street, where the Phoenix building is situated.
Just for interest here are a few more photos of the RAMM buildings around that end.
And finally, one showing the Phoenix building peeping over the top end of RAMM.
I hope you found that interesting. I started this a while ago then after my break I went all out to finish it and get something published at last. It was really enjoyable to do, especially seeing and organising my photos, along with the memories they gave. During my break I also worked a little bit on two other articles.
I'm still finding myself somewhat short of time but I'm more than ready to get back into the swing of keeping up with my blog. Fresh start, new ideas coming up and hopefully I'll be able to get out and take some more photos soon, weather permitting!
Cheers everyone! Have a great weekend. :)
