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Latest update 17 November 2008

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This graphic appeared on the rear of the official Exeter City Council guidebooks for about 15 years, from the 1920s to 1942.

Photo of the Month

A winter view of the frozen River Exe looking towards Colleton Hill, taken in the late 1970's, by Alan H Mazonowicz. Move the pointer over the photo to see the same scene around about 1890.

from the Exeter Flying Post
June 1847
"THE NEW POLICE FORCE - On Saturday last, at Guildhall, the Watch Committee of the Council, were engaged for several hours in selecting the requisite number of men from about 150 candidates, for the new police force. They certainly had a fine body of young men to choose from, and the testimonials these had submitted were most creditable to them. Mr. David Steele, of the police at Barnstaple, is appointed the Superintendent, and Wm. Back, Frederick Woolcott, Wm. Stuckes, Wm. Joslin, and James Ellicombe, Inspectors. Wm. Fulford also of the present day police, is appointed a super-numerary inspector."
March 1851
"THE CITY POLICE - Through the vigilance of this body several desperate characters have "left their country for their country's good"; and several members of the force have been highly complimented for their zeal and activity, these are Inspectors Stuckes and Fulford, and constables Ellicombe, Moore and Ford. The two Inspectors during the assizes received gratuities of £3 each from the judges, as rewards for good conduct."

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The Exeter 'Comment' from Exeter Memories - 3rd November 2008

This site is run by a resident of who loves the city Previous Comment

Power to the City

Exeter Local History Society

Why not join the Exeter Local History Society that find out more of 2000 years of intrigue, plot, disaster and people in Exeter.

We meet six times a year at the Central Library, Exeter for chat, and a talk from an expert on a historical topic.

Come along to a meeting without obligation - upcoming meetings can be found here

Or phone the Secretary, Geoffrey Harding on 01392 276176 or email to:

ELHS contact

If you have read the page on this site about the Power Station at Haven Banks, you may be interested in a recently published book Power to the City, about the Exeter Electric Light & Power Station, by Dick Passmore. This well researched history covers the first introduction of electricity to the city, through the new power station at Haven Banks, built for the new tram system, and the growth of the use of electricity, that is as much a social, as a technological history. Initially, the City Council was luke warm to the idea, and rejected the first proposals for electricity generation, but the persistence of George Henry Massingham, a boot and shoe manufacturer, persuaded the Council to give it a go. Attempts at producing electricity from the River Exe are also discussed in this accessible and well illustrated book. To purchase a copy see Power to the City.

Blitz Film - 1 October 2008

The South West Film and Television Archive, along with the Dartington Hall Trust and the Westcountry Studies Library have very kindly allowed the use of two pieces of historic film in Exeter Memories.

The most important film is the footage that the Dartington Film Unit shot in the days after the blitz in May 1942. Some of this film has been seen on television, some just recently on Spotlight. However, the footage contains much material that I have never seen before, and I am sure it will be new to many visitors to the site. One of the short extracts on the site shows the material damage to the city, with a devastated Sidwell Street, Southernhay West and clearing up the mess in the High Street. Another clip I have added shows a static water tank and firefighters in Southernhay, workers saving furniture from damaged houses and information sheets being handed out to a recovering population. This material will be of interest to many schools who study the blitz as part of their history courses, and also give others a chance to see Exeter during one of its darkest hours. I shall be adding one more short extract from the blitz film during the next week.

The second film is a bit late, as it is of the Olympic Torch being carried through Exeter High Street in 1948. The torch was on the way to Torquay for the yachting events. I hope this new material will give all those who have an interest in this great city, a chance to discover what life was like in a very difficult decade, for our grand-parents generation.

The British Library

Exeter Memories has been selected by the British Library for their digital archive. They will copy the whole site, every six months, to their archive and ensure it, along with other sites, can still be accessed by future technology. Hopefully, far into the distant future, historians and others will be able to consult the site as a resource for new generations.

Brian Greenslade The Beast of Barnstaple

Keep Exeter Free - 6th August 2008

Devon County Council are wasting precious council taxes on producing a propaganda sheet designed to soften up the citizens of Exeter for a takeover. The full colour waste of money pushes their own agenda, rather than giving an impartial view of the two proposals by the Boundary Commission - shame on them. The megalomaniac Beast of Barnstaple is running a political campaign to take over the City, aided and abetted by the Lib Dem City Councillors who were remarkably quiet about their ultimate aim at the last local election - the new Councillors were disingenuous to say the least in their canvassing, never mentioning their real objective.

Exeter has grown enormously over the last 25 years, with more jobs, development and a swathe of new schools. The City has always been independent, and the alternative proposal of a greater Exeter authority which is not favoured by the Beast, would see his empire diminished. Devon County Council have not got a good record in the city judging by the number of potholes and repairs needed to the roads and facilities for the elderly which heavily rely on private, unaccountable companies whose only concern is whether their bill is paid on time. And the latest proposal to sell off the County homes for the elderly will see increased costs and shoddy care for many.

Let Devon run what they are good at - a rural area, with a large road system and the social problems that the country side has to deal with. Let Exeter run what it is good at - an urban area with its own, quite different, social problems, and a prosperous economy planned by the City. Is it really sensible to ask one authority to run two quite different areas, and expect County Hall to cope with both rural and urban problems which require quite different solutions.

And to my regular visitors who maybe upset by my comments I say - Exeter deserves better than Brian Greenslade increasing his fiefdom while a proud City loses its independence after 2000 years.

Semper Fidelis - Keep Exeter Independent.

That's all for now,

David Cornforth - My Contact E-Mail

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