Travel & Holidays in later life

If you don't insist on your holiday accommodation being within stone-chucking distance of a beach, then consider Exeter as a touring base. 

On the east corner of the River Exe estuary stands Exmouth, blessed with beautiful soft sands - idyllic for sun worship, and paradise for kids. But Exeter is only 12 miles away, and is rich in sightseeing interest with quicker access to the resorts of west Devon.

The Romans were the first to spot the strategic value of Exeter, with a garrison of 5000 soldiers. They could sail up the Exe to their most westerly outpost, within easy marching distance of any trouble from the local Brits. Some time after the Romans went home, Alfred the Great took over.

In 1068 William the Conqueror captured the fortress town and improved the Roman city walls. The medieval wool trade flourished and provided funds for building a prosperous city centre and major regional market.

The four city gates were demolished by civic vandals in the 18th and early 19th centuries. But Exeter still has long stretches of the original ramparts, standing thick and tall. Exeter was badly bombed in 1942, which explains why the city has so many 20th-century stores and office blocks of the kind you can see anywhere. But there are some attractive cobbled lanes with centuries'-old buildings. 

In St Martins Lane, for instance, is a gorgeous pub called The Ship, used by Drake and his captains Frobisher and Hawkins during the Armada time. Another hostelry to visit is the 15th-century White Hart Hotel. One of the bars is kept exactly how it looked in the 1500s. 

The present Guildhall dates from the mid-1300s, replacing the original built in the 1100s. The portico was added in Elizabethan times. The most charming corner of Exeter is around the Cathedral of St Peter which claims the world's longest Gothic ceiling, and has an astronomical clock made in 1317. 

The Cathedral Close is a delightful spot to enjoy a Devon cream tea of two scones, strawberry jam, cream and a pot of tea. It's better to have it inside the traditional tea-shop rather than outside, to avoid sharing with the wasps. 

Close by is Mol's Coffee House, now a jeweller's, but was another favourite tavern of Drake and Hawkins when it was built in 1596. That was when Exeter was a major trading port, before the River Exe and its sandbanks silted up to halt commercial traffic. 

Between Exeter and Topsham is the oldest canal in England, opened in 1563. But in the 19th century the railways captured the freight business, and the canal is now used only for pleasure boating. 

From the Quay you also get a good view of the height and power of the city walls which rear up in the background. Fourteen feet thick and thirty feet high, the walls were last used in anger during the Civil War, when Exeter became a Royalist stronghold for a while. You can see that a 2-pounder cannon wouldn't make much impression.

In contrast, Exmouth is slim on sightseeing, but is richly endowed with sandy beaches. The original fishing village from pre-Roman times moved up the social scale in the 18th century, mainly because it was the nearest seaside location to Exeter.