TOPSHAM
A
IS FOR ARTY
Great light, a surfeit of beautiful vistas… Artists, illustrators and photographers love Topsham, and the Topsham Art Group provides many of them with a support network and platform. Bargainarts keeps them in supplies, and art lovers can pick up original pieces at shops like Art@96, Fleming & Sell and Artenax. ALSO: Arthurs Butchers – long-running family business purveying fine local meat.
B
IS FOR BRIDGE INN
The 900-year-old Bridge Inn, run by the same family since 1897, was famously visited by the Queen in 1998 – her first official pub visit. After all that, she declined a drink! ALSO: Bookshop, namely antiquarian and second-hand trader Topsham Books.
C
IS FOR CHARCUTERIE
The first time we clocked Topsham chorizo we took a photo of it. The first time we tasted it we fell in love forever. Good Game was dreamed up by three mates in the 90s – now Jim, Steve and Pete are responsible for cured meats and sausages using only salt and Exe estuary air, and one of Devon’s biggest artisan food success stories. ALSO: Cheese – namely cheesemonger Country Cheeses; and the town’s Chamber Music Society, bringing high quality classical concerts to St Margaret’s Church.
D
IS FOR DUTCH
Those eye-catching Dutch-style, merchant’s houses in Topsham date from the early 18th century when the town was an important cotton port. Many of the bricks were actually shipped over from Holland. ALSO: Darts Farm.
E
IS FOR ESTUARY
Topsham sits on the east shore, just where the River Exe widens and starts to spill out into the sea. “An estuary of untrammelled, quintessential nautical British loveliness,” said The Guardian last summer when exhorting its readers to move there (many of them did). ALSO: Mighty fine French restaurant L’Estuaire, authentic French cooking in a stylish converted boathouse on the Quay.
F
IS FOR FESTIVALS
The Topsham Food Festival brings together all the town’s best eating and drinking experiences. A reliable highlight is Nello’s Longest Table, a communal feast that raises funds for local worthy causes and was started by friends of popular, local restaurateur Nello Ghezzo who died in 1999 and dreamed of such an event. The two events are usually held every two years. Look out, too, for the Topsham Music Festival, and Beer and Bacon Festival. ALSO: Film Society, one of the town’s most active societies, with over 200 members, screening about two films a year at Matthews Hall.
G
IS FOR THE GAP
A geographical and spiritual border between Exeter and Topsham, the Topsham Gap is a strip of green land between the two places that’s fiercely defended by local campaigners. Developers, be warned: one does not simply build on the Topsham Gap. ALSO: Well-regarded fish and seafood restaurant The Galley; and Goat Walk, a raised path along the riverside. w
20 I EXETER LIVING I www.mediaclash.co.uk
Fisherman’s cottages and merchant’s houses sit cheek-by-jowl, and vessels of myriad shapes, sizes and vintages dot the water