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Someone asked me the other day about which part of Exeter I love most. Not an easy question to answer because there are so many great areas of the City, some on the tourist routes, and some, lesser known, hidden gems. After a bit of thought I opted for the Quay because I’ve enjoyed so many fantastic times down there. My first memories of it come from 40 years ago when, as an 8 year old, I joined a crocodile of children from Central junior school (now St. Leonards) to go and watch the Onedin Line TV series being filmed. I can remember how excited we all were to see the whole area transformed into 1860’s Liverpool. The famous ‘Charlotte Rhodes’ 3 masted schooner was moored up, and the actors like Pete Gilmore and Anne Stallybrass were wandering around between takes quite happy to talk to locals who’d gone down to see the filming taking place. Exeter had never seen anything like it, and it certainly put us on the map.  It’s definitely worth trying to get hold of a recording of that series, or watch out for it on a retro TV channel to see how brilliantly the quay transformed thanks to the ‘time warp’.

There’s certainly no better place to be on summer evenings, festivals or for events like the Dragon Boat racing and the Exeter rowing regatta.  It’s also a great target for all of us who head into the City along the cycle tracks that lead down from Topsham, Exminster and beyond.
Of course, as the years went by the Quay became more of a destination for evening activities. It may not have been everyone’s idea of heaven, but Friday and Saturday night’s there were buzzing as everyone, of a certain age, migrated towards establishments like Tiffany’s, The Quay club, Warehouse and Boxes.
Now, of course, it’s a lot quieter at weekends. At Exeter FM radio, I work with presenter Chris Dinnis who’s owned nightclubs in that part of the city for many years. According to Chris the feel of the area all began to change when pub licensing hours were extended. Now, wherever you go in the main city centre you can find pubs open until the early hours with mini dance floors and big screens showing sport or music videos. I suppose it’s understandable why people don’t want to make that walk down to the quay for their late night revelry, particularly in the depths of winter There must be pros and cons for the local police about whether it would be better to have everyone gathered together in a smaller area, or more spread out as they are now.
From a nostalgic point of view I think it’s a shame how this aspect of Quay life has died away.  Clubs still exist there, but it’ll be interesting to see how they re-package themselves to thrive in the long term.  You definitely get the feeling that they’ll have to be very creative indeed.

I admit I was among the 4,000 who left St. James Park on Saturday afternoon mightily disappointed. I’d just witnessed Exeter City’s 4-0 defeat by Huddersfield which left them rooted to the foot of league one.

I’ve been watching City since the 1970’s ...the days of goalscoring heroes like Fred Binney, Alan Beer and Tony Kellow. Since then there’ve been plenty of lows, and those occasional highs which make following a lower division team seem worthwhile.

As I walked out of the ground a few days ago, it’s fair to say there were a few dissenting voices. Football fans are a fickle lot, and some were even questioning whether a change of manager might be needed. I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. Paul Tisdale has transformed the club on the field over the last few years, and i’m totally confident that despite losing some key players from the spine of last season’s team, and lots of injuries, he’ll soon take us into mid table.
We need to stay loyal to him, because, despite many chances to go and manage other teams, he’s stayed loyal to us. He’s a unique breed of manager. Someone who cares equally about what’s going on off the pitch as on it. As a trust run club, it’s all about community involvement, and as Tisdale says on an Exeter FM radio announcement - “Exeter City is much more than just a football club”.
Let’s never forget that, and let’s not judge success totally by league position.  Of course it’s nice to be top of the league and winning things. Those trips to Wembley and successive promotions will live long in the memory.
However you’ve only got to look at what’s happened to the green lot down the A 38, to truly appreciate what a well run, family club, totally integrated into the community can really achieve.
Gone are the days when Exeter City just expected local businesses to back the club and supporters to pay their money at the turnstiles without giving anything back. Now the club has extended it’s tentacles out into the community. There can’t be many locals who haven’t seen or heard about some of the brilliant work they do.  Their youth football courses are well established. They work with disadvantaged groups, and in areas where teenagers need well structured activities to help keep them on the straight and narrow.
Recently they’ve launched BTEC courses for youngsters who want to combine academic studies with playing football after their GCSE’s.
I want to pay tribute to Jamie Vittles, who’s in charge of the club’s football in the community operation. He looks after a very talented and dedicated team and they deserve recognition for what they do with limited resources. For Saturday’s match, the club staged a family day and there were hundreds of especially invited youngsters and their mums and dads sitting near me. Despite the result, they had a fantastic afternoon !

Let’s face reality, and forgive me for stating the obvious.  Exeter City are unlikely to ever be Premier League contenders.  However i’m proud to support a club which maximizes potential on the pitch and goes the extra mile off it. 

There was swift response to my article last week about dog mess disrupting youth football at the King George 5th playing fields.  Quite a few people have made contact to say they agree that the problem in some areas of the city is getting out of hand.
In addition to writing about it in the Express and Echo, I also broadcast an interview on Exeter FM radio. It was gratifying to get a phone call immediately from Sarah Giles, the Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) who covers the area.

As soon as she heard about the problem, and the reaction of the worried parents, she got to work to try and find a solution, or, at the very least, make some improvements. She contacted the City Council dog warden, and my understanding is that there will be more signs, more bins and more education aimed at local dog owners in the future.

The point of this weeks piece is to highlight the fantastic work the PCSO’s do in our community. We all know that police resources locally are becoming more and more stretched. In fact, only in the last week or two, the Chief Constable Stephen Otter has been explaining how he intends to maintain a highly visible police presence on our streets despite all the cutbacks.
I really hope that everyone really appreciates the work done by PCSO’s like Sarah Giles (Topsham/Countess Wear), and Richard Shelton (Mincinglake).  A quick straw poll of friends and work colleagues suggests that not everyone totally understands the fantastic work they do for our community. That’s a real shame.
 
Sarah and Richard came into our studio and, when we were chatting before doing a radio interview, it was clear to see how passionately they care about the areas they look after. They police in the ‘traditional’ sense by taking time to get to know their communities, the people who live there, the issues, potential problems and possible flash points. It was certainly an eye opener to hear about some of the things they’ve had to sort out!

They are effective because through their diligent work, they step in can nip situations in the bud and, in some cases, prevent crime happening.
They have a unique role, and it’s quite different to regular police officers or special constables. They are specifically targetting anti social behaviour and any issues that affect our quality of life. Their success relies enormously on effective communication with local people, and I would urge anyone to find out who their PCSO is, and stop and have a chat when you see them in your neighbourhood.
I appreciate that not everybody is fully across modern technology, but if you’re a ‘tweeter’ you can get regular news on local initiatives, and news stories from both Sarah (@TopshamPolice) and Richard (@PCSORichShelton)

I am not sure that the problem of dog fouling at King George 5th will ever be totally eradicated, but i’m hopeful that, thanks to the immediate intervention of Sarah Giles, real progress will be made.  She and her PCSO colleagues can definitely make things happen for us. I’m grateful and, to be honest, very relieved !