“When we looked out our bedroom window, there was Pearce rag stores, with all the rabbit skins hanging in the window.  If I had a stick I could have poked them!”

The People of the Quarter lived cheek by jowl with the industries of the river and Quay. JoJo Spinks dives into their testimony in celebration of the Working Class histories of the Quay.

Today it’s easy to see our beautiful Exeter Quay as a leisure resource but between the Wars it was a hive of maritime and other industry employing the people who lived on the cobbled streets of Stepcote Hill, Coombe St and Preston Street.  Today, the connection between these streets and the Quay has been disconnected by the modern road building but within living memory, the relationship was clear.

Those streets ran down to the river and the Quay was the heart of the City’s industry with a glorious wealth of Working Class Histories to tell.  Supported by the testimony and images of those who share that heritage, JoJo Spinks celebrates the People of the West Quarter in conversation.

Quay Words presents: The People of the West Quarter: The Working Class histories of the Quay