Dave 's reviews
Review of The Coppermine
19 May 08, 14:24
Hold the bells 
It's things like the enormous day-glo porcelain clowns in the windows that worry me about this place. It wouldn't look so out of place at the seaside, but Exeter deserves a bit better. Not welcoming and not much fun as a result.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Exeter University Library
09 May 08, 15:22
Open all hours 
The twenty four hour opening makes it a lot more accessible now, but the information desks are only manned at certain times so you may be out of luck if you actually want to check something out. Has all the facilities you'd expect/need in a first class university library.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Exeter Central
09 May 08, 15:19
All change
It's not the sort of station you'd want to have to wait at for too long. The facilities are limited (few seats, no waiting room, a couple of vending machines instead of a cafe) and the view of the prison is a bit depressing too...
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Exeter Rare Books
09 May 08, 15:16
Small but perfectly formed 
It's a little bit tucked away on the first floor of the arcade but once you find it there's plenty of interest. It is rare books as opposed to second hand books so expect to pay more but the selection is all the more interesting for it.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Bhs Exeter (British Home Stores)
09 May 08, 15:14
Grim
This place really is starting to look a bit old and grotty now, and so are some of the clothes they have as well. Could really do with smartening up a bit and there are plenty of other department stores you can go to in Exeter instead.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Hawkin's Bazaar
09 May 08, 09:38
Playtime 
It's full of guilty places in here. I never thought that I'd see an Etch A Sketch again. Look out as well for the Mullet Top Trumps, they have to be seen to be believed! They're all toys that are just a little bit too good for children!
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Lakeland
09 May 08, 09:36
It's twenty first century Tupperware
The sheer volume of non bio-degradable plastic in here does worry me a bit, but it's fully of handy stuff for the home and kitchen. Some of it you may get a little cheaper in Woolworths though...
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of The White Hart Hotel
09 May 08, 09:29
The Beer Grotto
There are lots of little hideaways in here where you can squirrel yourself away for a quiet pint, but beware! You are paying 'hotel' rather 'pub' prices. When the Exeter Winter Ales Festival was at County Hall this was a handy stop off on the way to and from the train station.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Exeter Central Library
15 Apr 08, 10:03
Peace and quiet in the city centre
As libraries go it's not the most beautiful building in the world to look at, but as one of the major libraries in the county it is definitely one of the best stocked. I do worry though that the CDs and DVDs are coming in at the expense of new books...
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Exeter Cathedral
15 Apr 08, 09:57
A beautiful building
Even the exorbitant entrance charge they've just introduced can't spoil it. It's also a wonderful concert venue during the Two Moors Festival. The cathedral's an important part of Devon's history as well as a place of worship.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Boston Tea Party
15 Apr 08, 09:54
First stop
As soon as I get off the train at Exeter Central this is the first place that I go. It's a bit 'studenty' but in a nice and relaxed rather than a traffic cone on the head way. And I love the coffee. Treated myself to poached eggs on muffins once: it was fab!
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Exeter Phoenix
15 Apr 08, 09:50
Music to my ears
I've seem some great bands here. I like the way that they do it as a seated venue when they think they'll get the oldies in, but they take the seats out again when it's someone they think you'll want to dance to!
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Blackwell's
15 Apr 08, 09:35
Student bookshop
This is the University bookshop so you're going to find textbooks rather than the latest Jilly Cooper. They also offer a read and return policy so you may be able to pick up some books for your course quite cheaply. If students are so poor why do they make text books so expensive?
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of W H Smith
15 Apr 08, 09:32
Convenient
If you need to grab a newspaper or a magazine to read on the train then this is ideal. The book stock is limited but it's not really mean to be a book shop, just somewhere you go in, grab what you need and run to the platform before your train goes.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Waterstone's
15 Apr 08, 09:30
The big book shop
The basic lay out here is fiction and children's books downstairs and non-fiction upstairs. It's size means that there is a lot of choice, and because it's a big chain you benefit from their buying power. Lots of money off new titles and the 3 for 2 deals are always worth looking at as well.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of W H Smith
15 Apr 08, 09:26
Big is beautiful
The main thing that this branch of WH Smith has in its favour is its size which means they have plenty of choice. The other side of the coin is that whether it's cards or books or magazines you're always going to get more choice from shop which concentrates on just selling those items. Convenient rather than comprehensive.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Waterstone's
15 Apr 08, 09:24
Best branch in Exeter
This is my favourite of the two Waterstones in Exeter. It's not as cavernous as the branch up the road and it has as much bookshop atmosphere as you can get in one of these places. They do them stack 'em high sell 'em low bestsellers that all Waterstones do have to do, but they also make some effort with their displays to pick out some of the more interesting titles as well.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Waterstone's
15 Apr 08, 09:21
Part of the High Street store
This is the part of the High Street Waterstones that backs on to Cathedral Green. It's got their children's book section in it, but it also leads you into the rest of the store as well.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Read 'n' Return Book Shop
15 Apr 08, 09:19
Great Idea!
Basically it's a second hand book shop, but once you've read the book you can decide to either keep it or take it back. The great thing is that if you return it they'll give you back a percentage of what you originally paid for it: imagine going to the library but being paid to take your books back and you've got the idea.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of The Works
15 Apr 08, 09:14
Bargain Books
You've got to go in here to see what you can find rather than looking for a particular title. They seem to stock books that haven't sold as many copies as the publishers thought they would which means you can pick up some real bargains...
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Exeter Picturehouse
15 Apr 08, 09:10
A cinema for people who love film
The thing that I like about the Picturehouse is that you can see the films that don't make it into the multiplexes because they've filled up all of their screens with Die Hard 27 and Rocky 406. And it's licenced so you can buy a beer and take it into the auditorium.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of Solo Music
14 Apr 08, 16:34
What's going on?
Since its moved upstairs you don't really get as much choice as they had when they used the downstairs as well. It's a bit odd to have to walk through an empty shop and go up the stairs before you get to it, but once you're there they do have a good choice outside of the usual pop/rock selection.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of The Well House Tavern
14 Apr 08, 16:29
Well well well...
Right opposite the Cathedral so it's always busy. Nice range of beers and the food seems to be quite popular too: I think there's some sort of tie-in with Michael Caine's place next door. You're very much paying City Centre prices though...
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of The Angel
14 Apr 08, 16:25
A bit studenty...
...which I don't mind at all, but sometimes they can be a bit noisey: your first drink is always very exciting isn't it? Well worth popping in but you might not get the peace and quiet you want to have a pint and do the crossword.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of John Gandys
14 Apr 08, 16:22
Handy for the train station
As it's only around the corner from Exeter Central, and they normally have RCH Pitchfork which is one of the best beers ever known to humanity. I think I'd call it a bar rather than a pub: you pop in, have a drink and then move on rather than make it your regular.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.
Review of The Imperial
14 Apr 08, 16:19
As Wetherspoons go...
It's pretty much what you'd expect. The Orangery makes it a little nicer than some of the other pubs in this chain, but let's be honest, the food's not great. And how do they manage to get every single one of their beers to taste the same?
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful.