Pinder & Tuckwell, photograph, c1970, Exeter

Photograph of the shop Pinder & Tuckwell, c1970, Exeter

Pinder and Tuckwell were one of the oldest menswear companies in Exeter, tracing its origins back to 1834 when local tailor Richard Pindar opened a shop at 191 High Street. The company moved to a new shop at 43-44 in 1933, when Woolworths acquired numbers 190 and 191 High Street to convert into their new High Street premises. Pinder and Tuckwell expanded into number 45 High Street in the late 1960s, but in 1979 the firm vacated the site and moved to 83 Fore Street. This photograph shows the shop as it looked in the early 1970s and at that time it was flanked by the premises of Hinton Lake Chemists to the left and Watches of Switzerland to the tight. In more recent times, numbers 43-45 High Street were home to a branch of Costa Coffee.

Numbers 43-45 High Street are some of the oldest buildings left in the city. They date from the 1500s and survived both the blitz and the later demolition of ancient High Street buildings in the name of progress. In 2016 the run of buildings from Martins Lane up to and including Waterstones all suffered damage as a result of the Royal Clarence fire and all of the businesses had to close. Luckily, they escaped total destruction. Some businesses reopened, some did not, but most did not survive the pandemic. At the present time only Skechers and Waterstones remain open. The row of empty shops between them is a sober reflection on the state of high streets at the present time and it is sad to see these historic buildings unloved and unwanted. Photographs such as this one are such an important historical record.

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