There’s something rather upmarket about Exeter. It was one of the last royalist strongholds to fall in the Civil War; and long before that the English were constantly throwing out undesirables like the Vikings. The University too, which enjoys the particularly lovely and superbly sited Streatham campus, has been famed for attracting quite a few students with deeper pockets than most – Peter and Zara Phillips probably fitted that bill pretty well – and it has a Students’ Guild rather than Union. The tone of the place is not let down by its magnificent 11th century Cathedral, or quirkier spots like the claustrophobic Parliament Street, and atmospheric Mol’s Coffee House; and redevelopment to exploit the canal and basin isn’t hurting either.