It poured with rain on that day in July 1860 when the new line from Crewkerne to Exeter was opened but at 'the Banquet' given by the city all was sweetness and light. The banquet took place in a damp and leaky tent on Northernhay. Some of the invited gentlemen defied etiquette by dining, in the presence of many ladies, in their hats and overcoats,
The Mayor of Exeter proposed the health of the chairman and directors of the London and South Western Railway and said that:
"the people of Exeter rejoiced with the directors on the completion of their line to this city and deemed the event to be of very great importance to them, The people of Exeter were thankful to the directors of the London and South Western Railway for having so readily regarded their wishes as to the preservation of Northernhay, The wishes of the citizens in this respect had been most readily and kindly acceded to, and Northernhay had not only been preserved, but improved...."
".....Captain Mangles, the chaiman of the directors, returned thanks. They would have been Goths, and unworthy of the reception given to them. had they destroyed the lovely place on which they had the pleasure of meeting."
But it had been a damned close thing and people had fought tooth and nail to preserve the Gardens (their Walks) because they appreciated them as a precious inheritance, Goths there had been but they had been beaten back by the awareness of the citizens that Northernhay was a treasure to be valued and protected and improved.
Goths there still are!
Source: The Western Morning News, 19th July, 1860.
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