150 Years of Exeter Archive Photos

The Isca Historical Photographic Collection celebrates its 40th Anniversary this month.

Established by Peter Thomas, Exeter’s longest established local author, photographer & lecturer, the collection protects the negative archive of the Henry Wykes Studio of Exeter. The studio had amassed an archive of 42,000 images that over the last 40 years has been greatly expanded and now contains some of Exeter’s rarest photographic images.

The most extensive presentations ever undertaken by the author  are to be featured in  four linked programmes.

150 Years of Exeter Archive Photos will be the result of one years work bringing together over 800 images featuring some of the most dramatic scenes ever recorded in Exeter. Covering a century and half from 1860 to current times it will give the audience a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to see Exeter as never before.

The four linked programmes will cover specific periods from the era of the horse and cart to the building of Princesshay and John Lewis. Some of the city’s most historic buildings will shown together with areas of Exeter that have long since disappeared.

A special feature will relate to the famous Dellers Café that was Exeter’s most sumptuous building and the hub of Exeter’s pre-war social life. Very recent discoveries have brought to light remarkable archive material that has not been seen before.

Of particular poignancy will be the wartime programme The Bombing of Exeter which has been undertaken by Mr Thomas on a number of occasions to packed audiences. The most dramatic images ever seen of the city will fill a cinema screen and bring the whole period into sharp focus.

The audience will also have opportunity to discover a little about the history of photography and how early photographers undertook their work and have a chance to see the interior of the famous Henry Wykes Studio in Exeter.

In order to raise further public awareness in the city’s visual history it was recognized that this could not be done by undertaking one single presentation. The four linked programmes will therefore be one of the most remarkable historic presentations ever undertaken in Exeter.

150 Years of Exeter Archive Photos, narrated by Peter D Thomas is on Wednesdays 5, 12, 19 and 26 March at 7.30pm at Exeter Conference Centre, Northerhay Street, Exeter.

Details and tickets are available from the Tourist Information Centre, Paris Street, Exeter.

General enquiries 01392 665700,  tickets 01392 665885  Block ticket for all four programmes  £25, single evenings not avaialble.