Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

spent a lot of time in Exeter (his parents lived in the city's outskirts). He often went to the Turks Head pub, still standing in the High Street and the pub is reputed to own the chair that Dickens is said to have sat in when he wrote the scene in Pickwick Papers that features the pub. He also started work on Nicholas Nickleby during one of his visits. I am told that that Dickens brought his parents to live in Alphington in order to escape the debtors' prison. The house still stands in Alphington Road and perhaps can be visited still? My informant worked at the old primary school there and took children to have a look and read them an abridged version of David Copperfield.