Art Work Exeter present – The Real Onedin Line

Are you ready to get your sideburns on?

In 1976 the BBC drama The Onedin Line used Exeter Quay as one of its settings. Although the series was about the international shipping trade in Liverpool in the 1860s, key scenes were shot in front of the then unrenovated warehouses, the Prospect Inn and on Colleton Crescent, the Georgian terrace overlooking the Quay. Many people remember the area’s temporary transformation by the film team, and some appeared as extras. Working in partnership with Exeter Custom House and the Exeter Canal and Quay Trust, The Real Onedin Line is using the energy of this collective cultural memory to launch a bigger journey of exploration and discovery around the social and industrial history of the Quay.

Get involved as a community researcher

In July and August historian and film maker Bea Moyes will be inviting community researchers to embark on a process of uncovering and connecting the social and industrial heritage of Exeter Quay from the 1850s through the 1970s to today. The research you gather will form part of an exhibition shared here at Exeter Custom House during the Heritage Open Days 8-17 September 2023.

If you are interested in becoming a community researcher on this project, email  realonedinline@gmail.com for more information and join us at Exeter Custom House on Saturday 15th July at 1pm for an introduction to the project from Bea.

Onedin Line Redux with Richard DeDomenici

Also during September’s Heritage Open Days (8-17 September), artist Richard DeDomenici will work with community participants to make an Onedin Line Redux! Richard’s famous Redux project (established 2013) invites community volunteers to recreate scenes from famous films/TV series in their original, present-day settings as a way of celebrating and subverting the physical and cultural heritage of these places. Richard will work with volunteers to re-stage scenes from The Onedin Line that were filmed on Exeter Quay, shared at a Redux ‘world premiere’ at an outdoor screening in the Transit Shed in front of the Custom House.

If you’d like to get involved with the Onedin Line Redux, or if you have any Onedin Line filming memories or memorabilia you’d like to share, please get in touch by emailing realonedinline@gmail.com 

Are you ready to get your sideburns on? Get in touch now…

The Real Onedin Line is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to develop this community filmmaking and research project that explores ways to identify, value and make more visible the industrial and social heritage of Exeter Quayside from the 1860s to the 1970s to today.