Clamber aboard for a spiffing adventure
LOOKING for the perfect setting to escape to for some holiday reading? Grab your favourite book and head to the South West, where many of England’s best-known authors found their inspiration, says JAMEY BERGMAN.
THOMAS HARDY’S DORSET
IF YOU’RE searching for what Thomas Hardy described as his ‘realistic dream country’ – Wessex – the place to start is in the author’s beloved Dorchester in Dorset. The town is fictionalised in Hardy’s romantic tales of love and loss as Casterbridge.
The area around the town is where Hardy was born, where the cottage he designed and inhabited stands, and where his heart was buried (his ashes are buried at Westminster Abbey). If Wessex existed today, it would also incorporate Wiltshire, Somerset and Hampshire.
ENID BLYTON’S PURBECK
THE enduringly popular children’s author Enid Blyton took her holidays on the Isle of Purbeck, which is not far from Dorchester.
Blyton found inspiration in this region for the adventurous outings of some of her famous fictional characters. Take in the ruins of Corfe Castle – renamed Kirin Castle in Blyton’s Famous Five series – and from there, hop on the scenic steam train to Swanage, setting you off on the official Enid Blyton adventure trail.
DANIEL DEFOE’S BRISTOL
BOTH Daniel Defoe and Bristol have harboured secrets. Defoe is believed to have acted as a spy, and Bristol during Defoe’s time was known as a haven for pirates. Bristol may also have been where Defoe got the idea for his famed novel Robinson Crusoe. The author is said to have met Scotsman Alexander Selkirk, a returned castaway, at the Llandoger Trow pub. The pub is still in operation and its neighbour, The Hole In The Wall Tavern, is believed to have inspired scenes in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.
AGATHA CHRISTIE’S DEVON
SOUTH of Torquay in Devon, along the banks of the River Dart, the well-known mystery writer Agatha Christie spent holidays with her family playing croquet and relaxing in the sunshine. The National Trust gives you the opportunity to do the same on your holidays by renting the Greenway apartment – the first and second floors of Agatha Christie’s Greenway House, near Brixham. The apartment sleeps eight and offers access to the property’s enchanting garden.
Torquay puts on its Agatha Christie Festival in early September, but you can walk the Agatha Christie mile there at any time of year.
DAPHNE DU MAURIER’S CORNWALL
THERE is perhaps no place more suitable for getting away with a good book than the beach, and there is no place more synonymous with beach holidays in the UK than Cornwall. Head to Fowey to celebrate Daphne du Maurier, who immortalised Cornwall in her classic novels such as Rebecca and Jamaica Inn. Go in early May for the 21st Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature, which is premiering a documentary about the author’s life.