Agatha Christie in...Dartmouth

River Dart

Where to start on the Agatha Christie Trail...? Good question. I thought I'd start with Dartmouth - a place that Agatha Christie loved. She loved it so much she bought her holiday home, Greenway, just down the river. Greenway features in a few books but I'll leave those for another day...

I've found three Agatha Christie books that feature Dartmouth, so this is a definitely a place to visit on our literary trail!

Isaac Pointz gives Dartmouth his seal of approval in The Regatta Mystery and calls it a 'Pretty little place' (ch.1). After watching the yacht race Mr Pointz and his party of friends head to the Royal George hotel for lunch - said to be based on the Royal Castle Hotel. While they are dining, one of his guests, Eve Leathern, bets Pointz she can make his famous 'Morning Star' diamond disappear. Which she does. Parker Pyne is called in to solve the mystery. According to the Agatha Christie website, the original magazine story from 1936, featured Hercule Poirot, but was replaced by Parker Pyne when the story was published in a book.

Dartmouth also features in Ordeal by Innocence.  According to the Agatha Christie website this was one of Agatha's favourites. The main protagonist is a Dr Calgary, who solves the mystery. I don't want to spoil the plot, but in the course of the story he visits Dartmouth. The Royal Castle Hotel appears as the Royal George again. There have been a couple of adaptations of this book, the 1984 film was filmed in and around Dartmouth. Then televised in 2007 - however, it featured Miss Marple as the protagonist, even though she wasn't in the original novel.

Finally, Dartmouth features in Dead Man's Folly. Ariadne Oliver asks Poirot down to help her create a Murder hunt, however, it soon turns into a real murder hunt when Margot Tucker is found dead in the Boathouse! Etienne De Sousa moors his boat in Dartmouth harbour before heading up the river to see his cousin, Lady Stubbs.

So, Dartmouth has been visited by Parker Pyne, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple (although not in the original novel), and will be one of the places we'll be visiting in September.

We have already visited Dartmouth - back in 2007. We were staying in Paignton and we caught the Paignton to Kingswear train. We passed some stunning scenery - Goodrington Sands, Broadsands and the beautiful Devonshire countryside.

We then caught the passenger ferry to Dartmouth where we caught a boat and took a cruise down the River Dart. We saw the Greenway Boathouse and caught a glimpse of Greenway. At the time you couldn't go and visit (I think only the gardens were open). It was a gorgeous day. Here are a few photos...

Dartmouth

Greenway

Greenway Boathouse

Kingswear & Dartmouth

On the Agatha Christie Literary Trail....

Torquay

One thing I've always wanted to do, is to visit all the places in Devon that are mentioned in Agatha Christie's books or have featured in some way in Agatha Christie's life. Sometimes they are real locations, sometimes fictional locations based on real places. But it would be nice to see what inspired Agatha Christie - locations such as Torquay, Greenway, Burgh Island, Dartmouth, Kingsbridge, Salcombe...etc. I also love exploring Devon, it's such a beautiful county!!

Luckily, I don't have to start from scratch as I already have a couple of booklets and leaflets with different trails in them. One of them I picked up in the 90's, on one of our holidays to Torquay. It's called 'Exploring Agatha Christie Country' by David Gerrard (published in 1996). It has a trail around Torquay, one around the Coast and Countryside, one by Train and Boat and one that covers further afield. A lot of the places mentioned in this booklet are places that were special to Agatha Christie, such as The Moorland Hotel where she finished writing her first novel - The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920).

I also have a leaflet that I picked up a few years ago called 'The Agatha Christie Literary Trail'. This will be a big help as it already has a map and list of locations and books (you can download a copy from the English Riviera website). Based on this I'm going to have a look through all my Agatha Christie books, read them again and try and find the references to these locations - then I'll have some context when we visit them!!

I've been thinking about what to include, if it's not too difficult I'm going to try and include the following...

• Places mentioned by name in the novels and short stories
• Fictional locations inspired by real places in the novels and short stories
• Places that were important to Agatha Christie
• Locations that were used for filming for film or tv adaptations

Seems like a big task but I've got a few months to do some research. I might even include a book review or two on here along the way...

So, armed with my booklet, leaflet, books and a map, I'm going to try and plot the best route to cover as many locations as possible...

Let the challenge commence...!

2015 Agatha Christie Festival - Programme has been released!

Agatha Christie

The Agatha Christie Festival programme has been released! Good timing too - I'd just finished reminiscing about last year.

There's so much more to do this year, and each day has a particular theme - which is a great idea. The events all centre around this theme. There's a Mystery Film event, Murder Mystery Dinner, Afternoon Tea, Tea Dance, Garden Party, talks, walks, exhibitions and much, much more!! Every night there's also the opportunity to meet up with Agatha Christie fans at the Grand Hotel.

Greenway

So much to do - so little time!

I've been through all the events and booked us tickets. I've also booked us onto some events that aren't organised through the Agatha Christie Festival but that are going on in and around Torquay - such as the Murder Mystery Dining Train. I found these on the English Riviera site, by searching for events during the festival week. It's quite a good site and has lots of information about Agatha Christie and the Agatha Christie Mile and Literary Trail.

I've created a spreadsheet again with all the events we've booked so I can plan our time most effectively (I love spreadsheets)!

I was so excited about booking our tickets that I tweeted about it - I don't often tweet - but it was favourited by the official Agatha Christie Festival! How exciting :). I might have to tweet more often.

All that's left to do now is to work out what we're going to wear. I've already bought a flapper-type dress and have some costume-pearls. I'm still not sure how to do my hair. I've been looking on Pinterest for ideas. Not long now!!

Three months to go (and counting). So excited!!!

2014 Agatha Christie Festival: Part 6 - Murder Mystery Dinner Party

As with all good things, our week at the Agatha Christie Festival had to come to an end. But before it was over, we spent our last night doing a bit of sleuthing at a Murder Mystery dinner!!

The evening was hosted by The Man in the Brown Suit - a little reference there to one of Agatha Christie's books. In fact, there were quite a few references - apparently we couldn't ask Mrs McGinty any questions, because she was dead (Mrs McGinty's Dead), Miss Honeycott was carrying a copy of The Mystery of the Blue Train, on the front cover it mentioned The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Albert said there was a wasps nest in the potting shed (The Wasps Nest) and there was some discussion as to why nobody has asked Doris Evans (Why Didn't They Ask Evans?)!!

Our Host, The Man in the Brown Suit

Our host set the scene for us - it was 1930, we were dining in the private members club of the Sunningdale House Hotel where a Mr Anthony Shepherd had recently been found murdered. The police already had a suspect in custody - a Miss Doris Evans (his mistress). It was our job - along with the help of Tommy and Tuppence - to find who had really committed the crime!!


Tommy and Tuppence

We were given a list of suspects and there were a number of witnesses to question. They were dressed up and kept in character all the way through the evening. One thing we learnt was to get there early - the characters were there and you could mingle with them and ask questions before being seated. We found this out afterwards...

At first I found it a bit odd, asking them questions but we soon got into it. At the end of each round, Tommy and Tuppence summed up their findings, to make sure we were keeping up with the story. They also visited each table during question time to help and lead us in the right direction.

In between questioning, we had a three course meal - for once I didn't take any pictures of my food! We were too busy questioning the witnesses and making notes!!


We were also given the opportunity to send a telegram to Doris Evans, who was in prison. We were told that Mr Shepherd had been stabbed with a hatpin so I asked whether Doris ever wore hatpins. This is the reply I received....


A Telegram

Not so helpful! In hindsight, maybe I should have asked if she had lost one of her hatpins. There were other clues, all supposedly belonging to Mr Shepherd - an almost finished painting (which had some of the trees painted brown instead of green), a pair of walking boots and socks (with one red and one green sock) - all very odd because the victim was not colour blind. However, one of the suspects was!!

Clues!!

We had already worked out who the murderer was, but to be honest, it all seemed a bit familiar to me. I was sure I had read the story somewhere, but a long time ago. I only remembered things when they happened or when someone told us something useful. But it meant some of the more obscure clues made sense.

At the end of the night we had to write down who we thought the murderer was and why. I wrote an essay and included all the clues we had picked up along the way!! It was such good fun. And, we came second!

All too soon, it was time to go back to our apartment and finish packing, before we set off early the next morning back to Yorkshire. It was a really enjoyable week and we met lots of other Agatha Christie fans, from all over the world - Scotland, Belgium, Germany, America and even Australia! We're going back this year and have already booked an apartment. However, there's still no news on the programme :(. But it's been fun reminiscing about last year.

I've been re-reading all of Agatha Christie's books and I recently read The Sunningdale Mystery which is a Tommy and Tuppence story. And that's the one! It was the story that this Murder Mystery dinner was based on. I knew I'd read it somewhere before. I think I've also seen it on television.

Mystery solved....!

2014 Agatha Christie Festival: Part 5 - A Garden Party to Die For...

Afternoon Tea, Torre Abbey

Torre Abbey hosted a Garden Party to Die For as part of the Agatha Christie Festival. It was a beautiful day, the sun was out and it was quite warm - not bad for September. The grounds of Torre Abbey were immaculate and the gardens were in full bloom. Afternoon tea was served with a selection of sandwiches, pastries, scones, cakes, macaroons and, of course, a cup of tea!

Everyone was dressed in 1930s outfits, and there were deckchairs and bunting. There were even a couple of Hercule Poirot's wandering - including the official one and a German one.

Ally Marshall, the head gardener at Torre Abbey talked about the poisonous plants garden she's created based on the poisons Agatha Christie used her in novels.

Poison was by far the most popular method of murder in Christie's novels. I suppose her training as a pharmacy dispenser helped her gain her in-depth knowledge of poisons and the exact dosage required to be harmless - and deadly!

I think I read somewhere that more than 80 victims were poisoned in her novels. That's a lot of poisoning!! The most popular poison Christie used was arsenic - which was quite easy to acquire in those days.

Among the plants in the garden were:

• Monkshood, also known as aconite - which was used in They Do It With Mirrors (1952) and 4.50 From Paddington (1957)
• Belladonna or Deadly Nightshade - which was used in The Caribbean Mystery (1964) and The Big Four (1927)
• Poppies, from which Morphine is derived - which is used in Hickory, Dickory, Dock (1955) and Sad Cypress (1940)

The advice from Ally Marshall was that we can look - but do not touch!!

Also, at Torre Abbey was the Agatha Christie Book Bench, painted by Mandi Pope. The bench was one of fifty that were commissioned by the National Literacy Trust. They were in London last year but were auctioned off in October. Among them was a Great Expectations bench, James Bond bench, Terry Pratchett bench, Paddington Bear bench and Peter Pan bench. You can find a full list on the Books about Town webpage. Unfortunately, we didn't get chance to go down to London to see them.

At least we got to the Agatha Christie Bench though. The images for the Agatha Christie Bench were based on the Tom Adams cover for Dead Man's Folly. Here are a few photos...

2014 Agatha Christie Festival: Part 4 - Theatre & Film Outings

Torquay

I was browsing through the Agatha Christie website last night and noticed there's going to be a production of Witness for the Protection at Leeds Civic Hall - so I've booked some tickets! It's set in a court room and the audience also sit in the courtroom (jury box, press box etc), while the actors act out the play around you. Sounds amazing - I cannot wait!!!

Speaking of the theatre, there were a couple of Agatha Christie plays on during the Agatha Christie Festival last year. There were also a couple of film events too - of course we booked to see them all!

One of the plays was Black Coffee which was performed by The Agatha Christie Theatre Company. We've quite a few of their productions over the years and they're always really good.

Princess Theatre, Torquay

Black Coffee was performed at the Princess Theatre, in Torquay and is one of the few plays that features Hercule Poirot. Apparently, Christie didn't like the portrayal of Poirot on stage so she wrote him out of the other plays she adapted from her books. It's a shame she never got to see David Suchet as Poirot, as I think he was the best.

I quite enjoyed the play. It was set the library of Sir Claud Amory - Poirot is summoned to see him but when he and Hastings arrive Sir Claud is already dead! It's up to Poirot and Hastings to find out who-dunnit.





The other play we went to see was The Unexpected Guest, performed Bijou Theatre Productions. The play was shown at the Palace Theatre in Paignton, which isn't far from Torquay. I quite enjoyed this play too. I think the plot was better compared to Black Coffee, although I did have an inkling from the start about who the murderer was, and I turned out to be right!

Walled Garden, Greenway

The National Trust hosted a special evening film screening of Evil Under the Sun in the walled garden at Greenway. The setting was perfect for an outdoor evening event. We took our chairs, blankets, drinks and snacks, and as the sun set, we settled down to watch the film.

It was the version from 1982 with Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot. It's set on a island in the Adriatic Sea, rather than on Burgh Island, but the plot is pretty much the same. It was on television the other week so we watched it again, and it brought back some nice memories.

Another part of the Agatha Christie Festival was the Mystery Film Event, hosted by John Curran. This took place in the Spanish Barn again, at Torre Abbey. John Curran guaranteed 99% of Agatha Christie fans would not have seen this film before, as it had not been shown on television before. And he was right, we'd never seen this film before.

The film was Lord Edgware Dies from 1934, with Austin Trevor as Hercule Poirot and Richard Cooper as Captain Hastings. Austin Trevor did not make a good Poirot. He was tall, slim and spoke with a very odd French accent. It seemed a bit comical, but it was quite close to the story.

At this point in the week we had been up to quite a bit but there were still a few more things to come, including A Garden Party to Die for and a Murder Mystery Dinner....

2014 Agatha Christie Festival: Part 3 - Burgh Island

Burgh Island

There have been some changes on the Agatha Christie Festival website, still no programme - but it looks like it's almost ready!!! Almost! So, while I wait, I'll carry on reminiscing about last year...

Burgh Island hosted a costume-themed luncheon on the Tuesday. Agatha Christie stayed on the island and there's even a room named after her! A couple of my favourite books were based here - Evil Under the Sun (1941) and And Then There Were None (1939).

Burgh Island is quite far from Torquay. It took us about an hour to drive there - down country lanes and back roads. It seemed like we were driving forever. At one point I was sure we were going round in circles! But we finally emerged from the country roads and up ahead saw the beautiful white art-deco hotel gleaming in the sunshine, surrounded by the glistening blue sea.


Sea Tractor

The tide was in when we arrived so we had to catch the sea-tractor. It was pretty slow going but it was fun. We could feel the waves beating against the sea tractor but we didn't get wet - although it was a bit windy so my hair was all over the place when we arrived!

Once we got there, we were taken up to the hotel which was behind large gates. Members of the public aren't allowed into the hotel grounds but they are allowed on the island, and to go to Pilchard Inn. We were buzzed in through the gates and we walked up the driveway to the hotel with some of the other guests...





Palm Court Bar

The inside of the hotel has been done out in art-deco style - it was like stepping back into the 1930s! We went to Palm Court Bar where Gary McBar, the 'unflappable barman' served us cocktails before we headed into the dining room for our lunch.

All the tables were named after Agatha Christie characters - Letitia Blacklock, Hastings, Miss Marple, Patrick Redfern, Justice Wargrave and Poirot. We were on the Justice Wargrave table!

The menu was based on 1930s dishes - I went for Pressed Chicken and foie gras terrine for my starter, Sole Veronique for my main course and Chocolate bombe for my dessert. The food was good. Served alongside, were wines that complimented the meal. I was driving so couldn't sample them, plus I'm not a big fan of wine- but apparently they were very nice.



After lunch Gary McBar took us on a walk around the island. He took us to Pixy Cove - which was the inspiration for the place where Arlena Stewart was found murdered in Evil Under the Sun. I'm scared of heights, so I was a little bit nervous being that high up. I couldn't bear to walk to the edge of the cliff and look down. I was pleased when we headed back down the hill. We walked down to where the tennis courts used to be - also mentioned in Evil Under the Sun.

Sadly, it was then time to leave. On the way back to the car, the tide was out so we had a lovely stroll along the sand bank to the shore. It was such a nice day and we have some good memories...

Also, my tea arrived today from my tea club!! This month's tea is Jin Shan Tien Hua. It's made of green tea and white chrysanthemum flowers, and when you add it to the hot (not boiling) water it unfolds! It's a very delicate tea and quite refreshing. Here are some photos...

Jin Shan Tien Hua

Just added to the hot water

About 2 minutes later

About 4 minutes later