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| The Agatha Christie Suite |
The theme for today's events at the Agatha Christie Festival was 'Agatha Christie and the First World War' and there were many events centred around this theme. We booked onto the 'Agatha, Archie and The Grand Hotel' event which took place, at The Grand Hotel - where Agatha and Archie spent their honeymoon on Christmas Eve in 1914.
The first part of the talk was given by Fiona Hallworth from Clifton College, Bristol and focused on Archie Christie and his upbringing and education. Archie attended Clifton College which wasn't very far from where his mother and step-father lived. It was sad to hear that all of Archie's team mates died in the First World War and he was the only one to survive. The research is in the early stages, so there were still a lot of questions, but it looked at the different influences on his life and how these may have led to influences on Agatha and her writing.
Anna Farthing, the Festival's Director, followed with a look at Agatha's life and learning in comparison to Archie's. Where Archie's education was planned and timetabled, Agatha's was relaxed and almost entirely at her leisure. Anna Farthing also read a section from Agatha Christie's biography, about her wedding day and how Archie was determined that they marry as soon as possible, when he was on leave from the First World War. We also got to see his leave record, which showed when he on leave from the war - which wasn't that often. It must have been so difficult, to marry and then see your husband go back to war a few days later.
Agatha and Archie honeymoon in a two-bedroomed apartment. As mentioned, the room has been refurbished in a modern art-deco style. The manager, who showed us round, said that everything was made or renovated by staff in the hotel, the rooms were painted by the maintenance staff, the furniture was reupholstered by staff etc. They also make and bake all their own bread, food and source all meat and fish from within 10 miles of the hotel (except for Scottish salmon - which is the best).
We also had a tour of the 1881 restaurant and out on the terrace - it's a beautiful building and very nicely decorated. There was a lovely view of Torquay from the Terrace - just a shame about the weather!
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| The Little Theatre |
This evening, we attended the RNIB's Talking Books event at a place called The Little Theatre, which is tucked away on St Mark's Road towards Hesketh Crescent and Meadfoot Beach. It's the 80th anniversary of Talking Books, and Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was one of the first three novels available.
It was quite an informative evening - we learnt the history of Braille, and how Talking Books started and the reasons behind it. Many of the men who returned from the First World War had been blinded, they could not return to their jobs and found it difficult to get back into everyday life. They could not read Braille and it was difficult to pick up at their stage in life. This was where the evening became interactive. We were all given a pack when we arrived, and in it was a card with the Braille alphabet on. We were asked to close our eyes, and find the Braille card in our bags - which was quite difficult. We were then asked to try and feel the letters - again, this is very difficult. You have to have very sensitive fingertips to be able to read it.
We also learnt how audio books are made - I didn't realise how much was involved in this process - from hiring an actor, studio, producer to editing and creating the cd/download. It's a very expensive business. We heard from Harper Collins who are aiming to provide all their new titles this year in hardback, paperback, e-book and audio book - however the consumer wants it! Harper Collins also provided everyone with a free Agatha Christie audio book. I got Endless Night and my husband got a collection of short stories including 'Death by Drowning' and 'The Plymouth Express' read by Joan Hickson and David Suchet respectively!
Finally, we heard from the RNIB - who do so much for all those who are registered blind or partially sighted. The lady said that every day, about 100 people are registered as blind. As well as providing a lending library of audio books, they also produce educational materials for schools and colleges. When the final Harry Potter novel was released, they created Braille copies and hand-delivered them to children around the country on the day of release - so visually-impaired children were able to chat to their friends about the new book because they had a copy too!
All in all, it's been a lovely day learning about Agatha Christie and the First World War. Looking forward to tomorrow when we go on a Murder Mystery Dining Train...!!
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| Braille alphabet card, glasses to simulate partial-sight, wear dots to raise lots for RNIB |
