LITERARY PUBS: THE HILL HOUSE INN, HAPPISBURGH, NORFOLK

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, writer of the Sherlock Holmes stories, once visited the Hill House Hotel, now Hill House Inn, while on a motoring holiday in Norfolk in 1903.  While there, the landlord’s son showed the author a signature he had created using ‘pin men’.  It is believed that this incident provided the inspiration for the Sherlock Holmes story titled ‘The Dancing Men’.  The story is also set in Norfolk and features a local squire with the same surname as the landlord and his son.  The pub has two plaques on the wall commemorating the visit.

The Hill House Inn, Happisburgh - geograph.org.uk - 7694731. Photo by Sandy Gerrard, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Hill House Inn lies in the village of Happisburgh, which is on the coast of Norfolk, about 14 miles from Cromer.  As well as the cosy interior, the outside of the property includes an interesting building which was built as a signal box for a railway which never materialised.

Map of the area.

A SCRIBE'S SUSSEX HIDEAWAY: BATEMAN'S/RUDYARD KIPLING

When Rudyard Kipling moved into the 17th century Jacobean house Bateman’s with his wife Carrie in 1902, he was already an established author, with The Jungle Book and Kim under his belt, to name just two.  For his subsequent works, he drew much inspiration from the house and its charming surroundings, particularly the Dudwell Valley, where the house is located.  The Kiplings fell in love with the property at first sight, declaring that “we entered and felt her Spirit - her Feng Shui - to be good”.  The garden Kipling created was a place of solace for him after he lost his son to World War I.  The poem My Boy Jack was a product of this tragic loss.

Bateman's - geograph.org.uk - 2594587. Photo by Josie Campbell, via Wikimedia Commons.

Bateman’s lies in the heart of the Sussex countryside, a few miles to the north-west of Hastings.  The date above the front door says 1634, although parts of the house are even older.  Not much is known about the owners preceding the Kiplings.  Rudyard’s wife left the property to the National Trust on her death in 1939, three years after Rudyard died.

Map of the area.

A REGENCY RESORT: THE SOMERSET COAST AND DYRHAM PARK/SANDITON

Sanditon is based on a novel by Jane Austen about a seaside town which is being developed into a resort by entrepreneur Tom Parker.  Unlike other dramatisations of Jane Austen novels, this one was never finished by Austen, giving the screenwriters free rein to develop the characters and storyline in the latter stages.

Episode four of the series had some of the characters going for a walk in the dunes of an extensive sandy beach, with one character collapsing from heatstroke in the dunes. We also see Sidney Parker surveying the beach from above in search of the errant Georgiana.  These scenes were filmed at Brean, one of the lesser known of the sweeping sandy beaches to grace the coast along the Bristol Channel, adjacent to the west Somerset resort of Burnham-On-Sea.  The better-known resort of Weston-Super-Mare was used for the bathing scenes, which were filmed in the Marine Lake.

Aside from Brean, other seafront scenes in the series were filmed at the small Somerset town of Clevedon.  Clevedon also has a marine lake but is best known for its graceful pier, which opened in 1869.  The pier can be glimpsed in Sanditon, which is a bit unfortunate because no such pier existed in Jane Austen’s day.

The seafront at Clevedon, Somerset - geograph.org.uk - 1867050. Photo by Anthony O'Neil, via Wikimedia Commons.

Moving away from the coast, another notable location seen in Sanditon is Dyrham Park, which we last encountered in this blog as Darlington Hall in The Remains of the Day.  In Sanditon the estate plays the role of Lady Denham’s home Sanditon House.  Managed by the National Trust, Dyrham Park is in South Gloucestershire, a few miles to the north of Bath.  We owe its existence to William Blathwayt and the fruits of the Empire, specifically the Colonies in North America, providing for its creation in the 17th century.  As well as the house there are extensive grounds, including a deer park.

Dyrham Park lower park. Photo by Rwendland, via Wikimedia Commons.

AN ECCLESIASTICAL EDUCATION: FOUNTAINS ABBEY/THE HISTORY BOYS

The film adaptation of Alan Bennett’s play The History Boys, which tells the story of a group of schoolboys preparing for acceptance at Oxford University, was shot in a number of Yorkshire locations, as well as a couple of schools in Watford.  The most striking location used is Fountains Abbey, which is where the boys are taken on a history field trip. 

Fountains Abbey 02 2005-08-27. Photo by Klaus with K, via Wikimedia Commons.

The ruins of the Cistercian Fountains Abbey are run by the National Trust and lie in the Nidderdale National Landscape to the south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire.  The National Trust site also includes the water gardens of Studley Royal.  The abbey was founded in 1132 and was one of the wealthiest in the country until Henry VIII did his worst in 1539.

Map of the area.

LITERARY PUBS: THE WOOLPACK, SLAD, GLOUCESTERSHIRE

The Woolpack in the village of Slad near Stroud in Gloucestershire overlooks an idyllic scene of rolling Cotswolds meadows and valleys, best admired from its outdoor terrace.  Slad was where the poet Laurie Lee grew up, and the village and surrounding countryside were described in detail in Lee’s childhood memoir Cider With Rosie.  Although he moved away for a time, he returned with his family in the 1960s and he died there in 1997.  His grave is in the churchyard of the village church, almost opposite the pub.  

Laurie Lee was a regular at The Woolpack, and the pub has plenty of memorabilia dedicated to the poet, with a small museum containing artefacts relating to Lee and the original wooden settle he used to sit in, providing a brilliant photo opportunity for fans.  The pub has also been known to include special beers devoted to him.

Map of the area.

A POETIC STRETCH OF CORNISH COAST: TREBETHERICK/SIR JOHN BETJEMAN

When the former British Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman was a boy, he and his family used to holiday on the majestic north Cornish coast at Trebetherick between Polzeath and Daymer Bay.  These holidays evidently made a lasting impression, because he later bought a house in the area, and when he died in 1984 he was buried in the Church of St Enodoc to the south of Trebetherick.  

Daymer Bay and Trebetherick Point - geograph.org.uk - 7916. Photo by Stephen Dawson, via Wikimedia Commons.

This gorgeous part of Cornwall was described in detail in his poem Trebetherick, in which he describes family picnics - “sand in the sandwiches, wasps in the tea” - and the vagaries of the weather - “rain and blizzard, sea and spray”.  Shilla Mill gets a mention, now a campsite at Polzeath, as does Greenaway, a beach to the south-west of Polzeath.

Map of the area.

WATER, WATER...: TEES BARRAGE/AFTER THE FLOOD

The ITV series After The Flood, as its name suggests, tells the story of the aftermath of a flood in Yorkshire, an all too frequent occurrence in real life.  The opening episode shows a dangerously flooded river in the fictional town of Water…. with dramatic rescues and tragic loss of life. 

This scene was filmed not on a real river, but at the Tees Barrage International White Water Centre, where people pay to negotiate the foaming waters.For the filming the main straight section of the barrage was made to look like a village, complete with bridge and foliage.

Map of the area.

Tees Barrage - geograph.org.uk - 5079651. Photo by Richard Webb, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Tees Barrage is located in Stockton-on-Tees and offers a range of waterborne activities such as paddleboarding, white water rafting, canoeing and kayaking.  The centre is open year-round.