THE REAL SOLDIER ISLAND: AGATHA CHRISTIE/BURGH ISLAND, DEVON

In January 2016 I blogged about an Agatha Christie special which aired between Christmas and New Year 2015.  It was a TV adaptation of And Then There Were None, a murder mystery based around an island called Soldier Island.  In the TV version an island off the south coast of Cornwall was used to depict Soldier Island, but Christie’s real inspiration for her crime story was Burgh Island off the south Devon coast.

Unlike the island of the story, Burgh Island is accessible at low tide from the beach at Bigbury-on-Sea.  There is a hotel on the island, and a pub, and visitors can get to the island via a strip of sand stretching from the mainland.  However, even at high tide a boat is not necessary, thanks to the ingenious “sea tractor”, a passenger vehicle which is high enough to stay above the surface of the water as it takes people across.

Burgh Island sea tractor. Photo by DeFacto, via Wikimedia Commons.

It is no surprise that Agatha Christie had Burgh Island in mind when writing her story, as she herself spent a lot of time at the island’s hotel, so much so in fact that a retreat was built for her.  The Beach House was built in the 1930s, and it was here that she wrote And Then There Were None.  The unit is now available as a luxury unit within the Burgh Island hotel complex.

The hotel has a star-studded history, having started life as a wooden house built by the music hall star George H Chirgwin for hosting weekend parties.  Its later incarnation as a more substantial Art Deco building was down to the film-maker Archibald Nettlefold, who bought it in 1927. 

View of the island from Bigbury-on-Sea

During its heyday, Burgh Island was visited by many famous names.  Noel Coward came for a three-night stay, but this turned into three weeks.  Other luminaries who have paid a visit over the years  include the Beatles, who stayed there when playing a concert in Plymouth, and Josephine Baker.  The hotel was even graced by royalty, in the form of Edward Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson, and Lord Mountbatten, second cousin once removed of the Queen.  The hotel also hosted a meeting between Churchill and Eisenhower in the run-up to the D-Day landings.

Needless to say, a stay at Burgh Island does not come cheap, but if you are feeling a bit flush and are a fan of Art Deco, a stay at Burgh Island is a must, not only for its sumptuous period decor but also the sea views from the rooms.

Map of the area.

A MURDER MYSTERY FOR RAILWAY BUFFS: THE ABC MURDERS

One of the most popular features of British tourism is the ‘heritage railway’. Up and down the country there are dedicated volunteers lovingly restoring former railway lines and bringing them back into operation, complete with an array of vintage rolling stock drawn by steam and diesel engines. One part of the country particularly well endowed with heritage railways is Yorkshire.  The Agatha Christie murder mystery The ABC Murders, shown on Boxing Day, has the murderer using the ABC Alphabetical Railway Guide, first published in 1853 but with the 1930s version used in this story, as the basis for his bloodthirsty attacks. So it is no surprise that the locations used for this BBC production include several stations on Yorkshire's heritage railways, not least because they come with a ready-made vintage appearance.



The first murder takes place in Andover, and the railway station which plays a part in this grisly event is Grosmont Station, part of the North York Moors Railway. Grosmont (pronounced ‘growmont’) is a village in the Esk Valley, within the North York Moors National Park. During the building of the railway, which runs from Whitby to Pickering, ironstone was discovered in Grosmont in 1836, giving rise to industrial activity in the locality, although this has now ended. This railway line makes a reappearance when the murderer gets to the letter D, with Pickering Station standing in for Doncaster.

Grosmont Railway Station, North Yorkshire Moors Railway - geograph.org.uk - 848888. Photo by Brian Robert Marshall, via Wikimedia Commons.

On reaching the letter E, the perpetrator selects the little-known village of Embsay in the Craven district of North Yorkshire. Little-known, that is, except as one of the terminii of the short but charming Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway. The railway, which featured in some of the ABC Murders train scenes, was formerly part of the Midland Railway line from Skipton to Ilkley, and this section reopened in 1981. It is only 4 miles long, but the volunteers have aspirations to extend it further. The railway offers a range of novel events, including a Faulty (sic) Towers inspired dining experience.

Embsay Station Waiting Room - geograph.org.uk - 1184612. Photo by Henry Clark, via Wikimedia  Commons.

Finally, a scene in the production depicting Kings Cross Station in London makes use of Keighley Railway Station, another station which was a stop on the Midland Railway. The station is partly given over to the modern-day rail network, but two platforms are used for servicing the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, which has been operating since the Worth Valley Line reopened in 1968. The line is a touch longer than the Embsay and Bolton Abbey line, at 5 miles, and there are six stations along the route.

Worth Valley Railway, Keighley - geograph.org.uk - 849385. Photo by Brian Robert Marshall, via Wikimedia Commons.

For a comprehensive list of heritage railways in the UK and Ireland, follow this link.

SCOTLAND IN SUSPENSE: ARDGOWAN HOUSE/ORDEAL BY INNOCENCE

No public holiday period would be complete without an Agatha Christie adaptation on the telly, and this past Easter we were treated to an adaptation of Christie’s Ordeal By Innocence, a star-studded murder mystery based around the murder of the Argyll family’s matriarch Rachel, played by Anna Chancellor.  Rachel’s adopted son Jack is arrested for the murder, wrongly as it turns out, and as is usual in such murder mysteries, during the course of the 3-part series we discover that pretty much most of those close to Rachel had a reason to be tempted to do her in, and we do not finally find out who dunnit until the end of the final episode.

The main focus of the action is a grand Scottish family home belonging to the Shaw-Stewart family, which in real life is Ardgowan House near Inverkip in Inverclyde, in the historic county of Renfrewshire.  The house is part of the Ardgowan Castle, House and Gardens, forming the Ardgowan Estate, which styles itself on its website as Scotland’s leading film location.  The estate is also used for weddings and there is a distillery on site. 

From humble beginnings as a solitary watchtower, the estate has evolved over the years via the building of the house in 1797 to its present-day role as a ‘pleasure dome’ for its visitors.  However, things have not always been so calm.  The estate and surrounding area has had an eventful history, ranging from a siege of the castle by Robert the Bruce during the 2nd Battle of Inverkip in 1314 and the founding of the Stewart Dynasty the following year, to the Inverkip Witch Hunts in the 1630s, and the use of the house as a hospital during the two World Wars, making it a target for German bombs.  A more detailed history can be found on the estate’s website.

Ardgowan offers a range of tours and courses and there is accommodation on site.  In addition to which, since the showing of Ordeal by Innocence, the estate has begun hosting Murder Mystery evenings and weekends.

Map of the area.

Ardgowan House - geograph - 5672498. Photo by Thomas Nugent, via Wikimedia Commons.

CHRISTIE COMES TO CORNWALL: AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

Aidan Turner fans living in Cornwall must think they have died and gone to heaven.  Not only has the Irish heartthrob made repeated visits to the county for the filming of Poldark – one series in the bag and another to come – but in summer 2015 he turned up on the county’s south coast for the filming of And Then There Were None, a TV adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name – originally given the rather less PC name Ten Little Niggers - which was aired over Christmas.  Female fans were no doubt particularly thrilled by a scene featuring Turner clad in nothing but a towel. 

The stylish and suspenseful mini-series also included luminaries such as Charles Dance, Miranda Richardson and Sam Neill whose characters form part of a group of people who are lured to an island called Soldier Island under various pretexts.  All of the ‘guests’ have been involved in the deaths of other people during their pasts and escaped justice.  A spooky gramophone recording informs them that they are going to get their comeuppance, and a series of murders ensues until the final scene when only two of the group remain: ex-mercenary Philip Lombard (Aidan Turner) and Vera (Maeve Dermody).  The series was critically acclaimed as a highly atmospheric drama with wonderfully tense scenes, particularly over dinner as the guests all start to suspect each other.

Mullion Island - geograph.org.uk - 371703. Photo by John Garfoot, via Wikimedia Commons.

The island which forms the main focus of the story was inspired by Burgh Island in Devon, but the island used in the TV series was Mullion Island.  In real life the island is a small uninhabited island offshore from Mullion Cove, which is where the scene was filmed in which the ill-fated group of guests are rowed out to the island.  In real life, Mullion Island does not have a mansion such as that depicted in the series: the building used for this was Harefield House in Hillingdon.  In one of the most striking scenes, there is an aerial view of a clifftop with a gaping hole and seagulls circling over it.  This was filmed at the Round Hole at Trevose Head near Constantine Bay on the North Cornwall coast. However, the most dramatic scene of all is the final showdown between Vera and Philip on one of the island’s beaches, with Philip ending up lying in a pool of blood in the shallows having been shot by Vera.  In real life this beach is Kynance Cove, one of the most beautiful spots on the Cornish coast.

Kynance Cove

Mullion Cove and Kynance Cove are very close together, both of them just to the west of Lizard Point, the most southerly place in mainland Britain.  Mullion’s tiny harbour has seen plenty of pirate and smuggling activity in the past.  The harbour was completed in 1895 with its two sturdy walls protecting the harbour from fierce winter gales.  The island is a nesting site for guillemots and kittiwakes, but is not open to the public.  Kynance Cove is a riot of interesting rock formations and golden sand lapped by turquoise sea.  There is a car park above the cove from where a path leads down to the beach, taking in a cafe on the way.  Just offshore is Asparagus Island, so called because wild asparagus used to grow there.  Trevose Head is a short distance from Padstow, and its Round Hole is a natural blowhole, formed from centuries of erosion upwards from caves below.  

Mullion Cove Harbour - geograph.org.uk - 266470. Photo by Tony Atkin, via Wikimedia Commons.

AGATHA CHRISTIE COMES HOME WITH POIROT: GREENWAY HOUSE

The edition of the Poirot series shown on ITV at the end of last month was a special one in that the location used for the filming was the real-life holiday home of Agatha Christie, whose work the series is based on.  Greenway House provided the inspiration for the original story Dead Man's Folly as well as a perfect setting for the filming.  The episode was also a sad one for David Suchet, the actor who has played Poirot for the last 24 years, as it involved him being filmed as Poirot for the last time, although two more episodes would be shown following this one.  The makers of the series decided that it would be appropriate for Suchet's final piece of filming as Poirot to take place in the Christie home, hence the timing.  In a recent interview, Suchet revealed that he was looking for a way to imitate the mincing gait of Poirot as described by Agatha Christie, and he ended up nicking a tried and tested technique of Laurence Olivier's: walking with a coin clenched between his buttocks.

In Dead Man's Folly, Greenway House plays the part of Nasse House, recently taken over by a wealthy couple.  A fete is being held at the house, and as part of the festivities a murder hunt is being organised by famous author Ariadne Oliver (Zoe Wannamaker).  However, Oliver has her suspicions about some of the people attending the event, and begins to fear that a real-life murder might take place, so she invites Poirot to the house just in case.  Needless to say a murder does take place...but I'll leave it there in case anyone reading this has not watched the episode yet. 

Greenway House, built on a site originally occupied by a Tudor mansion, lies in an elevated position in an idyllic spot overlooking the east bank of the River Dart in South Devon.  The house itself is ravishing, with its elegant, classic exteriors in a tasteful shade of cream, beautifully set off by the green of the equally exquisite grounds.  Agatha Christie and her husband Max Mallowan bought the house in 1938, and they used it as a holiday home until their respective deaths, which occurred within the space of two years in the 1970s.  During World War II the house was requisitioned by the US military for the D-Day preparations.  The house is filled with reminders of the couple's time there, including the Steinway piano Agatha used to play and artefacts brought back from the Middle East by her husband, who was into archaeology.  The gardens slope towards the banks of the river and are filled with plants such as camellias and rhododendrons.  The property is now owned and operated by the National Trust.  The nicest way to arrive at the house is by taking the Greenway Ferry from Dartmouth, Totnes, Brixham or Torquay.

Map of the area. 

Front of Greenway House