THE RAILWAY CHILDREN & St Mary in the Marsh

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN

& St Mary in the Marsh

St Mary in the Marsh in snow

"A horrified expression crossed Weeks’s face. Atkins patted him on the arm. ‘Don’t worry, the train ain’t movin’ very fast by then, just a walking pace, an’ anyhow, you’re gonna stop it.’

‘B-but how?’ Weeks stammered.

‘You’re gonna run down the track, wavin’ a lantern. I’ll make sure you have one.’

Weeks relaxed enough to say: ‘Like in The Railway Children?’

Atkins frowned. ‘You what?’

‘It’s a book by Edith Nesbit.’ Atkins looked blank. ‘She’s buried at the churchyard in St Mary in the Marsh, the other side of Compass Point.’

‘Nah, still don’t get it.’

Weeks was getting quite excited. It was one of his favourite childhood reads. ‘There’s a landslip in a cutting and the children run up the track and stop the train…’

Atkins shook his head sadly. ‘Don’t mean a thing to me. You know your trouble? You read too much.’ He sighed. ‘Anyway, that’s what you do.’

‘O-kay,’ Weeks said slowly. ‘What then?’"

This is an extract from BLOOD ON  THE SHRINE where DC Weeks discovers just how far he's become embroiled with Tommy Atkins' plans to rob a mail train. The Railway children is one of my favourite films, starring the delightful Jenny Agutter and the comic actor, Bernard Cribbins.

St Mary in the Marsh from the Star Inn

The church of St Mary in the Marsh is near Dymchurch, in Kent. It is a beautiful little building that date back to 1133 and the interior is quite exquisite. Close by is The Star Inn and adjacent is a little cottage where Noel Coward lived and wrote.

RYE HARBOUR & ERIC RAVILIOUS

RYE HARBOUR & ERIC RAVILIOUS

Rye Harbour - Chris O'Donoghue 2018

One of my favourite walks is at Rye Harbour, the setting for Compass Point in my series of 'Blood on the...' detective novels featuring DI Sonny Russell  and his faithful terrier, Aggie. (See panel on the right).

The story of Rye Harbour is unusual. It was originally used by a company of soldiers at the beginning of the 1800’s, followed shortly afterward by the first fishermen’s huts and the building of the Martello Tower. When the Napoleonic wars ended, so the smuggling trade, which had long flourished all along the south coast, again increased in scope and intensity. A watch house was built about 1825 to provide shelter and support for the blockade troops and still stands today, complete with the flagstaff for signalling to shipping. The harbour, which is now surrounded by an RSPB nature reserve, is some two miles downstream from the town of Rye and is close to the mouth of the River Rother.

The renowned English painter, Eric Ravilious 1903 - 1942 spent some time living in a cottage, nestling beneath the South Downs, with a group of other artists. He would often travel in Sussex sketching and painting and stayed, for a short time, at Rye Harbour where he painted this iconic picture.

Rye Harbour - Eric Ravilious 1938

He lodged at The William The Conqueror, the pub not far from the The Watch House, overlooking the river.

William the Conqueror - Eric Ravilious 1938

I've been visiting the pub since I was about 18 years old and very little changed until a couple of years ago. The owners, Shepherd Neame, closed the pub and undertook a major refurbishment. I was able to observe some of this as at the same time we were landscaping the little cottage next door. Happily, they have done a wonderful job - the interior has been sympathetically restored, reflecting its location, plus the beer and food is pretty good.

William the Conqueror - 2018

My little garden has been well-received too!

SHINGLESEA - A railway carriage repurposed

SHINGLESEA

A Railway Carriage repurposed 

In 2007 I had my application to design and build a garden at the prestigious CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW accepted. My winning design was called SHINGLESEA and was inspired by a railway carriage/holiday home at Winchelsea Beach in Sussex.

 

I was struck by the juxtaposition of the soft green paintwork, contrasting with the drift of poppies that appear in late spring. (I have this romantic notion that a soldier, returning from the front at the end of WW1, made it his home. In his pocket was a handful of poppy seeds he'd collected from Flanders Fields.)

My design incorporated a railway carriage, an old boat and drought-tolerant plants in a bed of shingle.

My good friend, Robert Patch, built a beautiful facade of a Victorian railway carriage.

We had ten days to build the garden. It was well received and I got a Silver-Gilt medal, not bad for a naive first-timer.

I gave away 15,00 brochure, talked to hundreds of visitors and... met the Queen!