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Mrs Mallowan, aka Agatha Christie, lived in Wallingford, Oxfordshire for many years and is buried in nearby Cholsey. In my quest to visit the key locations associated with the world's best selling author of all time, I made a visit to the town to discover its Christie connections.
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Bettys is brilliant. To me it epitomises the quintessential British tea room. On my recent visit to York a trip to Bettys for afternoon tea was on top of my must do list alongside seeing the York Minster.
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Next to Platform 8, in Victoria Train Station, there is a small plaque to the Unknown Warrior. His final resting place is in the nave of Westminster Abbey. Although we do not know his name or his rank in the army, his tomb is a very poignant remember of all those who died during World War One but whose bodies have never been identified.
Each year on 10th November the London branch of The Western Front Association holds a ceremony to remember the arrival of the body of the Unknown Warrior at Victoria Station.
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Speedy’s Sandwich Bar and Cafe, with its instantly recognisable red canopy, features in all three television series of the BBC’s Sherlock. It's located directly below the first floor flat which is home to Sherlock and Watson. Since featuring in the hit TV series, with its modern day twist on Sherlock Holmes, the cafe has been welcoming fans who visit. So the other day I stopped by for a delicious breakfast.
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Agatha Christie Mile Plaque - Torquay
Crime and Cream Teas Part II features more about my recent trip to the Agatha Christie Festival in her home town of Torquay. In Part I I wrote about my visit to Greenway, Agatha's holiday home but in this blog I am focusing on some of the other things I did.
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Barnaby
Greenway was Agatha Christie's beloved holiday home in Devon and seems a good place to start the first installment of my blog about the recent Agatha Christie Festival. This annual crime writing festival takes place in and around Torquay, Agatha's birthplace, each September to coincide with her birthday. Since my last visit in 2011 the festival has certainly grown both in the numbers of visitors and organised events.
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Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is the world’s longest running stage play. A classic Christie, murder mystery story where any of her characters potentially could have committed the murder. However if you are going to see it don’t commit the crime of rushing to your seats without taking a look at the foyer.
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Today sees the long anticipated re-opening of the Guildhall Art Gallery which included a new Heritage Gallery. Last night I attended the special reception of the launch which inclued Dame Helen Ghosh, the Director General of the National Trust and the Lord Chief Justice, Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd, and I was lucky to see the new fabulous display before it opens to the general public today. The centrepiece of the new display is a copy of the 1297 Magana Carta.*
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I was delighted to discover recently a small (no pun intended) model village in a secluded corner of Vauxhall Park. It’s utterly charming and evokes a wonderful sense of nostalgia with its olde worlde character.
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The other week I was shown round Shepherds Markets in Victoria. London is a city known for its traditional markets, the most famous being Covent Garden flower market and Smithfield meat market. In the last few years Shepherds Markets has joined the list, a small family run business, established in 2005, it offers good quality food stalls in several pop up locations throughout central London.