At the Community Hub in our village (a small shop set up one morning a week to sell a few essentials and provide coffee and cake to the locals) a neighbour told us that a nearby village were putting on Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.

A few of us immediately decided to go together. The performance was in Dunsford in the Teign Valley, and the handy name of their amateur dramatic society is, of course, DADS.

It was a fun evening, and the cast did an excellent job. By definition they’re all amateurs, so the audience wasn’t expecting a flawless performance, but the standard was very high. I always enjoy the wit and humour of Wilde’s work, especially all the clever turns of phrase, many of which have become part of our language. But I’d forgotten how densely wordy this play is. Learning the script must have been very challenging, and comic delivery and timing is, I think, one of the hardest things to do well. A tough play to put on anywhere, but in this small village hall, they did an amazing job.

I took a few photos of the village and I hope you enjoy them,  Oh, and there’s a close-up photo of an allium beginning to bloom – I spotted it on a neighbour’s allotment and snapped it with my phone.        

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I was fortunate enough to have been given a helicopter ride experience for my last birthday, but since my birthday is in October we waited a while to book it.

I’m happy to say we picked a perfect day to enjoy it. We took off from Dunkeswell near Honiton, and the skies were so clear we could see right across Devon to the coast.

Afterwards, we stopped at Exmouth for a walk along the coast before returning home.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

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One of the joys of living in Devon is discovering the leafy lanes and byways, some of which barely seem to be used.

Despite having lived here for well over 25 years, we’re still finding places where we stop and say, “I can’t believe we’ve never been here before.”

Today’s photos are from the Wray Valley Trail, This trail was made on the route of the Victorian railway that ran from Newton Abbot to Moretonhampstead. We ran along it from Bovey Tracey, and instead of turning back at the village of Lustleigh as usual, we picked up the trail and explored. We found this lovely trail and vowed to come back another day and make it to the end. 

I hope you enjoy the pictures. There are also photos of the village shop in Lustleigh, because it reminds me of the fictional shop in Embervale, and also the village church because a church features in the upcoming Devonshire Mystery.  

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Or is this life imitating art imitating life? 

In the Devonshire Mystery I’m working on, I wrote a scene just the other day in which Alan and a friend (no spoilers) visit a cafe on Dartmoor, the real life Ullacombe Farm. They find the place crowded, partly because a classic car club had chosen the place for their rally. Alan studies the cars on display, taking a fancy to an MG.

This was inspired by a real-life visit to the cafe many years ago, in which the same thing happened to me and my family. We enjoyed seeing the cars, but had to wait an age for our lunch because the place was practically bursting at the seams.

Our recent visit was a little different. There was a small rally of collectible cars, but it was on the nearby moor, and the cafe was actually very quiet. Still, it always strikes me as funny when I write something and then experience something like it immediately afterwards. There was even an MG, and a car like this is an important part of the new mystery.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

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Mrs C and I went up onto Dartmoor for a stroll and a picnic. It was a fine day, and we stopped at Haytor Rocks. I’ve shared photos from here before, but the view varies with the seasons, and I always enjoy this spot. The light was perfect and we could see for miles, all the way to the sea on the horizon.

You may recognise the rocks from the cover of Accomplice to Murder. I believe it was also used for the cover of A Study in Stone, though it was pictured from further away and elements were added by the designer.

Many of these distinctive rocky outcrops have names in which Tor is a separate word, e.g. Hound Tor or Laughter Tor, but Haytor is one word.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

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Mrs C and I went to a family gathering up in Hull recently, and of course, I took a few snaps to share.

Hull is one of those places that is much maligned, but it has a lot to offer.

There’s an old saying, “From Hell, Hull, and Halifax, may the Good Lord deliver us.” A quick search reveals that this dates from the 17th century and may have originated as a thieves’ litany: a type of prayer or incantation used by thieves as they parted ways. It’s easy to see why thieves wanted to avoid hell, but you may not know that Hull had a notorious jail, although it would’ve been spelled gaol, and Halifax had a gibbet, which was an early type of guillotine.

Once a fantastically busy and important port, Hull has some fine buildings. I don’t know enough of the city’s history to comment on where that wealth came from, but these days Hull is a mixture of ancient and modern. It was awarded the city of culture status a while back, and I believe that entails some investment. Certainly the old part of the city is very nice, with waterside bars and cafes and independent shops selling vintage clothing and the like.

I hope you find some interest in the photos. 

A theatre, and in the foreground, Queen Victoria looking down from on high.

A lightship.

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We took a trip to Exeter to stroll along the quay the other day, and I was impressed how this area has been brought to life with cafes and shops and bars. It almost feels like being on the Med.

The Exeter Quay features in a couple of my books, so that may be of interest. In Accomplice to Murder, Dan runs along the quay and also talks to a certain policeman, and in Lawful Duty, characters visit a nightclub and a cafe. The cafe is shown below, although I did fictionalise it. There is a nightclub, but I invented one for the book.

I hope you like the photos.

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As spring prepares to give way to summer, the Devon lanes are lush with fresh growth and teeming with life.

Farmers aren’t allowed to cut back the hedgerows once the season for wild birds to nest begins, and the result is glorious. All that foliage restricts your vision as you approach a corner, so it pays to be extra cautious when you’re bowling along, whether you’re proceeding under your own power or driven by a machine (or a horse). There’s a stable near the village, so we often encounter riders, and more than once I’ve seen a horse stop to graze from the hedgerow even though its rider may have other ideas. I suppose all that delicious greenery is too hard to pass up.

I also have yet another run to report – The Great West Run, a half marathon in Exeter. I really enjoyed the day, despite a sudden downpour that had all of us soaked to the skin. Thankfully, modern sportswear dries in next to no time, and I finished the run in sunshine.

I hope you enjoy the photos. The landscapes were all taken near our village in the Teign Valley.

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I recently went to Plymouth to take part in the half-marathon, and we decided to make a weekend of it. Plymouth isn’t far away from home, but it’s very different. Much as I like living in the countryside, it’s fun to experience the buzz of a big city every so often.

Below are a few photos from our trip. The race started and finished at Plymouth Ho, and we went up to have a look the night before.

There are photos featuring the war memorial, which is rather grand, a view over the city, and some of the relatively new statue outside the theatre, which I believe is of Ariel from The Tempest. I’m not sure I was quite so fleet of foot, but although I didn’t  race around the world, I did complete the race.

The pictures aren’t my best, and some look a little wonky to my eye, but I hope you enjoy them.

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I know I keep saying how lucky I am to live in the midst of the glorious Devonshire countryside, but I never tire of the landscape.

Since I’ve started running, I’ve experienced the lanes in a different way, and though many of them are narrow and slightly hairy when a vehicle needs to squeeze past, I don’t encounter a lot of traffic.

Most drivers are kind and will slow down or stop until I can get safely out of the way – they get a thank you and a wave and a smile and a thumbs up. The few who don’t show any consideration get nothing, but let’s not dwell on them.

Here are a few photos I’ve taken while out for a run recently, all from the Teign Valley area in which the Devonshire Mysteries are set. I hope you like them.

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Another trip to Teignmouth on the Devon coast. An unseasonably stormy day, but it can be fun to watch the waves crashing against the sea wall. Not so great if you have to put to sea in the lifeboat, I imagine, but for a landlubber like me, the sound of the waves makes an excellent accompaniment to a stroll.

Afterwards, we retired to a cafe for a mug of tea, and later on we discovered there was a play on in the arts centre, so we decided to make a day of it and stay for the performance. It was called The Haunting, and though it was very entertaining, most of us in the audience were rather nonplussed at the ending.

Ah well, the play’s the thing. 

I hope you find the photos interesting. First. here’s a snap of me at the local Park Run on the Parke estate in Bovey, just to prove that I really do these things.

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DC Spiller’s books, The Devonshire Crime Thrillers, and Dan and Alan’s adventures in The Devonshire Mysteries are all almost all set in the local area, and I sometimes like to scout out locations.

In Exeter the other day, I was thinking about the grittier world of DC Spiller and decided to look for the seamier side of the city. Heavily bombed in WWII (as you’ll know if you’ve read Accomplice to Murder) Exeter is a city of contrasts. Beautiful old buildings and picturesque streets of small shops are surrounded by hastily built, and rather boxy, concrete and brick buildings with all manner of designs.

As we walked through the area known as Sidwell, I thought back to Dan and Alan’s first story in A Study in Stone. The area and the legend of Saint Sidwell, a figure known by variants of that name, e.g. Sativola, figure in the story, and I thought how great it would be to capture a picture of the woman herself.

I looked up and there she was, portrayed on the side of a building. I don’t recall seeing that image before, but that might just be my memory playing up. At any rate, it was a nice surprise, and I included a couple of photos below, along with my location-scouting shots.

I hope you find them interesting.  

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