Day eleven of the ‘advent calendar’ focusing on some of the historical/genealogical sources that I used in the writing of Barefoot on the Cobbles.

Getting the timing correct is important when writing an historical novel. Firstly, I needed to make sure I knew the day of the week when certain events took place. There a number of perpetual calendars online but my favourite is Time and Date. Not only can you create calendars for any year of your choice but you can also check the dates of movable feasts such as Easter. In the early twentieth century, traditional Bank Holidays were not all at the times of year that we now recognise. Particularly as I was writing about a tourist area, it was crucial that I acknowledged this. This site also gives phases of the moon. I was not looking for the chance to re-create romantic walks by the light of a full moon but the moon governs the tides, which was important to my story. Family historians can have fun with this site, working out what day of the week great-granny was born.

More information about Barefoot on the Cobbles can be found here. Copies are available at various events and at all my presentations. You can order from Blue Poppy Publishing or directly from me. Kindle editions are available for those in the UK, USA, Australasia and Canada.

Day nine of the ‘advent calendar’ focusing on some of the historical/genealogical sources that I used in the writing of Barefoot on the Cobbles.

Many of the characters in Barefoot in the Cobbles living in the countryside or earn their living from the sea. The impact of the weather was immense. I was determined to reflect the actual weather conditions of the time. Fortunately, thanks to the Met Office, monthly weather reports are online for the period between January 1884 and December 1993. Thus, they were available for the time in which the novel is set. The rainfall, temperature, wind and hours of sunshine are all mentioned and there are indications of regional variations. If I describe heatwaves, stormy weather or heavy rain, then these conditions really did prevail in the west country at the time.

More information about Barefoot on the Cobbles can be found here. Copies are available at various events and at all my presentations. You can order from Blue Poppy Publishing or directly from me. Kindle editions are available for those in the UK, USA, Australasia and Canada.

Day six of the ‘advent calendar’ focusing on some of the historical/genealogical sources that I used in the writing of Barefoot on the Cobbles.

Writing a novel that is set in the early twentieth century means that there are a number of fascinating issues that can be explored; the fight for women’s suffrage is just one of these. By chance, suffragette activity in the area presented me with the opportunity to weave the campaign seamlessly into the novel.  The excellent Breaking the Mould, by Pamela Vass, describes the actions of the suffragettes in North Devon and kindly, Pam allowed me access to her appropriate chapter, which was still in draft at that point. This helped to make sense of the conflicting newspaper accounts of what happened in Clovelly in 1909. In the end, my interpretation is one that I felt best fitted the evidence but equally valid versions were possible.

More information about Barefoot on the Cobbles can be found here. Copies are available at various events and at all my presentations. You can order from Blue Poppy Publishing or directly from me. Kindle editions are available for those in the UK, USA, Australasia and Canada.

Day four of the ‘advent calendar’ focusing on some of the historical/genealogical sources that I used in the writing of Barefoot on the Cobbles.

View from the Wharves

Two chapters of the novel are set in Bideford. The resources of the Way of the Wharves project were very useful. I was able to see one of their exhibitions, go on a guided walk and access their website, in order to learn more about the history of East-the-Water, where Polly was in service. The volunteers, who have been working with the help of Heritage Lottery Funding, have amassed a significant amount of material about the history of this part of Bideford. If you are local, I recommend joining one of their tours.

More information about Barefoot on the Cobbles can be found here. Copies are available at various events and at all my presentations. You can order from Blue Poppy Publishing or directly from me. Kindle editions are available for those in the UK, USA, Australasia and Canada.

Well it is advent and I usually offer an ‘advent calendar’. After the 100 days posts, I am not sure I can commit to 24 ‘windows’ for you to open but we will see how we go. I have decided to focus on some of the historical/genealogical sources that I used in the writing of Barefoot on the Cobbles.

When you are trying to recreate a geographical past, old maps are invaluable. For the scenes set in Bideford and Torquay, I made use of reproduction, large-scale Ordnance Survey maps issued by Alan & Godfrey. Their output covers a range of British towns, with maps from the 1860s to 1910s. They say, ‘Most of the maps are highly detailed, taken from the 1/2500 plans and reprinted at about 14 inches to the mile. They cover towns in great detail, showing individual houses, railway tracks, factories, churches, mills, canals, tramways and even minutiae such as dockside cranes, fountains, signal posts, pathways, sheds, wells, etc.. Each map includes historical notes on the area concerned. We also publish a series of smaller scale Inch to the Mile maps.’ There are maps available for more than one date for some towns.

Using the 1904 map for Bideford, I planned a courting scene set in Victoria Park, clearly depicted on the map. Fortunately, I double-checked in the newspapers and discovered that the park was created for Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee, not her golden jubilee. I was writing of the early 1890s; the park was not there at the time, so the scene had to go.

In what passes for normal life, I have been busy book promoting. This week has meant talks in five locations (who thought that was a good idea?) from Taunton, to Plymouth, to Bude. I have also sat in Walter Henry’s lovely bookshop signing books.

I have chatted to my lovely Pharos online students, giving advice on writing up their family history. Their course is coming to an end but January will bring the start of my course on tracing people and places in the early twentieth century, a period that I enjoyed focusing on for Barefoot. Family historians often neglect the twentieth century as being ‘not really history’ but there is plenty to be discovered about individuals and the communities in which they lived between 1900 and 1945. Twentieth century research brings with it the difficulties of larger and more mobile populations as well as records that are closed to view. This course sets out to provide advice for finding out about our more recent ancestors and the places in which they lived, so it is ideal for family historians and local historians alike. You will be surprised how much progress you make if you concentrate on a small time-frame.

More information about Barefoot on the Cobbles can be found here. Copies are available at various events and at all my presentations. You can order from Blue Poppy Publishing or directly from me. Kindle editions are available for those in the UK, USA, Australasia and Canada.