Tag Archives: Locations

London in 1888 Video

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If you have read the Clearwater Mysteries, the Larkspur Mysteries and the Delamere Files, you will know that they are set mainly in London and Cornwall. If you have been following the progress of the Delamere series, you will know that book eight will be out in June and it is called Holywell Street. If you have read Deviant Desire, Banyak & Fecks and others, you will know that many of the characters come from or have lived in London’s East End, mainly Whitechapel (Greychurch in the Clearwater books).

So what?

Well, yesterday, I was searching YouTube for something informative to watch and I found a video by the Jack the Ripper Tour, and I want to share it with you.

Why?

Because it takes us from Trafalgar Square to the Mile End Road and stops at or passes various locations used in the Clearwater, Larkspur and Delamere series. It also includes photographs of those places from around the time the books are set, 1888 to 1893. It also incorporates maps of the time to show you the route some of my characters have taken on many occasions. It lasts for 48 minutes, and is well worth watching if you want to learn about, see and imagine my Clearwater London.

Some of the locations you will hear about and see that have been used in my books including:

Trafalgar Square where Silas gets caught up in the Bloody Sunday riots in Banyak and Fecks, Charing Cross station where so many journeys have begun and ended. Strand, including the Savoy Hotel (the climax of Speaking in Silence), The Lyceum Theatre (Bitter Bloodline), The Gaiety Theatre (Follow the Van), Holywell Street (there’s a stop off here to talk about ‘Bookseller’s Row’ and the pornography industry), the Old Bailey and Newgate Prison (Guardians of the Poor), Saint Paul’s Cathedral (Starting with Secrets), and Whitechapel (several of the books).

My suggestion is, you get yourself a cup of tea, put your feet up and slip back in time to watch this wonderful documentary and see how many Clearwater-world locations you can spot.

Enjoy!

Baxter’s London

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Actually, it’s only a part of Baxter’s London…

Today, I want to share a gallery with you. When I was in London briefly in February, we stayed in Drury Lane, and as we only had a day and two evenings there, we stayed around the Covent Garden area. While there, I attempted to take some photos of places mentioned in the Clearwater, Larkspur and Delamere mysteries, and so, what I have today are some of them, with notes to explain what they are.

Before you venture into the gallery, though, you might like to know I have, this morning, completed work on ‘Acts of Faith’ and will be sending it to the layout team later today. They are going to do their best to have it back to me in time for me to send up to Amazon on Wednesday – but they are busy, and I may yet find issues with uploading (rare, but not unknown). All being well, you’ll be able to start on it next week. So, here’s the gallery in no particular order.

Bow Street Magistrates Court and police station. This appears in several books, but Fallen Splendour in particular, when Silas is arrested. I think it is now some kind of hotel or restaurant, and there is/was a police museum there too.
The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. This is the setting for the grand finale of ‘Unspeakable Acts.’
Neil having lunch at La Garrick, not, sadly, the Garrick Club which you can see through the window. Archer, Lord Clearwater, is a member of this club.
Charing Cross railways station features in several of the books.
This is beneath Charing Cross station. The row of arches used to house the entrance to the famous Heaven nightclub, but also, still houses the entrance to what was the Charing Cross Music Hall, as visited by Jack Merrit and Max Pascoe where they interview Marie Lloyd in ‘Follow the Van.’
A bust of WS Gilbert on the Embankment, near the Savoy Theatre.
The Embankment looking downstream.
A plaque on the side of the Savoy Theatre, the venue for the climax of ‘Speaking in Silence.’
The cobbles of Covent Garden that Silas, Micky-Nick, Fecker and other homeless lads would have walked back in the 1880s.
The Palace Theatre, Cambridge Circus. Now home to a Harry Potter play, Clearwater and others including Jasper Blackwood, attended the opening performance of ‘Ivanhoe’, by Sir Arthur Sullivan in 1891.
A Penhaligon’s shop in Covent Garden. Archer and Silas both wear Penhaligon’s, and when I was there, I was very tempted to buy the perfume they wear, Hamam Bouquet, but the only size they had was too big for my carry-on luggage, and the price too big for my pocket. I went for a smaller bottle of Halfeti instead.
This isn’t London. In fact, it is the proposed interior of a block of flats in Folkestone. However, it is/was the auditorium of the theatre I worked in back in the late 1970s, The Lease Pavilion Theatre. The gallery and arches are the same, and form a classic music hall style setup, as often described in my stories.