Ruskin, Research, and The Gateway to Paradise

John Ruskin must have been one of Victorian Britain's most fascinating men. An eccentric, perhaps, but blessed with many gifts. I enjoyed referencing his work in The Arsenic Labyrinth, and on Saturday, I saw for myself what he described as "the gateway to paradise" - the view from Muncaster Castle, just outside Ravenglass. Muncaster is a terrific place, and I was lucky enough to bump into and have a chat with the owner, Patrick-Gordon-Duff-Pennington, who at the age of 84 was quietly doing a bit of pruning far from the madding crowd (a crowd which on Saturday included a wedding party, the inhabitants of the owl sanctuary and more than a dozen herons, whose feeding time was a memorable free-for-all which attracted a couple of marauding buzzards.) Mr Pennington is a published poet, and I'm quite sure he finds his home surroundings inspirational.

Here are just a few of the herons. Muncaster is said to be one of Britain's most haunted castles, and though I'm not sure whether it fits in to my current storyline, it might prompt an idea for a ghost story or two. Not far away are several intriguing villages, ranging from Newbiggin, close to the M.O.D. firing range (warning notices tell visitors to beware of "strange objects" found on the beach - the mind boggles....) to Gosforth, with its ancient cross in the churchyard, and Eskdale Green, where I chanced upon a Japanese garden that the Forestry Commission is, thanks to volunteer work, reclaming more than sixty years after it was abandoned and became overgrown. A magical place, and very accessible.

Through talking to a number of people over the week-end, I felt I got a better handle on the way of life led in western Cumbria. I suppose many might ask whether all this research is necessary. Will it result in a better book, or is it really just an excuse for a trip to a lovely part of the world? Well, I am firmly of the view that, so far as possible, research for a book should be a pleasurable experience. While researching The Cipher Garden, for instance, I was kindly offered the chance to go sky-diving along with an expert in the field, but that wasn't my idea of fun, so I declined with thanks. There are definite limits to how far I'm wiling to go in the quest for authenticity! But I do think it helps to see the setting for one's book at the right time of year. I have set several scenes of the new story in Ravenglass and its vicinity in April, and I wanted to see the village at the right time of year.

Thanks in no small part to Neil of the Rosegarth Guest House, I got more out of the week-end than I'd bargained for, as he drew my attention to two particular locations not too far away which may well feature, not in the book I'm writing at present, but in a later Lake District Mystery. In the meantime, I came home having had plenty to savour and having gained insights which will, I hope, strengthen my work-in-progress. I'm certainly very motivated about the project,and feeling more optimistic about it than is often the case at the half-way stage of writing a novel. Time well spent in literary as well as feelgood terms, I like to think.

Research - and returning to Ravenglass

I've just spent a marvellous week-end up in the Lakes, researching for my current work-in-progress. Back in the autumn, I wrote about my trip to reconnoitre the Ravenglass area before I started work, and now I'm about half-way through, I felt it was time to refresh my feel for the locations. There are good writers - Harry Keating and John Baker among them - who have written books set in places they've never visited, but I find it helps me to have a firm grasp of location. And the nature of the stories told in the Lake District Mysteries means that it is also, I think, a good plan to have an understanding of the way of life of various individuals who appear in the story. So I wanted to paint in some of the detail about the community in my own mind, and get an idea of what it is like to live in Ravenglass. Liz Gilbey, a regular contributor to CADS, had already given me some excellent information, along with photos, and I was looking to supplement these over the week-end.

One of my characters in the book stays in a B&B in the village, and I decided to do likewise - but to find somewhere rather nicer than the troubling place where she ends up. I fell on my feet with Rosegarth, a delightful little guest house commanding marvellous views of the estuary created by the three rivers. It's run by Neil, whose family members have just started running a tea shop on the ground floor. Both are strongly recommended, and Neil gave me a great deal of helpful information. I've written before about the way in which I've often benefited from people's knowledge when researching a book, and I took lots of notes when talking to Neil, as he has a great love of the locality. He travelled all over the world while with the Royal Navy, but there's nowhere he'd rather live than West Cumbria, and I find that very easy to understand. Ravenglass is rather remote from the busy world, and that, together with its Roman, Viking and medieval history, accounts for much of its appeal. An inspirational place in which to set a novel, and I'd love to stay longer and write there too. That's not really possible, but I gained a good deal from walking up and down Main Street and soaking up the feel of the village.

I also took a look at places like Eskmeals, Drigg and Seascale over the first part of the week-end, and was struck once again by the spooky juxtaposition of vast, lovely, empty beaches and the menacing presence in the distance of the Sellafield nuclear plant. There's a similar contrast to be found in one of my favourite books by P.D. James, set in Norfolk, Devices and Desires, but I think that West Cumbria is even more evocative, with the looming fells not far away in the background.

Meeting Neil led me to another encounter, this time with a very gifted local artist called Mark A. Pearce. I was lucky enough to be able to visit his studio, which has a fantastic position on the edge of the shore, and to find out more about the life of an artist - again very relevant to my story. Mark earned fame thirty years ago through acclaimed postage stamp designs, and spent many years in London amongst the glitterati before returning to West Cumbria. He paints superbly well, but he is also a graphic designer by background, and his prints are hugely impressive. I came across them in several locations over the course of the week-end and one day I'd like to acquire one of his works, as he really has a gift for capturing mood and colour.

And there's no shortage of mood and colour in Ravenglass. It's the home of La'al Ratty, a great little railway that attracts many enthusisasts, and Friday and Saturday evening saw me lured to the Ratty Arms, a pub converted from railway station buildings. Once again, recommended. And so, above all, are the Ravenglass sunsets. As good as anything I saw on my recent cruise in the Caribbean...