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Last weekend, I went to Dungeness. I thought it was important to go exploring as I am re-reading Secrets of the Shingle and am now half-way through writing the sequel. I retraced Alice's (my fictional character) footsteps from the old mainline train station, along the tracks to the remains of the school. Very little is left of what was once quite a substantial building – just a few scattered slates, bricks and some concrete bases. The school was built in 1876 and closed in 1940. It also served as a church, with a curtain pulled across the east window and altar during the week. Accommodation for the teachers was attached. The shingle now has far more plant life on it than in the 1890s; it would have been even bleaker in those times.
The school also featured in a Malcolm Saville book but he described it as having two storeys, which doesn't appear to be accurate from the photos. Monica Edwards also takes her characters from Rye Harbour to Dungeness, where they use the RH&DR steam train to travel to Dymchurch.
I've now written 43,000 words of the new novel, which is fantastic progress for me and I am so enjoying writing this book. I don't start with a fixed plan. In fact, I start with very little plan at all. Just an idea of a dramatic event to begin with, a main character or two and then I see what happens. It's good fun and I do get a few shaky moments when I wonder what is going to happen next. But it all works out and the words keep flowing. As with the previous novel, my main character will go to Ashford and I am just about to write a couple of chapters set there. That's all quite new to me, so a bit of research to be done. I had best get on with it if this novel is going to be ready for the end of the year...
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This week I went on the Romney Marsh Historic Churches Tour as part of JAM on the Marsh. We visited four churches and learned a huge amount about the history of these gorgeous buildings, thanks to Joan Campbell. In the past I learned about a possible anchorhold at St Nicholas in New Romney. Joan spoke about the belief that only the most saintly went straight to heaven on death and most of us had to work our way through purgatory. The more the living could do to ease the deceased through purgatory, the better. One of the most extreme examples is to brick someone up in the walls of the church, with a window towards the altar and another to the churchyard. The anchoress' whole existence was devoted towards praying for the dead person in order to speed up their journey to heaven. This inspired me to place one of my characters in an anchorhold in What the Monk Didn't See.
What inspired me this time? I love East Guldeford Church. It is so different to the other Marsh Churches and equally beautiful. The freeze of angels shown here is high up on the walls. Joan suggested they were painted in Victorian times at a time when the fashion was for the 'less advantaged' women of the parish to become engaged in pursuits to improve their minds. Wouldn't you love to know who painted these angels and what impact it had on their lives to be involved in such a project? Maybe one day I'll put these women and their painted angels into a novel.
What inspired me this time? I love East Guldeford Church. It is so different to the other Marsh Churches and equally beautiful. The freeze of angels shown here is high up on the walls. Joan suggested they were painted in Victorian times at a time when the fashion was for the 'less advantaged' women of the parish to become engaged in pursuits to improve their minds. Wouldn't you love to know who painted these angels and what impact it had on their lives to be involved in such a project? Maybe one day I'll put these women and their painted angels into a novel.