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...