Posted by Laurence Monkhouse on July 06, 2006 at 21:25:54 from 80.3.128.6 user Laurence_.
In Reply to: Re: things to see in Ransom country (cont) posted by Robert Hill on July 06, 2006 at 19:00:08:
real places rarely live up to their fictional versions
But some of Ransome's really do. The Secret Harbour on Peel Island for one, especially if you can get there when the masses are somewhere else. It really feels quite creepy finding yourself in a place where you have never been but which is utterly familiar. You really need the right sort of boat to make it real, but to get an idea of what it can look like just take a look at Stuart Weir's Website 'Boats of Swallows and Amazons'.
The Dog's Home, too, is just as described, apart from the path which leads to it.
Pin Mill, the Butt and Oyster and Alma Cottage haven't changed in the slightest, apart from being busier. To get the real atmosphere it is best to go in winter. The AGM of the Eastern Region of TARS was held at Pin Mill, and the scenery was perfect.
And parts of Secret Water are utterly as described, and the upper reaches are as wild as in the 1930s. We were there last August Bank Holiday, anchored up a creek with nobody else in sight at all.
And apart from places, just get yourself on board Nancy Blackett - exactly the Goblin as described by AR. Once again you get that creepy feeling of familiarity.
It is a bit paradoxical that ARs writings have helped to popularise some places and activities to an extent which he would have hated! But you often don't have to dig very deep to find scenes which are just as he described.