Sherlockian Sojourns #1: Crowborough

Crowborough, a town in East Sussex on the edge of the Ashdown Forest, has two distinct significances for me – it’s the location of the army camp used in ‘Doctor Who’ story “The Curse of Fenric”, and its also where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s final home was (where he produced 19 Sherlock Holmes stories) and where he died in 1930. Consequently it is also home to the world’s only ACD statue, the deerstalkered one normally taking priority in commemorative effigies (in London, Edinburgh, Switzerland and even Moscow). I had visited many years ago, to take photos of the statue and camp, but the announcement of a ‘Crowborough Community Festival’ with Conan Doyle-themed events meant that that I decided to make a return visit.

Catching a bus to East Croydon Station, I caught a train to Eridge (the station before Crowborough), and made my way up a side-road to a main road, where after checking bus stops on both sides of the road, found the one I needed. A ten minute journey took me to Windlesham Manor, the former residence of Conan Doyle, now a care home for the elderly. Multiple photos taken of the building which still looked like the contemporary photos from Conan Doyle’s time there, and I strode off along a pre-prepared route back into central Crowborough.

My initial destination was the Crowborough Community Centre which was to be the venue for a promenade performance of vignettes from Conan Doyle’s life that afternoon, but which also represented the start point of the Crowborough Mystery Trail, a 2.6 mile wander around Crowborough taking in all the Sherlockian points of interest, whilst answering questions to solve the mystery of a prank played by two residents of the nearby Ashdown Forest on the town. The trail was well-thought out and also clear to follow with no confusing directions, and no need for maps. Halfway round, I found myself at the statue, but found it very difficult to get a photo with it, as it was on a high plinth, and I could not get more than half a foot on the plinth to be at the same height.

A little further round was ‘Cafe Baskerville’, a cafe that had been named ‘Sherlocks’ on my last visit. It being Sunday, it was closed.

At the foot of Crowborough Hill was a retirement village named after a certain detective.

Circuit of the village completed and I was back by the Community Centre, to combine my answers to provide answers to the identity of the pranksters, the investigating detective (who was not the obvious choice), the means of detection, and the date of the prank. Relating these to plaques at the end-point allowed easy confirmation of the correctness of my answers.

Next port of call was the local Morrisons for a picnic lunch, where to my delight the stairs leading from the High Street had Sherlockian posters all the way up. Sitting on a bench, looking out onto ‘Conan Doyle's’ favourite view’ of the town, I consumed my lunch, before strolling back to the Community Centre, displaying my pre-booked ticket for ‘Beyond Baker Street’, a promenade performance by the Crowborough Players.

I was directed downstairs to a waiting room, where ‘Sherlock – The Abominable Bride’ was quietly playing on a screen, being given a fizzy non-alcoholic drink on entry. After around fifteen minutes, and will all ticket-holders accounted for, we were shepherded onto the stage in the main hall, and met our ‘tour guide’. Opening monologue completed, the curtains opened to reveal the hall with its vignettes dotted around. First up was ACD at his writing table, and the other vignettes included politics, the Cottingley Fairies, ‘The Lost World’, football (Conan Doyle was a goalkeeper for Portsmouth), a séance, a Victorian school and a whaling ship. Each set had a letter on it, which were to form an anagram which was the answer to a cryptic clue. After around 45 minutes, we were all shepherded out to the foyer area, where everyone just stood around trying to solve the anagram – SDHIEAWLMN – there being a prize draw after all performances if you got it right. After around ten minutes of everyone just staring at the letters, one of the stewards mentioned a clue of ‘location’ to another participant, but it was still a further minute before I remembered my starting point of the day WINDLESHAM Manor, Conan Doyle’s Crowborough home (all performances being now over, I can reveal that this was the solution).

Posting my entry (I didn’t win), I strode off on the long walk to Crowborough Station, passing three roads named after Conan Doyle and the Detective and Doctor who made him famous.

On arriving at the station and seeing the bus-stop in front, I suddenly remembered that on my last visit I had caught a bus in and out of town. Having ten minutes before my train, I spent my time revisiting the photos that I had taken over the course of the day, before climbing onto a train back to East Croydon, and then home. It had been a very Doylean day !!!