Portsmouth
was where the invalided Watson reached England on the troopship,
Orontes, travelling from there to London, in the first Sherlock
Holmes novel, 'A Study in Scarlet'. However, it has a more
important canonical connection, as it was in the Southsea area of the
city in 1882 that Conan Doyle opened a practice of ophthalmology. His
lack of clientele left him plenty of time to read, write and he began
to publish short stories, but without great success. However, in
1887, at his Southsea address, he wrote about the consulting
detective, Sherlock Holmes for the first time, in the aforementioned
'A Study in Scarlet'. Therefore, in a year that had seen me
watch a production of ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ a
few hundred yards from the study where it was written,
and another Sherlockian play in
the grounds of Conan Doyle’s alma mater, Stonyhurst College,
the announcement of two Sherlockian plays in the Portsmouth area
meant that I wished to add plays performed in the town where Holmes
was created to my tally. Unfortunately, one of the plays (being
performed by the same company as the Undershaw ‘Hound’) was
postponed due to production problems, which led to a slight change in
my plans.
Portsmouth
also has another Sherlockian claim to fame. One of the world’s
leading Sherlockian scholars and collectors, Richard Lancelyn Green
(1953-2004), generously bequeathed his vast collection of over 60,000
items, including books, photographs, documents and objects (including
boxing gloves and waistcoats), to Portsmouth City Council. The
Collection is held at Portsmouth Central Library and
is viewable by appointment, which I had done on a previous visit.
Catching
an early train to London Waterloo, I then caught a train to
Portsmouth and Southsea Station, spending the time listening to
'Sherlock
Holmes: The Master of Blackstone Grange'.
Having an hour before the performance, I took the opportunity to make
a detour to the nearby Arundel Street, where two back-to-back benches
have been erected to commemorate Conan Doyle’s connection to the
city. The benches, designed by Pete Codling, are facsimiles of the
first page of the manuscript of ‘A Study in
Scarlet’ , and an 1889 letter sent by Conan
Doyle to Portsmouth Library. Typically, people were sitting on the
letter-side of the bench, but I managed to get photos of the 'Study'
side, before undertaking the slow task of photographing an
inscription on the pavement around the bench (in 22 stages), which
was a longer version of the quote that gives this blog its name,
having to kick away Autumn leaves. Further down the street were
benches commemorating some of Portsmouth's other famous cultural
icons, namely Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his father Sir Marc Brunel
(who feature in the sixth Doctor audio, 'Iron
Bright'), the painter W.L. Wyllie,
Victorian authors George Meredith and Sir Walter Beasant, and Charles
Dickens.
Retracing
my steps, I made my way to the New Theatre Royal, and a 10.30am
performance of ‘The
Sign of Four’, the second Holmes
novel, also written in Portsmouth. Due to the time, the performance
was mainly attended by two school groups, and I was upgraded from my
balcony seats to the middle Stalls. (I had picked the early matinee
in an attempt to attend the other play’s evening performance). I
purchased both a programme and a copy of the playscript and took my
seat.
The
performance concluded (click here
for a review), and I was soon making my way down to the Portsmouth
City Museum, which features two
Sherlockian exhibitions. The first was ‘A
Study in Sherlock: Uncovering the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection’,
which I had visited before, and which showcases the largest
collection pertaining to Doyle and his creation Sherlock Holmes in
the world (using items from the Richard Lancelyn Green bequest). The
gallery also explored Conan Doyle’s early life as a doctor in
Portsmouth, his sporting activity and later interest in spiritualism
as well as Sherlock Holmes as depicted in film, theatre, advertising
and elsewhere.It also includes a Sherlock Holmes mystery and
narration by Stephen Fry, patron of the collection.
The
second was ‘You don't know Sherlock Holmes…
yet’, which further explored the connection
between the city of Portsmouth and Conan Doyle. Again showcasing a
range of material from the Lancelyn Green Bequest, the exhibition
traced the development of Conan Doyle's career as a writer, from his
arrival in Southsea to the writing of the first two Sherlock Holmes
novels, and included the original manuscript of 'The
Creeping Man', and 'the great Agra Treasure' which had played such an important part in my earlier theatrical experience. There was also the opportunity
to test my detective skills through a range of interactive displays
based on canonical stories. The gallery ended with photos of actor
who have played Holmes being projected onto a wall, including many
that I had met, such as Nicholas Rowe, Tom Baker, Anthony Higgins and
Peter Capaldi, as well as the forthcoming Will Ferrell (Having see
the trailer, I'm not holding out much hope).
Having
bought a two fridge magnets in the gift shop, my next stop was to the
former site of Bush Villas, Conan Doyle’s practice, where he wrote
‘A Study in Scarlet’. The manuscript was rejected by
several publishers before Ward, Lock & Co. bought it for the
paltry sum of £25 (Conan Doyle never making any more money from it). They
published it in their Beeton's Christmas Annual in November
1887 and it was totally unnoticed at the time. Plaques on the current
building, Bush House, indicate the site’s literary significance.
Next
it was back to the Station, via Arundel Street to take photos of the
other side of the bench, to catch a train to nearby Worthing, which
does not appear in the Canon. However, it was here in 1926 that Conan
Doyle opened the newly built Spiritualist Church. Having already seen
the other two English Spiritualist Churches opened by Conan Doyle (in
Camden
& Kingston),
I wished to complete the set. Finding the Church with limited
problems, I took photos of the church and plaque commemorating the
event.
Prior
to catching my train home, I made my way to a nearby Fish and Chip
shop, eating my meal on the seafront, looking out to sea. Returning
to Worthing Station, I made my way back home via Clapham Junction.
