Sherlockian Sojourns # 81: As Seen on Screen – ‘A Rambling Old Place’

The announcement of a new comedic festive ‘Sherlock Holmes’ play in Birmingham (with new songs by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber) meant that a trip had been booked for almost half-a-year. However, intending to get my money’s worth from the expensive train fares, a couple of detours were planned.

Making my way from London Euston, an hour-and-fifteen minutes later I was at Birmingham New Street Station. From here it was a short walk to Birmingham Moor Street Station, where I caught a train to Lapworth from where it was a forty minute walk to my first point of call, Baddesley Clinton, a moated manor house owned by the National Trust. This was the home of the Ferrers family for 500 years, with much of the house being built by Henry Ferrers, a lawyer, diarist and antiquarian, in the late 1500s. The house was a sanctuary not only for the Ferrers family, but also for persecuted Catholics who were hidden from priest hunters in its secret hiding places during the 1590s.

The reason for my visit was that the house was also the filming location for both the interiors and exteriors of Hurlstone, the home of Reginald Musgrave (Michael Culver) in Granada’s 1986 dramatisation of ‘The Musgrave Ritual’. The estate was very busy due to hosting a ‘Walking With The Snowman’ trail, but I managed to get a timed ticket for entry to the house.

Having taken photos of the house from all sides, I made my way to the nearby lawn which was the location of the 64ft Elm that was struck by lightning, then to the area where the ‘patriarch among Oaks’ was located, then finally to the Great Pool which features prominently in the search for Rachel Howells (Johanna Kirby).

      

 

I then went round the Snowman trail, which coincidentally was ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ themed (my evening’s entertainment also being so themed), starting with ‘Two Turtles Doves’ and working my way back round to ‘A Partridge In A Pear Tree’. 

 

     

 

Having browsed their large secondhand bookshop, it was time for my entry to the house, which was dressed for Christmas.The first room of interest was the kitchen where Brunton (James Hazeldine) attempts to solve ‘the ritual’, and where there is also a priest’s hole behind glass. Moving on, I made my way into the Great Hall that also features prominently in the episode, along with the upstairs bedrooms. Due to the Christmas lights, the house was in partial darkness and no flash photography was allowed, but I did my best.

  

    

Exiting the house, I made my way back to Lapworth Station, and caught a train back to Solihull, where a half-hour bus journey took me to Hall Green Station. Having picked up and eaten some lunch, I made my way to the nearby Number 41 Southam Road. The comedian Tony Hancock was born here on 12th May 1924, but, from the age of three, he was brought up in Bournemouth (then in Hampshire), where his father, John Hancock, had moved to in an effort to improve his health, and where he subsequently ran the Railway Hotel in Holdenhurst Road. Having visited the sculpture of Hancock in the centre of Birmingham on a previous sojourn, I wanted to complete the set. There is now a plaque on Hancock’s birthplace, which I took photos of, along with the building itself which seemed to be unoccupied and falling into ruin.

   

Returning to the bus stop, I caught the next bus and around 45 minutes later was back at Birmingham Moor Street Station. Having wasted a little time looking in shops, I made my way towards Birmingham Repertory Theatre, my progress slightly hampered by a Christmas Market meaning that the main route was rammed with people, and that I had to eat my evening meal as I walked.

However, I was still there in plenty of time for the performance, and having purchased a programme and a set of SH Button Badges, I wandered over to a selfie-area, where having taken photos of a family, they were happy to return the favour.

 

Taking my seat in the middle of the second row of the Stalls, I settled in for what proved to be the perfect Sherlockian Christmas Treat, ‘Sherlock Holmes and the 12 Days of Christmas’ (knocking ‘A Sherlock Carol’ into a cocked-hat…or should that be cocked-Deerstalker). The script by Humphrey Ker and David Reed was amazing (as were their performances), and there were no less than six new Rice/Lloyd-Webber songs, including two wonderful Sherlockian ones. [Click here for a fuller review].

The show having finished, there was no time to stage-door, as the last train back to London was going in just over twenty minutes. On my arrival at New Street Station, my train didn’t seem to be listed, and station staff were giving conflicting information. I therefore decided to take one of the staff member’s advice and get the one London train that was listed even if my ticket allegedly wasn’t valid on it. This also proved less than straightforward, as the train was repeatedly delayed and swapped platforms twice. However, finally I crammed myself on to the train when it eventually arrived, having to stand until Coventry (around 35 minutes) crammed into a corridor just by the toilet. Some seats having become vacant, I managed to sit down, concerned that I might end up being fined for being on the wrong train. However, luckily the rail company had sensibly decided against checking tickets (with the train so full that almost no-one sitting in First Class had the right ticket, and most aisles being blocked with passengers).

Back in London, a few minutes earlier than expected, the Night Tube and a bus got me home by 1.30am. It had been a very long, but enjoyable day.