Sherlockian Sojourns #21: Cambridge

The location of the University attended by Holmes is a cause of great Sherlockian debate, with the only agreement seeming to be that it was either Oxford or Cambridge (or in the case of noted Sherlockian, William S. Baring-Gould both). The location of both the University in 'The Three Students' and the University named 'Camford' by Watson in 'The Creeping Man' are again up for debate. However, one adventure that definitely takes place in Cambridge is 'The Missing Three-Quarter' in which Holmes is engaged to find a missing Cambridge University Varsity Rugby player before the annual Oxford-Cambridge grudge match. My jaunt to the city (having been many years before to visit locations from the unfinished 'Doctor Who' story 'Shada') was in aid of the Cambridge Comic Con, which had originally offered Robert Maillet ('Dredger' in Guy Richie's 'Sherlock Holmes'), but who had cancelled, being replaced by 'Sherlock' guest star, Clive Mantle  (Bob Frankland in 'The Hounds of Baskerville').

Arriving at the station as Holmes and Watson would have, I made my way the short distance to Cambridge Junction, location for the convention.

Having browsed the stalls and got an autograph from Elen Thomas (Female Auton/Female Clockwork Robot/Weeping Angel), I made my way to the photo area, where I waited and waited for Clive Mantle, who it seemed they had forgotten to pick up from his signing table. Finally the steward outside the photo area made a few calls, and around ten minutes later Clive arrived.
Having introduced himself, Clive asked, "Is it for 'Game of Thrones' that you wanted a photo ?"
"Sherlock".
"Did we meet at the 'Sherlocked' event ?".
"Yes"
Asking where I lived, Clive revealed that his brother used to own a nearby solicitors.
Photo taken, and I made my way out into Cambridge to visit other 'Missing Three-Quarter' locations.

My first port of call was the training ground for Cambridge University Rugby Club, where the missing player, Godfrey Staunton would have trained, alongside his skipper, Cyril Overton.

 

Making my way through across a park, I reached Trinity College, the college attended by Overton, and also by Jeremy Dixon, owner of Pompey, a squat, lop-eared, white-and-tan dog who assisted Holmes and Watson in finally locating the missing Staunton.

 

Next it was a brief walk to Gonville and Caius College, identified by Baring-Gould as Holmes' Cambridge college.

It was then back to the Station, via a branch of Forbidden Planet, and home, having completed my second East Anglian sojourn of the month.

Sherlockian Sojourns #20: Norfolk

For my next sojourn, I made my way to Norfolk, where the events of the short-story "The Dancing Men” took place. The story involves Mr. Hilton Cubitt of Riding Thorpe Manor submitting what appear to be childish scrawls of stick men to Holmes, but which are at the heart of a mystery that seems to be driving his young wife Elsie to distraction. Catching a train from Liverpool Street Station to Norwich Station, I changed onto a local service to North Walsham, arriving at the same station that Holmes and Watson would have done, where they learnt of the death of their client, Mr. Cubitt.

Holmes and Watson travelled by carriage, but I had to make do with a taxi (having just missed the #34 bus) to travel the seven miles, passing Ebridge Mill, the inspiration for ‘Elridges’ (where the murderer was laying low), with its ‘Cubitt & Walker’ sign, until finally I reached Happisburgh.

It was here that Watson’s literary agent, Arthur Conan Doyle stayed when on a motoring holiday in 1903. The landlord’s small son, Gilbert Cubitt had developed a way of writing his signature in stick men. This intrigued Conan Doyle, who used the idea in his account of “The Dancing Men”, which was based in Norfolk, and is said to have been written in the Green Room of the old Boarding House which overlooked the bowling green. This boarding house is now the Happisburgh Hill House Inn, and features a plaque commemorating the Conan Doyle connection.

The Inn dates back to 1550, with period features and a large beer garden Since 2014, it has had its own attached brewery, ‘The Dancing Men Brewery’, but unfortunately they do not do a Sherlockian-themed beer. Next door was the Happisburgh Halt Coffee Shop & Carvery, but that had closed for the day. Feeling hungry, I therefore entered the pub and ordered a Cheese and Bacon burger, from a menu with a familiar silhouette on it.

Having taken photos of the Sherlock Holmes themed alcove, I then struck out in search of the home of Hilton and Elsie Cubitt, Riding Thorpe Manor, identified as Walcott House, Walcott Green, by Shirley Purves (in 'A Singular Countryside'), finding it with a minimum of wrong turns.

However, my bad luck with buses continued, as I just missed one back to North Walsham, and had to wait almost two hours for the next one, as the final bus of the day arrived 25 minutes late. I spent some of the time sitting on a sea wall, gazing out to sea as I listened to Stephen Fry read ‘The Dancing Men'.

Finally catching the bus and then a train back to Norwich, I made my way to my weekend’s lodgings, as I had further non-Sherlockian sites to visit over the rest of the weekend.