When I chose to write the Alexander Templeman books, I realised I was going to have to spend a decent amount of time doing some research. After all, I might have a few years on the clock myself but I wasn’t around in the 1910s.
With the first book in the series, most of the action takes place at a remote location in the Scottish Lowland Hills, which meant I didn’t really need to do a great deal of research, however that hasn’t been the case with book two, which comes out soon.
The action in this one takes place in several different locations, with most of it based in and around the small, ancient town of Rye, which sits on the south coast of the county of Sussex, overlooking the English Channel.
Although I know the modern town pretty well, as a result of having two relatives living nearby, I didn’t know much about it at the start of the twentieth-century. But what fun I’ve had finding out more about the town of a hundred years ago.
One of the more personally related things I discovered is that where my sister’s house now sits, just behind the sand dunes, is right on the original line of a small tramway that ran from the eastern outskirts of Rye.
(This is the Rye town station in 1895).
Opened in 1895, this tramway was built to carry golfers to and from the links style golf course that sits right on the sea shore. The station in Rye was next to the sole bridge that crosses the river just outside the town and the golf course had its very own stop. Then, some years later, the line was extended to take holiday makers to the fabulous sandy beaches at Camber Sands further along that same stretch of coast.
(This is the engine named 'Camber' in 1895).
Although the tramway is now long since gone, having closed in 1939, there are a few places where you can still find remains. The best of these is the golf club station, which remains intact, plus a stretch of the original tracks now embedded in concrete, which I have walked along myself on many occasions.
Whether or not Alexander Templeman gets to enjoy the delights of the Rye and Camber Tramway is something you will have to find out by reading the book!
(Images from Wikipedia).