{"id":3926,"date":"2023-09-01T12:32:42","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T10:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/?p=3926"},"modified":"2023-09-01T12:32:44","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T10:32:44","slug":"not-in-my-own-back-yard-eighteenth-century-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/?p=3926","title":{"rendered":"Not In My Own Back Yard: Eighteenth Century Style"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s always a delight to host Nicola Pryce as her blogs are unfailingly interesting. Here she is with her latest. Over to you Nicola!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cornish Rebel<\/em> is the seventh novel in my Cornish series, so I wanted to set it where the others are set \u2013 between Polperro and Penzance, or somewhere inland around Truro or Bodmin. It\u2019s the area I know best from our sailing trips and it has a special place in my heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I write romantic fiction and what could be more romantic than the name Restronguet Creek, except maybe the creek itself? Along its shore is the iconic C15th Pandora Inn, known at the time of my book as The Passage House Inn. It lies directly opposite Harcourt Quay and for hundreds of years the owners of the inn ran a ferry across the creek. Nowhere is more beautiful in the early mist with the seabirds scuttling along the shore, or in the setting sun, or the lingering fog, and I\u2019ve wanted to set a book there for quite some time.<\/p>\n\n\n

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My other books feature shipbuilders, harbour engineers, naval officers, and fishermen but I came across a map in the archives of Kresen Kernow in Redruth which caught my attention; it set me thinking about roads and road builders. The map was of the proposed new turnpike road from Truro to Falmouth which showed the position of a new bridge across the Carnon River at the tip of Restronguet Creek. This road is now the A39.
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The map made me wonder whose land was it going to cross, and would they welcome it?<\/em> Delving deeper into the records I found the minutes of the Turnpike Trust meetings held between 1795-1800, and was interested to find many traders and merchants had put their names forward to be considered for the roll of tollgate keepers, stone collectors, ditch clearers etc. Clearly there was a lot of enthusiasm for the road. But what about Restronguet Creek? Further research showed several companies renting premises along the creek\u2019s shore in Harcourt Quay. Not only that, but Harcourt Quay itself had recently changed ownership.
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I came across another fascinating fact and I knew I had to incorporate in my book. John Loudon McAdam was in Falmouth in 1801 before he left to become the surveyor for the Bristol Turnpike Trust. His views on road building were considered radical, believing as he did that roads did not need to have heavy stone foundations but thin layers of smaller stones laid over a subsoil base. Even more radical was his opinion that once laid, each layer should be left to be compacted by the weight of the vehicles before the next layer was added. His \u2018macadamized\u2019 roads as they became known enabled horses to pull three times the load without the danger of causing ruts. Wagons and coaches were also able to carry heavier loads and travel at far greater speeds.<\/p>\n\n\n

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So much for road builders, but why an improved road and a new bridge across the creek? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Carnon River flows into the tip of Restronguet Creek which has always been a rich source of minerals. The minerals are picked up as the water flows through the adits, the large drains, from the mines further inland. Since the Romans, the rich alluvial sediment deposited in the creek and was \u2018streamed\u2019 for tin and copper \u2013 even traces of silver and gold. In 1801, the well-established streaming works used watermills to pump the water out of the creek on a low tide. They had dykes to hold back the high tide, but they wanted to expand by sinking shafts deep under the creek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Land, therefore, was needed along the banks of Restronguet Creek: an efficient pumping engine was required, and the harbour needed to be enlarged. The mineral rights of the surrounding land were worth a fortune, let alone access to Harcourt Quay and the sea beyond. Rich industrialists were clearly showing great interest by renting properties on the quayside and speculating in smelting companies. They saw the new road as necessary not only for future growth but for the present, growing commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perfect, therefore, for a story about greed and land grabbing!  
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What if the land the new turnpike road was to cross belonged to a middle-aged headmistress who was the target of an unscrupulous and desperate speculator? Bankrupt and facing ruin, would she welcome a young Turnpike Trust surveyor turning up at her school with his plans for the new road? Or would she and her niece fight for every inch of their land?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you so much for Georgia for hosting me on your lovely blog. It\u2019s an honour to introduce The Cornish Rebel<\/em> to your readers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy reading everyone. x<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re very welcome. And thank you for putting so much hard work into the blog. Always a pleasure to have a fellow history buff on the site! Here\u2019s a little about our guest:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nicola Pryce is published by Atlantic Books and is represented by Teresa Chris. She trained as a nurse at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, loves literature and history, and has an Open University degree in Humanities. She is a qualified adult literacy support volunteer and lives with her husband in the Blackdown Hills in Somerset. She and her husband love sailing and together they sail the south coast of Cornwall in search of adventure. It is there where she sets her books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicola is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and The Historical Writers’ Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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          http:\/\/nicolapryce.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

         (2) Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Nicola Pryce-author (@nicola_pryce_author) | Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Cornish Rebel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornwall, 1801.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the wake of her mother\u2019s death, Pandora Woodville has finally escaped her domineering father and returned to Falmouth. Bright with the dream of working at her Aunt Harriet\u2019s school for young women, Pandora is shocked to learn the school is facing imminent closure after a series of sinister events has threatened its reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acclaimed chemist Benedict Aubyn has also recently returned to Cornwall, to take up a new role as Turnpike Trust Surveyor. Pandora\u2019s arrival has been a strange one, so she is grateful when he shows her kindness. As news of the school\u2019s ruin spreads around town, everyone seems to be after her aunt\u2019s estate. Now, Pandora and Aunt Harriet must do everything in their power to save the school, or risk losing everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Pandora has another problem. She\u2019s falling for Benedict. But can she trust him, or is he simply looking after his own interests?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also in this series :-<\/p>\n\n\n

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It\u2019s always a delight to host Nicola Pryce as her blogs are unfailingly interesting. Here she is with her latest. Over to you Nicola! The Cornish Rebel is the seventh novel in my Cornish series, so I wanted to set it where the others are set \u2013 between Polperro and Penzance, or somewhere inland around Truro or Bodmin. It\u2019s the area I know best from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[308,427,379,789],"class_list":["post-3926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-historical-fiction","tag-historical-romance","tag-new-release","tag-nicola-pryce"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3926"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3944,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3926\/revisions\/3944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.georgiahill.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}