Laurie R. King

Meredith Taylor continues her description of an investigative trip to Dartmoor, in the footsteps of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.

Lew Trenchard

While talking to the staff ladies, a good question was answered: how can a hotel chain afford to have all these family portraits and beautiful furniture?  Donna gave me the interesting solution: Dr. Merriol Baring-Gould Almond still owns the house and contents and it is on long-term lease to the hotel chain.  She comes over at intervals from the States to see the place.  Apparently many of the portraits are copies as SBG liked the originals.  Some line the staircase.

 

 

 

 

Specific portraits here show SBG as a child with his mother, a young man (with Donna the staff member) and a portrait of Grace, his wife.

At this point Donna noticed perhaps she needed to do a little work.  I found the ballroom (a general photo and also detail pictured)

 

 

 

 

and then asked Laure  “where is the quarry?”  She said, with French accent,  “Iz it by the lake, perhaps?”  I said “I think it is the lake.”   (Picture shows Dave and Laure and a bit of garden.)  We had to be escorted past a “keep out” sign even to be able to see it.   Yes, there’s a good forty foot drop from the level of the garden to the water’s surface.  You could perhaps slide down that piece of land to the bank next to the water if you were a foolish resident.  It looked green and menacing, no doubt more appealing on a hot day.  The idea of letting your children play there!

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow: the church of Lew Trenchard…