Welcome to
Though situated in convenient proximity to London, the neighbourhood of Darking has long been celebrated for its picturesque beauty. The grandeur of the vistas is justly famous; in the course of a morning’s ride, visitors may enjoy all the benefit of a sublime variety of scenery to stimulate the mind and inspire the heart.
Not all of us, however, are suited to the robust pleasures to be sought in nature. Has your physician recommended that you seek to restore your health through a change of scene? If so, you can do no better than to repair to the district of Darking Hundred, whose pure air is noted for its salubriousness. To the aforesaid attractions we may add one of even greater value—that of a select society, pleased to offer welcome to visitors of discernment, be their stay of long duration or short. The neighbourhood abounds with the landed estates of gentlemen and Darking town provides all the amenities a visitor might wish, from elegant lodging to well-stocked circulating libraries and shops that offer the style of goods ordinarily to be found only in London itself. Long a favourite place of resort in the summer season, Darking is certain to reward the traveller with comforts and amenities of no negligible order.
Welcome to Darking Hundred, and may your stay here be a long and contented one.
The first book in the Darking Hundred series, Coldharbour Gentlemen, is now available for sale! Look for it on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. Coldharbour Gentlemen is the tale of an adventurous boy who gets more than he bargained for when he meets up with a band of smugglers. What he thinks will be just a summer lark turns deadly serious as he is confronted with hard choices to save his family and his own future . . .
14 June 2022
These are the chronicles of a particular place—the neighbourhood of a market town in Surrey, England—in a moment of time, the year 1800. The town still exists (though its name has migrated to a more prosaic form, Dorking), and these tales are embedded in its collective memory. The factual elements are drawn from the accumulated wisdom of members of historical societies that flourish in the neighbourhood; using their research as a basis, I have embellished reality with characters drawn solely from my imagination. If the result distorts the historical record in any way, the responsibility is entirely mine. . . .
4 November 2021
I am afraid the storyline of Coldharbour Gentlemen is somewhat unfair to Mr George Barclay of Burford Lodge. He is cast there as the deepest-dyed of villains—a traitor and all-around blackguard. It must be confessed that there is nothing in the historical record to indicate that he was guilty of the crimes I have laid at his door. In truth, however, he seems to have been, if not a blackguard, at least a very-dark-grey-guard . . .
4 November 2021