Step Into The Story

Ok folks, I haven't posted a picture to go with this for reasons of delicacy. At least I've posted a picture of David Tennant as Casanova just for fun. Anyway, if you are of a nervous disposition or feeling particularly delicate this Monday morning my advice would be DON'T CLICK ON THIS LINK http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/8589766.stm The story is that an anonoymous bidder has paid £3,600 for a couple of "wooden items" as the BBC politely describes them, at auction. The sex toys date from the eighteenth century and are extremely rare and collectible. This is an investment opportunity, according to the auctioneer, who said: "You won't see another one in a long time."

As a result of the current contest on my website , I've had a number of enquiries from readers about the fountain that features in my book, Unmasked . What did it look like, how deep was it and is it really possible to swim in a fountain? Karen B referenced the wonderful water gardens at Alnwick Castle (pictured) and asked me if that was my inspiration. It wasn't, but now that I've seen them I am very keen to re-visit Alnwick. It looks wonderful. The inspiration for the fountain in Unmasked comes from Stanway , a beautiful Jacobean manor house in the Cotswolds. I visited Stanway a few years ago and fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. Not only is it stunningly beautiful from the outside, all rich yellow stone and extravagant design, but it has a lived in feel to it, packed full of ancient furniture including a wonderful shuffleboard table dating from the reign of Charles I. And it is the only historic house I've visited where they allow you to take your dog insi

Today I felt like writing about lighthouses. Why? Maybe it's the stormy weather. The fact is I live about as far away from the coast as it's possible to be in the UK, almost exactly in the centre of the country, and every so often I get a hankering for the sea. There's something about lighthouses that is part of the British consciousness. We're an island race and for thousands of years we were reliant on trade at sea and lived in fear of death by shipwreck. Lighthouses are inspirational, offering a guiding light across treacherous waters. They are also lonely and the role of the lighthousekeeper is a fascinating one, solitude in wild and empty places. Here are a few historic British lighthouses to celebrate the spirit of altruism of the lighthouse: I read this week that patents were traditionally never taken out on any lighthouse inventions as they were deemed good for humanity as a whole. At the top is Leasowe Lighthouse, the oldest brick-built lighthouse in the count

This is one of the most imaginative and fascinating ideas I've heard for a while. The National Portrait Gallery in London and the National Trust's Montacute House are jointly mounting a new display of thirteen portraits where the identity of the sitter is lost, mistaken or uncertain. All the pictures date from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and are probably of courtiers, merchants, musicians and others who wished to be immortalised through art but whose identity is now forgotten. Inspired by the mystery portraits, authors including Tracy Chevalier, Minette Waters, Terry Pratchett and Joanna Trollope have written short stories of what the lives of these sitters might have been like and have created fictional biographies and character sketches. These draw on the details in the paintings; the costumes, the background, the pets, decorations, furniture etc etc to create a richer picture. Minette Walters has written a poignant letter from the perspective of the wife of a ma

You wait fifty six years for a film and then two come along at the same time. What are the chances? Rosemary Sutcliff's book The Eagle of the Ninth has been an all time favourite of mine since I read it at school (which wasn't quite 56 years ago - that was when it was first published) and when I heard it was going to be turned into a film I was ecstatic. For me that story has everything: a spooky historical mystery at its heart - the disappearance of a Roman legion north of Hadrian's Wall - adventure, romance and a great setting. So I hurried off to find out all about the film... And discovered both of them. First up, in April, is Centurion . This appears to be inspired by the story of the Roman Ninth Legion rather than actually based on Rosemary Sutcliff's book. It stars Michael Fassbender and Dominic West, two good reasons to go and see it, aside from the actual story. I like the idea of a plucky band of seven warriors fighting back against overwhelming odds deep i

The ancient pastime of cheese rolling was in the headlines this weekend when the annual cheese rolling contest at Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire was cancelled because of concerns over the sizes of the crowd turning out to see the event. It was refreshing that no one was concerned about potential injury to the participants (or the cheeses) and that the problem simply related to issues of traffic and crowd control. The Cooper's Hill cheese rolling dates back at least 200 years. The rules are relatively simple; a round of Double Gloucester Cheese is rolled down the hill and competitors race after it. In theory they are aiming to catch the cheese but since it has a head start and can gather momentum to reach speeds of up to 70mph, this is unlikely to happen. The first person over the finish line at the bottom of the hill gets to keep the cheese, assuming that it is still in a fit state to be eaten. It is hoped that the event will be re-arranged. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the count

Yes, that's it. Eight pairs of elaborate gate piers and part of a walled garden are all that is left of the First Earl of Craven's splendid house at Hamstead Marshall in Berkshire, yet despite that the site is one of the most fascinating and atmospheric places to visit, perhaps because you can let your imagination run riot. There are pieces of roof slates, floor tiles and window glass still lying in the fields as testament to the magnificence of the house and you can walk across the whole area, imagining that you are strolling in the pleasure grounds. Aerial photographs still clearly show the outlines of the parterre and box gardens and the foundation line of the front of the house. The house was built by Sir Balthazar Gerbier in the early 1660s, modelled on Elizabeth of Bohemia's palace at Heidelberg. It burned down in 1718, only 21 years after the first Earl's death. Some of the design paperwork survives today in the form of 40 drawings in the Bodleian Library. They

Here are some of my favourite British pub names that celebrate the more lawless elements of our society! The Wicked Lady - A pub in No Man's Land, Hertfordshire. named in honour of Lady Kathleen Ferrers, 1634 - 59, who became a highwaywoman at the age of 18. She was shot dead seven years later as she attempted to rob customers leaving the Park Inn. Her story was made into a film in 1945 starring Margaret Lockwood. Dick Turpin also has pubs named after him. Of similar ilk is The Highwayman in Liskeard, Cornwall, named for James Elliott, who was convicted for highway robbery in 1787 and hanged at Bodmin. The Poacher - There are poachers' inns and poachers' pockets across the country. One sign for the latter shows a man with particularly capacious pockets from which a brace of pheasant are falling. The Smugglers - A pub in Anstruther, Fife, which was the favourite watering hole of the men who supplied contraband to the Earl of Strathmore. A passage from the inn led directl

My website is out of action at the moment, suffering from a fault that means that I can't update it. So whilst the engineers try to fix it for me I have decided that I will post up the contest details here because it is such a lovely prize this month that I don't want anyone to miss the chance to enter. Here are the details: This month I am offering a trio of books as the website contest prize. First up is a copy of Tempt the Devil by incomparable historical author Anna Campbell . Next is a copy of To Sin with a Scoundrel, the sizzling debut historical from fabulous author Cara Elliott . And finally there is a copy of my own award-winning book, Unmasked. To enter the contest email the answer to me at ncornick@madasafish.com Here's the question: In the extract from Unmasked on my website, where has Nick caught Mari swimming? The answer's here ! Good luck and thank you for entering the contest!

Every so often I'm reading a book and a wolf stalks across the historical landscape, or a red kite swoops down in the streets of London and carries off a kitten. Fascinating background colour, but it did get me wondering about extinction dates for various species in the UK because nothing will pull me out of a book faster than a beaver splashing around in a Regency era river. So here's a round up of a few extinction dates for species in Britain, although some of these are in dispute. The Brown Bear - Circa 1000 AD Bears are thought to have died out in Britain shortly before the medieval period due to heavy deforestation and hunting by humans. Bones and skulls have been found scattered in many parts of the Scottish Highlands while bears are often depicted on Pictish stones. This is pretty amazing to me. Despite having seen bears in the French Pyrenees I just can't get my head around the thought that shortly before the Norman Conquest you could have been wandering around a f

Happy St David's Day! David, or Dewi, the patron saint of Wales celebrates his national day today and heralds the arrival of spring. Customs associated with St David's Day include the wearing of one of the national symbols of Wales, either a leek in the hatband or a daffodil in the buttonhole. The daffodil has been preferred in recent times because it's a little more practical than trying to fix a leek in a hatband. The similarity of the word daffodil to the name Dafydd, a Welsh form of David, is however probably co-incidental because the saint is known as Dewi in Wales and the name daffodil comes from affodil, a variant of the asphodel. The significance of the leek has been the subject of a certain amount of debate. It is suggested that St David ordered his men to wear leeks in battle so that they could be identified from the enemy. Shakespeare makes reference to this in Henry V. An alternative explanation may be that leeks and daffodils are both supposed to be readily av