Two More Stories From Chagford

During the Evensong service, the couple who had invited us to St. Michael the Archangel learned that Bernard Knight's novel The Tinner's Corpse had brought us to their Dartmoor village of Chagford. They invited us to the pub afterward to continue our conversation. As we told them about our lives and interests, we learned that they were retired doctors, who had attended Cambridge University when training for their medical careers.

Before COVID-19 struck, I attempted to contact them. I had a few questions for them about how the British medical and education systems functioned. I also wished to compare our 2017 visit to Cambridge with their time there. Despite a priest at St. Michael the Archangel putting me in touch with them, the couple ignored my emails. Subsequent emails to the priest also received no response.

It's hard to know how to interpret silence. Had the priest given me their email addresses without getting the couple's okay first? Were the couple drafted into help with the COVID-19 crisis in local hospitals? Or had they discovered that evening, that after sating their curiosity, they had no desire to converse with us ever again? There are people who are friendly, but who will never be your friend, after all. 

All I can do is pray that the couple and the priest are safe and well.

Another memorable event from that evening was a conversation I had with a man who worked behind the bar. I don't remember exactly what I asked him. Perhaps I inquired about historical associations regarding the town. In any case, he responded by telling me that occasionally he saw people sitting and interacting with others in the pub. These people are dressed in clothes from a different era, and their speech also hails from an earlier time. One moment he'd glance up and see them, the next minute they would be gone. 

Were these apparitions real or imagined? And does it matter? While Science cannot prove the existence of ghosts, authors beyond counting have imagined the world inhabited by the spirits of those no longer physically with us. Memories of loved ones can either plague us or help us get through our days. Long departed friends and family members often visit us through our dreams. Stories--whether included or not in holy texts--also help to anchor and sustain us, particularly in difficult times.

May these five stories about the British village of Chagford shine light upon these dark times, and bring interest and meaning to your life.

Dragon Dave

Related Link:
St. Michael the Archangel

Three Stories Of Chagford

Five years ago, during our tour of the British county of Devon, we spent an evening in Chagford. One reason the village, located in Dartmoor National Park, was on our radar was due to the TV series Doctor Who. In the mid '70s, Tom Baker won the role of the 4th Doctor, taking over from actor Jon Pertwee, who had brought the show to new heights of popularity. During Tom Baker's first season, the cast and crew spent their days filming for the story "The Sontaran Experiment" at nearby Hound Tor, and their evenings in Chagford. 

While filming around the windswept boulders at Hound Tor, Tom Baker fell and had to be rushed to hospital. As he had only filmed one previous Doctor Who story at this point, the actor worried that the BBC might scrap his first filmed story, and recast him. Tom Baker had been working at a building site for lack of acting roles when he won the starring role, so this understandably scared him. The rest of the cast and crew had similar worries. 

That evening, when Tom Baker reunited with the cast and crew in a pub in Chagford where they would be spending the night, he only had a broken collarbone. His jacket and colorful scarf could conceal his neck brace in closeups for the following day's filming, and a stunt man, clad in his clothes, could fill in for him on for distance shots. This allowed him to continue in the role, saved the series from scrapping the filming, and hiring a new Doctor. 

Tom Baker would star as the 4th Doctor for a record-setting seven years. During his tenure, the program would reach even greater heights of popularity, and the actor would become a national hero in Britain. But first, there was the crisis of "The Sontaran Experiment."

Another reason we visited Chagford was that part of Bernard Knight's novel The Tinner's Corpse was set in the historic village. This was the first novel I read in Bernard Knight's Crowner John series. The book so impressed me that I sought out more of his books. While these books may not be for the faint of heart, or those who prefer cozy mysteries such as those written by Agatha Christie, they paint a vivid portrayal of the working and living conditions faced by British coroners in the late twelfth century. 

At one point in The Tinner's Corpse, Crowner John visits Chagford, where the miners bring the tin they've dug from the Earth to be graded. Some of that tin would prove of sufficient quality to be used as coinage.

A third reason we visited Chagford was because the village had real-life associations with events that may have inspired part of the historic novel Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore. The local church, St. Michael the Archangel, has a memorial to Mary Whiddon, who was murdered outside the church on her wedding day in 1641. I have not yet read Lorna Doone. When I do, I imagine it will feel more real to me after visiting Chagford.

After checking into a local pub, we wandered around the village. As the afternoon waned, our footsteps led us to the church yard. As we sat and gazed at the local church of St. Michael the Archangel, we debated what to do that evening. We had spent the day driving, and exploring the windy moorland of Dartmoor National Park. We were tired from our exertions and exposure to the elements. 

A sign outside announced an Evensong service, but did we really want to sit in a pew for an hour? Yet, when a couple arrived, they invited us to join them. While we were tempted to return to our room above the pub to read and relax, we accepted, and followed them inside. Who could say what other stories we might discover, inside this country church, in the historic village of Chagford?

As you can see, we discovered a very beautiful church, which tells a story in its own right.

Dragon Dave

Related Link:
St. Michael the Archangel

Rick Steeves on Social Distancing

Sacramento Airport, St. Patrick's Day 2020

Recently, world traveler and TV presenter Rick Steeves has observed that travel has become extremely touristy. Instead of venturing into the unknown to make interesting discoveries, tourists swamp the most popular sites for Instagram moments. 

"Look where I am!" they say. "That's one off the bucket list!

Meanwhile, places off the beaten track, that could prove fun and inspiring destinations, and where tourism could really benefit the locals, go relatively unvisited. This sort of herd mentality, of having to go where everyone else goes, makes no sense to me. Don't people want to experience adventure and discovery anymore?

Besides, where's the fun of sitting in traffic, waiting in line, or being limited to a designated amount of time in a given location because it's such a popular destination? I suppose it's easier to impress your friends with photos and tales of the places you've been, if they are places they'll instantly recognize. But is that was travel is supposed to be about?

On my return flight, I was struck by how empty Sacramento Airport felt. Few restaurants had patrons. Most stood empty. I saw one person walking away from the counter at Starbucks, while Peet's Coffee & Tea was staffed, but seemingly closed. Hardly anyone waited for flights. Most of the chairs at the gates were empty. 

By now, admonitions to wash your hands, wipe down any surfaces you touch, and keep your distance from others were in the news. So we found an unoccupied area at the gate, disinfected the seats and sidetables w/ wetwipes, and pulled out our ebook readers. Within a few minutes, a woman plunked down next to us. Seemingly oblivious to us, she talked on her phone loudly and continuously enough to make reading impossible.

With people canceling or changing their travel plans, most airlines canceled flights. Despite only having thirty passengers, Southwest Airlines demonstrated their mission of customer service by not canceling our flight, or rescheduling all their flights to fly full. Instead, they kept to their schedule, operating at a loss to not inconvenience their passengers. 

The flight crew advised everyone to spread out, and leave plenty of space between themselves and others, in order to inhibit the potential spread of Coronavirus COVID-19. Being among the first to board, my wife and I took a row around a third of the way back. We disinfected out seats and tray tables, and strapped in. 

Despite warnings from government health authorities and the Southwest staff, passengers filled up seats and rows in front, beside, and behind us. Again: the herd mentality. When a family filled up the row directly in front of us, we abandoned our seats, and left our carry-ons where we had stowed them.

The view ahead on our Southwest flight

A little behind the wings, we found a row with no one else close around. We disinfected the seats and tray tables, and got comfortable. By the time boarding had finished, only six others had joined us from the wings back. This left 145 empty seats on the plane, with 22 people clustered up front.

The view behind

On our trips to England, we've visited many popular places, such as Westminster Abbey and Stonehenge. But most of the places we traveled to were places few international travelers go, such as the town of Bideford, where Charles Kingsley set his novel Westward Ho!, and Chagford, a historic stannery town featured in The Tinner's Corpse, a novel in the Crowner John mystery series by Bernard Knight. Some places, such as Cromer, have grown more interesting since our visit. Through my reading, I've accompanied characters on their visits to the seaside town in Tono-Bungay by H. G. Wells, Limitations by E. F. Benson, and So Disdained by Nevil Shute.

No one knows how Coronavirus COVID-19 may alter our world. Times like these make us reflect on our lives, and what really matters. Perhaps we should contemplate how Rick Steeves' observation relates to us. At the very least, it makes sense to adopt easy habits such as cleaning your hands, disinfecting surfaces, and keeping more distance from others than usual. 

Dragon Dave

Related Links
Rick Steeves' Blog