Visit to Lyme Regis Aug 2009

[JennyGorrod]

I have just returned from a long-anticipated visit to Lyme Regis. I have wanted to go there since 1983, when I first read TFLW, my favourite book. It felt a real literary pilgrimage, since I also love Jane Austen's novels and was keen to see the siting of Louisa Musgrove's fall from the steps on the Cobb. But most of all, I wanted to get a sense of the place as the setting for TFLW. Even on a summer's day in 2009, with the beach swarming with holiday-makers and the Cobb crowded with visitors, cameras in hand, it was easy to imagine Sarah standing at the end of the Cobb, turning to give Charles her lancing look.

It was wonderful to see Belmont House, though slightly sad, since the house is evidently in need of repair and refurbishment. I don't know if the house still belongs to the Fowles family. I think it would be a marvellous place to set up a study centre for writers and artists.