A new book from local author based in Lyme. The story is about two women connected by heartbreak, separated in time. Can Charity save the man she loves, or will Lydia’s vengeful spirit prove too strong? Two haunting love stories and a hundred and fifty-year-old curse.
When the beloved grandfather who brought her up dies, Charity is left struggling to cope. Alone and rootless, she’s drawn to the sleepy fishing village of Beaumouth near Lyme Regis and begins to research her family tree. In 1863 all Lydia Pavey wants to do is follow in Mary Anning’s footsteps and become a ‘fossilist.’ Instead, she is being forced into marriage to a man she barely knows.
Georgia Hill writes best-selling romcoms and historical fiction with romance at the heart. She lives by the sea in the south west of England with her two beloved dogs – a spaniel and a delinquent cockapoo puppy, her husband (also beloved and not at all delinquent) and a ghost called Zoe. She also finds inspiration in the folklore and history of the many places in which she’s lived.
“Georgia Hill creates an intense and intriguing narrative between past and present, against the imposing backdrop of the Jurassic Coast.” – Lisa Hill, The Ones That Got Away
I recently came across details of a film which was set in Lyme Regis in 1949. All Over the Town is a comedy film directed by Derek N. Twist and starring Norman Wooland, Sarah Churchill and Cyril Cusack, based on a novel by R.F. Delderfield.
After serving in the RAF during the Second World War, Nat returns to his prewar job as a reporter on the Tormouth Clarion which is in Lyme Regis. He is now working alongside Sally, who had taken his job when he enlisted. Later, Nat becomes the owner of the paper, but his employees strike, disagreeing with Nat’s stance on Tormouth’s housing scheme.
The only known surviving copy of the film was the negative at the BFI National Film and Television Archive. In 2005, the Lyme Regis Film Society commissioned the production of a new print from the negative. This copy of the film is housed in Lyme Regis Museum and has been shown at the local Regent Cinema on a few occasions. In 2018, it was shown on the UK television channel Talking Pictures TV.
You can see how Lyme Regis looked in the 40’s and still see some of the buildings and views. If you are staying at the Blacksmiths Cottage you can watch the film on the Apple TV by using AirPlay sharing.
The Lyme Regis branch line connected Lyme Regis with the mainline railway at Axminster, running through picturesque rural countryside on the Dorset – Devon border.
It opened in 1903 and on summer weekends it was very busy with high passenger numbers with through carriages from London on many services. The line achieved high levels of interest among railway enthusiasts in later years because a veteran type of steam engine, the Adams ‘Radial’ Tank 4-4-2T locomotive; this engine class survived long after the type had been superseded in its original area of use in the London suburbs.
The line was 6 miles long, starting from Axminster station, at the level of the River Axe there, it climbed, running broadly southerly to Combpyne, where the only intermediate station was sited. Turning broadly east, it descended to Lyme Regis, crossing an arm of the River Lim on Cannington Viaduct, a short walk from the Blacksmith’s Cottage and passing through Uplyme through what is now Barnes Meadow.
Cannington Viaduct is a Grade II listed structure and is the only significant structure on the branch, 203 yards long with ten elliptical arches of 50 feet span, 92 feet high. It was constructed of mass concrete with pre-cast concrete voussoirs; it was one of the earliest major structures of the type in England, and the second highest of the type. Cement was brought to the Cobb harbour at Lyme Regis, and to the construction site by a 1,000 foot cableway. Crushed flint from locally excavated material was used for the aggregate.
During its construction the west abutment and the adjacent pier slipped during the process of tipping fill material behind it, and it and the first pier settled significantly, distorting the first arch, delaying the opening. The displaced foundations were stabilised and the third arch was strengthened with a wall the distorted first arch was given a brick arch ring. You can still see these.
The gradient was too steep to permit a station in Uplyme. The station at Lyme Regis was on the north of the town at what is now the Health Centre and Jewsons, because immediately beyond t the land falls steeply towards the town.
Passenger use declined in the years following the Second World War, and only summer weekends remained busy. The line was scheduled for closure, and this was implemented on 29 November 1965.
The main station building at Lyme Regis was wooden, and after closure it was dismantled and re-erected at Alresford station, on the Watercress Line in Hampshire. The imposing Cannington Viaduct is a Grade II listed structure.
There is a proposal to build a narrow gauge line between Axminster and a park and ride on the coastal road to Seaton, part of which would use part of the trackbed of the former Lyme Regis branch.
Unlike some of the closed lines, the land along much of it has now become farmland and even part of peoples gardens, which means it will never be reestablished as a walking or cycling route. There are a number of choices of walks around the Cannington Viaduct from the Blacksmith’s Cottage including quiet lanes and footpaths. In the winter it may be best to limit the footpaths and this route suggestion includes just two fields to cross.
When the beloved grandfather who brought her up dies, Charity is left struggling to cope. Alone and rootless, she’s drawn to the sleepy fishing village of Beaumouth near Lyme Regis and begins to research her family tree. In 1863 all Lydia Pavey wants to do is follow in Mary Anning’s footsteps and become a ‘fossilist.’ Instead, she is being forced into marriage to a man she barely knows.
The gradient was too steep to permit a station in Uplyme. The station at Lyme Regis was on the north of the town at what is now the Health Centre and Jewsons, because immediately beyond t the land falls steeply towards the town.