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Time for another little Quiz?
Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Well, we haven't had one for quite a while (and no-one else seems to have started one for ages) so perhaps it's time for another - the first one on the forum's new format!

Q. Which particular location, well known for an incident during the A-ZW, is suggested by a combination of (a) the Wirral, (b) the Lerryn & (c) the Liffey?

Shouldn't take too long. Make sure you bring all three elements into your answer.

Peter
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Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Wot! No answers this time? Clue required?

P.
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Dawn


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 610
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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I'd say.

I think this one has gone into the 'too hard' basket, Peter. The closest I've come is that all three seemed to have an association with places in England, so I'm guessing the incident involves items made or associated with those places. But then, I may be on the wrong track completely.

Dawn
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Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Dawn

I think you're right, it may be a bit too obscure! (Mind you, it was meant to be reasonably obscure, otherwise there'd be no point). For someone with sufficiently detailed knowledge, it might just come to them straight away, but I'd expect a bit of looking up as well. In the past some real humdingers have been solved very quickly. (JY was often to the fore in that way, but I suspect the Met have first calls on his time at present).

As a clue - or, I suspect, a giveaway - I'd say:

For those who have ruminated on the possible significance of each of the rivers, consider their proximity (in either case) to the "family seat" of a British officer. I dare say one of them in particular may cause the penny to drop immediately.

And with regard to The Wirral - just have a quick look at the map and consider one of the outermost communities.

Can't see how I can make it any easier, I'm afraid! I'll leave it there for a day or so but wouldn't expect it to survive that long now!

Happy thinking ...

Peter
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Mike McCabe
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Are you perhaps thinking that Mostyn, in nearby Wales, is on the Wirral?
MC McC
Ian Woodason


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 8
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Peter, Lerryn is the small river which runs below Ethy House, the family home of the Melvills in Cornwall. The Liffey is a few miles from Drumcondra, Dublin one of the Coghill residences - these two would point to Fugitive's Drift but I can't make Wirral fit though - (HMS) Birkenhead? Loss of colour(s)? Ian[/url]
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Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Ah, now we're getting somewhere! Not Mostyn, Mike, but Ian has hit the nail on the head with Melvill & Coghill at FD & has two out of three. A touch of "Mac & Shad" and a bit of local west country knowledge goes a long way!

And where does the Wirral come in? I'm sure you'll get it, Mike, if you think of the name of the 1500 acre farm there & the name it went by for most of the 20th century, as you know the area very well indeed.

Peter
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Ian Woodason


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
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West Kirby!
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Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Yes!!! Full marks Woody! Top of the form (and so you should be!)

I knew it would take only a little nudge to shift this one into "easy" mode.

Incidentally, last month my family & I visited St Whinnow to view the Melvill stained glass window. The brass plaque on the sloping sill below has been temporarily removed during interior restoration but there was a useful display of illustrations & text explaining the link between Lerryn, Ethy, St Whinnow - and, indeed, Brecon - through Melvill's connection, and giving a good account of the whole Melvill/Coghill story including some published articles I'd not seen before and providing plenty of detail on the lobbying for the posthumous VC by the two families involved. I also bought a CD on the saga, produced locally & on sale in the church itself.

I was stunned by the beauty of the location & couldn't dismiss from my mind the many similarities to the spot at the foot of the slope at Fugitives' Drift itself. The six-mile walk from Lerryn to St Whinnow via Ethy House and the woods alongside the Lerryn and Fowey is a real treat on a summer's day, especially with the Melvill family at the back of one's mind. Looking along the winding, wooded river valley can certainly remind one of the whole West Kirby/FD area & I found myself wondering if the Melvill family had an any idea of the similarity?

Peter
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Rich
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Peter:

Just to ask....is Melvill's window in St Winnows Church or is it in another one there? I've seen pictures of the area and yes the area
is absolutely stunning.
Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Richus

Yes, the window is in the parish church of St Winnow, a few miles west of Lerryn on the northern bank of the Lerryn (or, to be more accurate perhaps, just round the corner on the east bank of the Fowey - I haven't checked a map for this). I think the village of Lerryn is in a separate parish with its own church but haven't checked that. Ethy House is only just outside Lerryn village itself in a picturesque and quiet bit of its own parkland. I think both the house and the park have been owned by the National Trust at one time but now the house is privately owned.

St Winnow church serves a rather dispersed (and isolated) rural parish and is reached by going down a series of very narrow lanes from the market town of Lostwithiel. Its situation is at the bottom of the hill, right on the river bank - when the tide is out there is a little beach, not unlike the sandy waterside at Fugitives Drift. With the banks of the river reaching upwards further along and disappearing round the bend and being covered largely in woodland, it resembles the Mzinyathi in places (with some imagination, of course!) Despite its name, St Winnow church is, I recall, dedicated to St Petroc.

The countryside and rivesides are beautiful. The whole area is lovely. Standing in the meadows of the parkland in front of Ethy House, I imagined Melvill's parents and wife learning of the disaster, probably from The Times, and gradually learning more over the following weeks as their son featured in the press reports and letters began to come in. I believe Melvill's wife and child were living with his parents there at the time and his second son/child was born soon afterwards.

The window does, I think, include his parents (or it might be an adjacent one - see the KLH link in Ian's post above) and his parents are buried in the churchyard there - which, needless to say, is beautiful and peaceful. Hopefully, it won't be too long before the memorial plaque is replaced.

Peter
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Rich
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Thanks Peter. Looks like it's another one of those great "pilgrimage" sites having an affinity with the AZW. And I'm aware that the old Poldark series seemed to have shot some scenes there.
Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Richus

Yes, it was well worth the effort to get to. As far as "affinity sites" are concerned, I'm very fortunate here in eastern Kent, as I'm only half a dozen miles in one direction or another from the family seats or sometime residences of Dyson, Curling, Bradstreet and Chaplain Smith, among others. And not far away is a hallowed (to me!) piece of ground where Bromhead, Penn Symons* and Pope all played in a game of cricket together not long before embarking for the Cape.

Peter

* Not strictly double-barrelled, I know, but perhaps more easily identifiable as such.
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