Post by Jon on Nov 2, 2009 23:43:04 GMT
Nov 1, 2009 11:21:26 GMT @bartondowns said:
I've been looking at Agatha Christie's Devon written by Bret Hawthorne, a one-time TGBS pupil.Apparently the Queen of Crime had little time for the old school because it buggered up her view of the sea when it was built.
The map below shows Ashfield - the house in which she grew up -to the north of the old grammar school site on Barton Road. Barton Road is the NW-SE diagonal in the bottom left-hand coner with Oakhill Road heading off in a NE direction across the map. The U-shaped road at the top is St Vincent's Road.
Simon Baker asked in the programme if there were any links between Agatha Christie and TUFC. As the map shows, Christie's home was just around the corner from where Torquay United played between 1904 and 1910.
Christie's father was a very important figure at Torquay Cricket Club - with whom TUFC used to share the ground. TCC moved from Barton Road to the Rec in 1926 and of course Barton CC now uses the Barton Road ground. The young Agatha used to act as scorer for TCC at the Barton Road ground.
Torquay CC actually ceased to exist for two summers - 1901 and 1902 - due to financial problems. Unfortunately, Agatha's father passed away before the club reformed.
Did Agatha continue to score for TCC after TUFC moved in to groundshare in 1904? Did she sometimes stroll down to the familiar ground to watch TUFC in an East Devon League match? Probably not, but it is not impossible.
