In Kydd’s Footsteps
[To leave a comment go right to the end of the page and just enter it in the ‘Leave a Reply’ box]
“The Admiral’s Daughter”
Was it our wanderlust behind the fact that it wasn’t until the eighth title in the series that the story was set in home waters, I wonder… Whatever the reason, writing that book highlighted to me just how strong the maritime heritage is in the West Country. But that’s the topic for another blog!
Recently, when two friends (and fans of the Kydd series) from the States had a short stay in Devon it was a perfect excuse to revisit two of the locations in The Admiral’s Daughter.
Saltram House
Film buffs may have spotted the true identity of Norland Park in the film Sense and Sensibility. Yes, it was Saltram House!
In The Admiral’s Daughter, Kydd, now an officer and a gentleman, is invited to Saltram and approaches the grand estate with some trepidation:
‘The spare, classical stateliness of Saltram was ablaze with lights in the summer dusk and a frisson of excitement seized Kydd as a footman lowered the side‑step and stood to attention as he alighted. In a few moments he would be entering an existence he could not have dreamed of before and so much would hang on his motions of the next few hours.’
Polperro, Cornwall
Kydd takes in the scene when he arrives:
‘It was a pretty village; the small harbour was central with its piers and little fisher boats in rows on the mud.’
In Polperro Kydd meets sweet Rosalynd and is then torn between her and the admiral’s daughter, Persephone Lockwood.
Polperro retains much of its history and character to this day. Take away the electricity supply and a few other trappings of modern life and the little village hasn’t really changed all that much. It’s one of the most charming spots on the Cornish coast and I heartily recommend a visit if you ever get a chance.
All too soon our friends had to depart and return to the States but I hope when they re-read The Admiral’s Daughter, as they were keen to do, they will find their visits to Saltram and Polperro have enriched their appreciation of Kydd’s world. I know Kathy and I certainly did!
I’d love to hear from readers who have visited other locales in the series.
Copyright notices
Saltram House: By Chilli Head from Weston-super-Mare, UK (Saltram House, Devon) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
Every effort is made to honour copyright but if we have inadvertently published an image with missing or incorrect attribution, on being informed of this, we undertake to delete the image or add a correct credit notice
Julian Stockwin 
Brenda and I have been to quite a few places in you books ie Cape Town, Toulon, Mahon, St Johns, Nelsons dockyard. Looking forward to reading Caribbee in October.
Forgot a few being in the mob I have been all over the South Atlantic and the islands in the Indian Ocean,and the West Indies,Baltic.been on a cruise to the Baltic in June and saw the Vassa, great.
I know Polperro well, having lived in Plymouth in the 70’s and visited often, both in and out of season. Soon after I married my second wife in 1993 we had a holiday at a farm cottage between Looe and Polperro. We parked at Talland Bay, only two cars in the car park, and walked along the cliff path to Polperro. It was a misty day and as Polperro emerged from the mist it was truly magical!
I forgot to mention also that we saw a Red Kite during our walk along the cliffs, and this was before it was generally known that they had been reintroduced to Cornwall!