Month: September 2023

Research rabbit hole ~ Southampton trams

Once upon a time, Southampton had an extensive tram network. Every time I go to the supermarket for my big shop, I’m reminded of it as I go up the stairs from the car park, thanks to a large mural on the wall. The supermarket in question was once the old bus and tram depot. When I was writing Luck of the Draw, I fell down a huge research rabbit hole centred around the trams and the tram depot. The story centred on a tram driver and his conductor friend, the former inspired by my husband’s grandfather Walter Dowling, who was a real-life Southampton tram driver. The history of Southampton trams didn’t really make it into the book, so I’ll share my discoveries with you here instead.

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Old farts railway adventure Portchester

When we got off the train at Portchester station, it was hotter than either of us had envisaged. We’d set out on our Old Farts Railway Adventure knowing it would be warm. It was 25 June, after all. We hadn’t expected the sky to be quite so cloudless or the sun so hot, though. From my previous trip with CJ  in 2015, I knew it was about a mile from the railway station to the castle. A mile is no distance, and at least I knew the way. Even so, when we passed an old-time bus going to and from the station, I was miffed we hadn’t known about it earlier. It would have saved us a hot walk and brought back memories of hopping on and off the dodgy platform at the back as kids. 

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Research rabbit hole ~ Southampton and the Spanish Civil War

Picasso’s 1937 painting Guernica

The civil war in Spain might seem a strange subject to research for a novel set in Southampton in 1937, but it was a rabbit hole I fell down when writing The Luck Of The Draw. At first glance, the war between Franco’s Nationalists and Republicans loyal to the Spanish Government, seems unconnected to the quiet port town of Southampton over six hundred miles away, but on 23 May 1937, the two became forever connected.

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