1920s – I Walk Alone

Research Rabbit Hole – Southampton Parks 1926

The town of Southampton was once surrounded by ancient fields where townspeople grew crops in summer and grazed animals in winter. By law, all crops had to be harvested by 1 August, Lammas Day, so the fields were called Lammas Lands. In 1844, the Marsh Improvement Act allowed the council to drain the Saltmarsh around the new Terminus Station. To compensate the townspeople for losing this common grazing land, the council agreed to turn the other Lammas Lands into parks. The Central Parks were laid out in the late 1850s, and old OS maps of the time show the layout has changed very little since. Southampton’s wonderful parks are still a prominent feature to this day, and they also feature in many of my books. Making sure I got things right required a good deal of research.

Research Rabbit Hole – Southampton shops 1926

Gilbert’s Bookshop 1895 from the Plimsoll site

When local businesses feature in my books, I try to base them on real businesses when I can. The archived Kelly’s Directories are marvellous for finding just the shop, or restaurant I need. They often tell me who the owner was and what other businesses were nearby. Sometimes, there are interesting adverts too. Several shops played a part in Land Fit For Heroes, so I thought I share a few of the things I discovered.

Research rabbit hole – crime and punishment Southampton 1926

Research is key when writing believable historic fiction. Like most authors, I do the majority before I write a single word. Much of it involves working out the plot, and getting the setting and details right. With Land Fit For Heroes, much of the research revolved around the General Strike, Southampton Docks, and Melbourne Street. Crime and punishment was a theme running through this story, and finding out what happened to Southampton’s law breakers when they got caught led me down an interesting research rabbit hole and changed the direction of the plot completely.

Stepping back in time ~ 1926

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This may be true, but when it comes to writing historic fiction, a picture can conjure a thousand words, at least for me. My stories might be inspired by family and odd things I’ve read here and there. The details might be sharpened by research using resources like JSTOR, old newspapers, Radio times archives, old OS maps, archived weather reports and local history pages on Facebook. The old photographs and postcards give me a feel for the era I’m writing about, though. They capture the essence of the time and place like words never can.

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