Research – I Walk Alone

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.

Research rabbit hole ~ Southampton and the Spanish Civil War

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.

Research rabbit hole ~ Portswood 1935

Portswood Road – The Palladium is on the right

I lived in Portswood for a couple of years in the early 1980s, in a flat on Belmont Road, so when I wrote A Dish Best Served Cold, and my characters took me there, I already had a feel for the area. Things were different in Portswood in 1935, but modern-day Portswood still has remnants of its past glory, if you look closely. These, along with old photographs and searches through Kelly’s Directories, formed the bones of my story’s world. As usual, my research led me down some interesting rabbit holes and uncovered lots of snippets of information, many of which never made it onto the page. Rather than waste them, I’ll share them with you now.

Research Rabbit Hole ~ East Street & The Ditches 1935

East Street looking towards St Mary’s Street 1930s

Known locally as the Ditches, Southampton’s East Street and Canal Walk play an important part in my latest novel, A Dish Best Served Cold. East Street dates back to the days of the medieval town when it led from English Street (now the High Street) to Bag Row (now St Mary’s Street) and linked the medieval town with the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Hamwic. Of course, modern-day East Street is nothing like the street in my novel. The Southampton blitz saw to that.

Research rabbit hole ~ population control 1931

Daisy Woodman, the inspiration for my third book, Seventh Daughter, was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. She was one of nine children, and her mother, Florence Weaver, was one of eleven. Large families were nothing out of the ordinary in the early 1900s, but family sizes decreased dramatically in the first half of the twentieth century. Today, a seventh daughter would be a very rare thing indeed, and this is, in part, due to a book, Married Love, written by Marie Stopes in 1918. Marie Stopes’ book didn’t contain any new or revolutionary information about contraception, it simply made it available to the masses.

Research rabbit hole ~ 1931 midwives and handywomen

People often ask me how I come up with the ideas for my books. Usually, I say research into my family tree inspired them, but that’s only part of the story. Inspiration comes from many strange places. Sometimes I stumble upon intriguing things by accident, like the story of Eugenia Falleni, and they spark parts of a story or a character. Other times, the idea is there, but the research brings the characters to life. In Seventh Daughter, one character, Mabel, was an unqualified midwife, known back then as a handywoman, and another, Winnie, was a midwife. Researching the role of midwives and handywomen in the 1930s really helped me develop the characters of Mabel and Winnie.

Research rabbit hole ~ The Great Depression

The years of the Great Depression were hard for the working classes of Southampton. They had no control over what was happening, and most had little understanding of the causes. The Roaring Twenties had bypassed them. Men working in low-paid, insecure jobs, had no money for frivolity or playing the stock market. They lived from hand to mouth at the best of times. Sadly, the depression, when it came, did not bypass them. Lives that had always been hard became harder. There was little for it but to carry on as best they could. This is the world the characters in Seventh Daughter inhabited, and researching the political and economic climate in 1931 led me down some interesting rabbit holes.

Research rabbit hole – drugs 1931

From Welcome Collection – empty opium tincture bottle England 1880 – 1940

One of the first research rabbit holes I fell down when researching for Seventh Daughter involved drugs. Not the recreational kind, you understand, the lower working classes generally used alcohol for that in the 1930s. Prior to the Great War, there were no restrictions on opium, cocaine, or cannabis, but people used them medicinally rather than recreationally. The public were free to dose themselves as they saw fit, and with no NHS, they turned to pharmacists for advice. The Poisons and Pharmacy act of 1908 allowed pharmacists to sell what they wished to who they wished as long as they recorded names and addresses in a poisons register where necessary. When war broke out, shops sold medical kits as presents for soldiers going to the front. These included opium and cocaine for use as pain relief, drugs most men would have been familiar with.

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.

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