As Murder On The Orient Express hits cinemas, we unravel the mystery of Agatha Christie in Torquay
With Kenneth Branagh’s Murder On The Orient Express due for cinema release on November 3, Laura Hannam follows in the footsteps of the crime writer by visiting her favourite haunts.
Kenneth Branagh’s all-star reboot of Murder On The Orient Express, starring Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz and Johnny Depp, is set to spark a resurgence of interest in author Agatha Christie’s books and the many exotic locations she featured.
But you don’t have to splash out on tickets for the Orient Express or travel to Egypt to feel close to her works. Simply head down to Devon, where she spent most of her life, and found inspiration for many of her books and characters.
Kenneth Branagh in Murder on the Orient Express (Nicola Dove ©2017 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp/PA)
The writer’s early years
Torquay
Agatha spent her first 28 years in Torquay, a coastal town whose faded glory has become its charm. A blue plaque marks the place where she was born at home on the hilly Barton Road, and there’s a commemorative bust in the town square.
Local guide John Risdon, who’s a fountain of knowledge when it comes to Agatha Christie titbits, is available for private tours. He reveals that a young Agatha would roller-skate along Torquay’s Princess Pier, where she played pranks on unsuspecting locals with her school friends.
Legend also has it she would taunt prudish elderly pedestrians by peeling off one glove and defiantly waving her nude hand – a major taboo in those days.
Princess Pier
Just a few minutes’ walk from the pier is Beacon Cove, formally Ladies Bathing Cove, where Agatha claimed she once almost drowned while trying to save her young nephew. Agatha was sucked out of her depth, only for a lifeguard to scoop her up at the last minute. As John quips: “There would be no Murder On The Orient Express if it wasn’t for him!”
Source material for her books
Torquay Town Hall, converted to a hospital during WW1, during which Agatha trained to be a nurse and cared for various injured veterans
There’s also the remote and undeniably romantic Ansteys Cove, only accessible by foot, where Agatha was supposedly once caught canoodling with a young man by the name of Amyas Boston.
While their romance was short-lived and didn’t result in marriage, the astute Christie fans will note that Amyas is the name of a victim in Christie’s celebrated novel Five Little Pigs.
But it wasn’t all fun and games for young Agatha. She also studied to be a nurse during WWI and helped wounded veterans at a local Torquay hospital that included a pharmaceutical dispensary. Now a block of luxury converted flats, this is where Agatha gained her vast knowledge of poisons and felt inspired to start writing her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair At Styles.
Falling in love with The Grand
Agatha stayed at many of the boarding houses and hotels across Torquay, having settled for a new life in St John’s Wood, London, with her first husband Archie Christie. Married in 1914, they stayed at Torquay’s The Grand hotel for their honeymoon. Dating back to 1881, Torquay’s “historic jewel” is still one of the town’s most popular and celebrated hotels.
Fans of the writer will be pleased to know that her suite is still available to book and kept in much of its original condition, boasting Art Deco design flurries and glorious views of the ocean. Naturally very popular, the suite books up quickly, and typically costs around £300 per night.
What’s more, The Grand regularly holds murder mystery-themed dinners, run by Candlelight Murder Mystery.
Picking her poisons
Head gardener at Torre Abbey, Ali Marshall, has created this poisonous plant patch
A short drive away from The Grand lies the stunning 12th century Torre Abbey, where the International Agatha Christie Festival is held every September. Each year thousands of Christie fans gather to swap books, hear lectures, enjoy high tea and much more.
Although the writer had no direct links to the abbey, its team of gardeners has planted a poison garden patch in her memory. Featuring dozens of surprisingly lethal plants featured in her novels, it’s become a popular talking point at the annual festival.
Her favourite escape
Greenway Estate
An essential stop for any Agatha Christie aficionado is Greenway Estate, on the River Dart near Brixham. It is the magnificent rural summer home she purchased with her husband in 1938. She fondly describes it in her memoir as a “dream home” and it’s even referred to in some of her novels, including Dead Man’s Folly and Five Little Pigs.
Getting to Greenway is half the fun for visitors who choose to travel as Agatha did – by train and ferry.
Board the fabulously romantic Dartmouth Steam Railway train at seaside town Paignton, then hop off at Dartmouth to board the Dartmouth Ferry as it steers towards Greenway Quay. The entire journey should take you no longer than an hour, depending upon connections, and costs around £17 per person for a round trip.
Dartmouth Ferry to Greenway Estate
Views of the water and surrounding forests await, as Greenway Estate peaks out through the wilderness.
Visitors can roam the sprawling grounds of the National Trust (entry for non-National Trust members is £11 per adult), which features the Christie family’s pet graveyard and Agatha’s own flower garden. The house is jam-packed with memorabilia and many of the author’s first-edition works.
Original copy of Agatha Christie’s passport, housed at Greenway Estate
The gardeners are keen to maintain much of the property’s original rugged and wild charm, making it a labyrinth to explore.
There’s even an option to stay at the house. The National Trust has converted parts of the mansion’s first and second floor into a luxury holiday rental that can sleep up to eight. Visitors are required to stay for a minimum of three nights, costing around £500.
Charming and quintessentially English, a trip to Agatha Christie
Country is highly recommended for both the hardcore and newbie fan.
Murder On The Orient Express is in cinemas from November 3.
The Press Association
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