Changes

One of the journals in which his stories regularly appeared was ''The Strand Magazine'', founded by publisher George Newnes. The latter had two holiday homes in Devon, a winter residence in Torquay, and a summer one at Hollerday House, Lynton, in the north of the county, which he built himself partly from profits made in publishing his most famous writer, and here he died in 1910.

After four biographical chapters, the book takes us on a tour of Devon and the places associated with each man. We start at Plymouth and Roborough, beginning at Eliot Terrace and Durnford Street where Conan Doyle stayed and had his surgery respectively. From there we are led on a trail which takes us east and then north. The Duchy Hotel where he stayed in 1901 is now the High Moorland Visitor Centre, Princetown, which includes a display on the subject. Foxtor Mires and Dartmoor Prison, which also featured in some of his stories, are included. We are guided to St Andrew’s Church, where Bertram Fletcher Robinson was buried and his tombstone can be found, as well as stained-glass windows inside the church commemorating the family. Torquay, Paignton and Topsham likewise figure in the itinerary, though their Conan Doyle connections are restricted merely to places where he lectured or occasionally stayed. Finally we come to Lynton, with its various George Newnes connections. Sadly his home Hollerday House was severely damaged by fire three years after his death and could not be saved. The ruins were left to stand for some years, but were eventually considered dangerous and blown up in an army training exercise some forty years later.