Murder mystery set in CROWHURST, East Sussex
Talking Location With… author Wanda Whiteley – ESSEX
26th May 2022
#TalkingLocationWith … Wanda Whiteley, author of The Goldhanger Dog – set in Essex
Wanda Whiteley
Standing at the head of Goldhanger Creek, looking across at the low, jagged black line of Osea Island in the middle of the Blackwater estuary, there is little that has changed since the mid-sixteenth century. Neither the uninterrupted expanse of the sky, nor the livid green of the weed against the marsh mud, on which a couple of tiny, single-masted boats lie at a tilt waiting for the tide.
I set The Goldhanger Dog on the Blackwater estuary not just for the timeless, haunting quality of the marshes and the eerie cries of its seabirds, but also because the place is rich in stories of adventuring. My Tudor novel is a fast-paced adventure as well as a love story. It features a girl from Goldhanger who has a strange bond with animals. Persecuted by the locals for her gift, she and the turnspit dog she rescues have to make their escape.
Looking back towards the village, certain changes to the landscape are clear. In the sixteenth century, before the head of the creek silted up, there would have been a jetty (there from Roman times) at the bottom of Fish Street. Trading vessels – barges and caravels – would moor there until the tide was high enough to take them up to the Hythe, Maldon’s wonderful old quay two miles upstream.
The marsh mud is clay, which was used to make the cob walls of the little thatched cottages of Goldhanger. It also led to the salt industry on this north shore, as the clay of the tidal pools held the water until it evaporated, leaving a crust of sea salt to be raked. Saltpan Sal, a character in my book, says she’ll live forever ‘being as she’s salted like a kipper’ – an old salt-workers’ saying from these parts.
Dela, the heroine of The Goldhanger Dog, is caught up in Mary Tudor’s fight for her throne in 1553. The novel is set in the tense weeks when the boy king Edward VI lies dying and the succession is uncertain. Girl and dog have to sail up the coast, avoiding the Aldeburgh Knapes and other treacherous rock shoals and sandbanks, in order to help the fleeing princess. When Dela returns to Goldhanger, she still has to face her enemy in a breathless final showdown on Osea Island.
Osea’s mile-long causeway is a little to the west of Goldhanger. The tide comes in faster than a man can run – a terrible truth that haunts Dela’s mind as she scours the island for Turnspit the dog. Blinded by the sea fog – and with the stronger, faster Sir John Tallon hard on her heels, she has to navigate the causeway as the waters rise. Osea is a celebrity hangout these days, with electronic barriers barring the entry of casual tourists – not so sixteenth century! My photo is of Northey Island’s causeway a little further up the estuary. Today Northey is owned by the National Trust and is a protected haven for birdlife.
Wanda Whiteley
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A message for Wanda Whiteley,
I am a local historian in Goldhanger. I have read about your recently published book and the words on the web about you. Can you tell me if you live in or near the village please and would like me to add your book to our Virtual Library webpage at…
http://www.churchside1.plus.com/Goldhanger-past/Virtual%20Library.htm
with the most recent entries at…
http://www.churchside1.plus.com/Goldhanger-past/Virtual%20Library.htm#End