A Literary Project Across Britain

Suggested 1920s Rail Route:

• London → Colchester
• Colchester → Norwich
• Norwich → small coastal branch line to:
  • Cromer
  • or Great Yarmouth
  • or fictionalised St Cedd’s Haven based loosely on this stretch

After the winter terror, they walk inland southwest.

On Foot Through:

• Aylsham
• Dereham
• Swaffham

This landscape gives you:

• Hedgerows thick with hips and haws
• Flint churches
• Pheasants exploding from ditches
• Mild autumn fields turning copper

The Blacksmith’s Forge

Place it in:

• A village between Dereham and Swaffham
• Or slightly south toward Thetford

The forge is:

• Agricultural repair
• Horse shoeing
• Wagon axles
• Farm tools
• Iron gates

It becomes their first winter of restoration.

In spring they move north again, sometimes by rail, sometimes walking coastal stretches.

Route:

• King's Lynn
• Across The Wash to Boston
• Up to Hull
• Then onward to Whitby

This gives you:

• Dockside labour
• Cod boats
• Cliff paths
• Methodist chapels
• War widows in black

They cross the border near:

• Berwick-upon-Tweed

Then up to:

• Edinburgh
• Then northeast to Aberdeen

Edinburgh gives:

• Monumental calm
• Castle above them like history judging quietly

Aberdeen gives:

• Granite austerity
• Cold North Sea light
• Deep water harbours

From Aberdeen they move inland through:

• Inverness
• Skirting the edge of Cairngorms

Then west toward:

• Fort William
• Or further north-west into Ross-shire
• Or south-west toward Oban

Here you place:

• The Laird’s estate
• The tackle room
• The long winter
• Stag heads and peat smoke
• Silence that presses on men

This winter is harsher, but steadier than the sea.

After that winter:

They head south through:

• Glasgow
• Down to Carlisle
• Across to Liverpool

Liverpool gives:

• Empire docks
• Emigration
• Ships to Canada

Then inland to:

• Birmingham
• Or Derby

Industrial England.
Smoke instead of salt.
Hammers instead of waves.