Sea Breezes October 2013

Living by the sea...

7

Saltburn by the sea

October

Saltburn Film Club presents.

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED. Filmed on beautiful locations in Italy, LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED is an uplifting tale of love, loss, absurdity and humour that will leave only the hardest heart untouched.

Romantic comedy starring Pierce Brosnan. Cert 15 Thurs 3rd October Doors 6.30pm Screening 7pm

'53 Drama Group presents.

LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN This production promises to be a very funny night at the theatre, with wonderful writing and a feast of witty one-liners. So if you can resist everything except temptation, book your tickets now.

Thurs 17th until Saturday 19th Doors and Bar 7pm Curtain up 7.30pm

Saltburn Jazz night with.

FRANK BROOKER’S HAPPY CHAPPIES. Dixie Jazz with the emphasis on fun! Not content just to keep feet tapping with their own brand of swing music, featuring some of the greatest jazz favourites – they also entertain everywhere they go with a good sing-along or two. Labelled the ‘Harbingers of Hoken and Hilarity’.

Fri 4th October Doors and bar 6.30pm Starts 7.30pm

KATHRYN WILLIAMS @ The Saltburn School (Recital Room) Kathryn Williams’ artful and soulful compositions and sweet sound have got the critics falling over each other to heap praise on her. She is more than just a folk singer/songwriter, producing music that possesses great depth and multiple dimensions.

Fri 18th October Doors 7.30pm Perfomance 8pm

Exhibition – Class 6 Gallery, The Saltburn School.

DOWN TO THE SEA AGAIN. works by Mags Guy-Jobson.

Fri 4th until Fri 11th October 10am-4pm FREE ENTRY Roots North presents.

GETTING YOUR ACT TOGETHER with JOHNNY HANDLE – performer, raconteur, musician, playright 'All Right on the Night’.

Sat 5th October 1pm followed by.

OLD SCHOOL ROOTS at 2pm.

Saltburn School, Refectory Both events FREE All or Nothing presents.

BRASS NECK COMEDY CLUB. Adam Bloom, Ray Peacock MC & Special Guest tbc Sat 5th October Doors and Bar 7pm Curtain up 8pm

FOOL’S GOLD with support local singer songwriter Ian Tyzak. This is an evening of acoustic music not to be missed!

Sun 20th October Doors and bar 7pm Show starts 7.30pm 7th Annual Saltburn Film Festival presents.

BEST OF BRITISH (Supported by Saltburn, Marske & New Marske Parish Council) Thur 24th October until Sunday 27th October Annual Big Band Concert with.

THE GENE JARRED BIG BAND Featuring music from the movies.

Sun 27th October Doors 1.30pm Curtain Up 2pm

Welcome

Sweeping beaches, cliffs, big skies, surf, seabirds, Saltburn has them all and is our favourite place to be. This month sees the publication of another magazine bringing you some special features which encapsulate, accentuate and celebrate Saltburn by the Sea and the rest of our north eastern coastline as part of the great British seaside – its landscape, its history, its attractions and its community.

Summer might be drawing to a close but there is still plenty of sunshine around to encourage us to enjoy the outdoor life before the dark days and long nights of winter set in. And even if the sun doesn't shine those of us who love living on the coast know it simply doesn't matter. A clear day or one enveloped in gloom, a warm breeze or icy blast, life on the coast is what you make of it.

Instead of complaining about the cold, the dark, being cooped up indoors, we should try to grasp what's good about winter. Before the first frosts we should remind ourselves that winter can be fun and plan on trying out a new activity. There is still time to try any number of things like biking along a forest trail, or running. Or simply decide to enjoy a bracing walk along the sands when you can. Above all else the key to enjoying anything outdoors at this time of year is keeping warm. Once you've learned how to do this winter can be so much more fun. And if, despite all your best efforts to enjoy the winter, you still find yourself feeling under the weather there's no shame in escaping to warmer climes for a break from it all to rechargtoy our batteries and come back to enjoy winter's end feeling replenished.

Sea Breezes welcomes contributions from readers. If you have a photo, story, poem, event or article of news that you would like to share please e-mail it to: saltburnbysea@gmail.com and include Sea Breezes in the subject box.

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The copyright of all photographs featured within this magazine remains with the magazine or any photographers credited.

No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any way without prior written consent.

Sea Breezes is produced by saltburnbysea.com, an independent website which is not affiliated with, or officially sponsored by any Local Authority or Tourist Information Centre based in or near Saltburn by the Sea. saltburnbysea.com tries to ensure that the articles and announcements made on the Sea Breezes pages are accurate, but views expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the webmaster. Any offers in adverts are made by the advertiser and details should be confirmed with them. Always confirm event details with the organisers, in case of alteration or errors. Š 2006-2013 SaltburnbySea.com. All rights reserved worldwide | Created by seasalt |

The Saltburn and Cleveland Advertiser

Between the 1870’s and the 1930’s The Saltburn and Cleveland Advertiser was a free monthly publication which prided itself on being the 'Largest, Best, and Cheapest Advertising Medium in Cleveland'. It was published by The Ivanhoe Press, proprietor Joseph Parks, from its office on Windsor Road and circulated 5,000 copies gratis each month, distributed in Saltburn, Marske, New Marske, Guisborough, Brotton and the Skeltons. The following article is the second of a number of articles which were published in monthly episodes throughout 1930.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SALTBURN

BY IVANHOE

The gale blew with terrific force from a north-westerly direction, and so swiftly was the havoc wrought that less than an hour elapsed from the time when the hull was dislodged by the incoming tide to the time when it had cut its way through the pier and was drifting close inshore.

CHAPTER VI A promenade pier, at one time 1,200ft in length, crosses the sands at a height of 42ft to low water. The pier head was originally 120ft long by 66ft wide and was provided with ornamental covered shelters and wind screens so arranged as to afford protection from the breeze in whatever direction it happened to blow. The original pier was built in 1867. The pier-head was at first in considerable use for landing passengers from excursion steamers on pleasure trips from Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Scarborough, etc., but early in its history it was damaged by one of these craft.

Wi n d a n d t i d e c o m p l e t e d t h e destruction and most of the original pier-head disappeared. In very clear water many of the old piles can still be discerned rusted and covered with a vast growth and tangle OS seaweed.

On 6th May 1924, the schooner 'Ovenberg' came ashore at Saltburn.

She was leaking heavily and the skipper had no option but to beach his vessel. She narrowly missed the pier in coming ashore, but the sea was exceptionally calm when she grounded. Several unsuccessful attempts were made by tugs to re float the schooner. On Thursday, May the 8th a gale sprang up from the very quarter in which danger was to be most feared, and with disasterous results.

The heavy seas lifted the doomed vessel from its bed and the combined action of wind and tide drove it through the centre of the pier making a gap in it some seventy yards long.

After the ship was moved, each successive wave drove it like a battering ram against the iron pillars of the pier, and brought down section after section until it floated clear through the huge gap it had made. The hull was washed up not far from the bridge which carries the Saltburn to Brotton road over the Skelton beck, and was smashed to fragments by the waves.

For nearly half a mile along the coast the beach was strewn with wreckage from the ship and pier. The damage to the pier was estimated at £3,000. The pier still remains as it was left after its terrible pounding - a memorial to the ill-fated 'Ovenberg'. The compass is, or was, in the possession of Mr Hall, the antique dealer.

The fate of the Saltburn pier recalls the doom of the Coatham pier over 23 years ago when the 'Berger', wrecked on Saltscar, Redcar, cut the Coatham structure in two.

Adjoining the pier is an incline tramway which must have been in existence for close on forty years.

Previous to the erection of the present tramway a similar purpose was served by un upright wooden hoist, or lift, to reach which, intending passengers were compelled to walk along a platform or gangway.

Motor and Motor-Cycle races have for many years been competed for upon Saltburn sands, and several speed records have been established.

The Lifeboat House was opened in 1880 and the first National Lifeboat, the 'Mary and Ann' was duly installed.

Previous to this there was a temporary wooden lifeboat known as the 'Appleyard'. This, we believe, was first launched in 1873. The second lifeboat stationed at Saltburn was the 'Mary Bletcher', which was later followed by the 'Mary Dagmar'. The 'Mary Dagmar' remained in commission until the Saltburn Lifeboat House was dismantled, upon the re-arrangement of the various lifeboat stations by the commissioners of the National Lifeboat Institution.

The Saltburn Lifeboat has rendered assistance to the following craft when in distress: October 30th 1874, Schooner 'Bonny Lass' of Wick, render assistance.

December 9th 1874, S/S 'Grinkle' of Jarrow. 10 lives saved. October 1st 1880, the cobble 'Confidence', off Marske, rendered assistance. ( TO BE CONTINUED)

Backdraft Things you might have missed...

Breaking news, events and happenings you might have missed last month.

The evening of Friday 6th September will long remain in the memory of those of us who witnessed the effects of the torrential rain that deluged Saltburn. Over a months rain falling in a few hours created havoc. The Cat Nab sewerage pumping station almost had its pumps halted as water burst into the dry well from the blocked Saltburn Gill. The Cat Nab car park returned to being a boating lake and the Miniature Railway suffered badly from the erosion of vast amounts of ballast while Hazelgrove finally gave up trying to be a culvert. The bank side slid dangerously close to our international icon, the Cliff Lift, forcing a temporary closure. With much volunteer assistance to hand the damage has and continues to be addressed.

Philip Thomson

Calamities and Catastrophies

head, steamer landing bay and 250 ft of the end of the pier.

Saltburn is not unfamiliar with calamities and catastrophies created by the vagaries of the weather. Standing as it does on the North East coast the town, and especially the pier, is at the mercy of the sometimes cruel, turbulent, and unforgiving North Sea - or German Sea, as it was known in the 19th Century - and disaster was often only a storm away.

The repairs took two years to complete, with the pier being reduced permanently to 1250 ft in length, the steamer landing bay being removed entirely and the plans for a saloon at the end of the pier were abandoned.

Over its history the pier has withstood most of these violent storms but two tremendous storms destroyed the landing stage within ten years of its completion and perhaps even more dangerous than storms was the threat of damage posed by passing ships.

The First Storm After only a handful of years in profitable operation Saltburn Pier experienced its first catastrophe on the night of 21/22 October 1875 when a storm ravaged the coastline and swept away the pier

The cost of the repairs bankrupted the Saltburnby-the-Sea Pier Company and in December 1879 the company was wound-up and the pier and hoist were sold at auction at the Alexandra Hotel to the Saltburn Improvement Company for a mere ÂŁ800 (ÂŁ38,648 by today's standards).

The Ovenbeg Incident The Ovenbeg Schooner, leaking heavily, became stranded just west of the Pier on the 6th May 1924 when she was beached in calm seas by her captain. Several unsuccessful attempts were then made to refloat her. Overnight heavy seas and gale force winds lifted the boat from the seabed and drove her through the centre of the pier

destroying a 210ft central section.   Initially the Middlesbrough Estates decided that it would be too costly to repair the damage done by the 'Ovenbeg' and the gap on the land side of the pier was fenced off and the pier re-opened to visitors.

Five years later in 1929 it was announced that the pier was to be repaired and a dance hall built at the entrance to the pier. Repairs proceeded quickly and by 1930 the pier was re-opened at its full length.

Saltburn by the Sea

The Pier

Seaside Piers

The seaside piers around the coast of Britain stand as a powerful reminder of the achievements of Victorian engineers and entrepreneurs. There are currently less than 54 pleasure piers in existence around the UK coastline.

Saltburn's Victorian pier was the first iron pier to be built on the North East Coast, is the most northerly surviving British Pier and the only remaining pleasure pier on the North East coast. Built in an exposed position and facing due north into the cruel and unforgiving North Sea, the history of Saltburn Pier tells a tale of survival against the elements. The pier was commissioned by the Saltburn Pier Company in 1867, designed by Mr John Anderson and completed two years later, opening in May 1869.

A brief history: As a railway contractor John Anderson was associated with the Stockton and Darlington and the South Durham and Lancashire Union Railways and was one of the first to become involved in the emerging ironstone industry in 1848. In Saltburn he saw the opportunity of making an investment and became one of the principal developers of the land put on the market by the Saltburn Improvement Company being one of the first to buy plots of land in Milton and Amber Streets. His most important acquisition was the site on Brittania Terrace/Marine Drive both now Marine Parade - where he erected the 'Alexandra Hotel', the second most important hotel in the town. In January 1867 he was appointed resident engineer of the Saltburn Improvement Company and in the same year he formed the Saltburn Pier Company, for which he was both engineer and contractor.

The Pier Company promoters, including John Bell, Edmund Grove and James Taylor immediately petitioned the Board of Trade for permission to construct the pier at Saltburn and special permission was granted by Parliament via 'The Saltburn-by-the-Sea Pier Order'. 

In December 1867 Chochrane and Grove of Ormesby delivered the first consignment of ironwork. Some sources state that the first pile was driven on January 27, 1868. However, although the Board of Trade did not grant a provisional order for the construction of the pier until 6th April 1868 and the land and foreshore for the pier were not conveyed to the company until 3rd July 1868, the Newcastle Courant, Friday 3rd January 1868, reported that the first pile was driven in by Mrs Thomas Vaughan of Gunnergate Hall on the (previous) Monday (30th December).

The pier was opened to the public in May 1869, and to ease the access to the pier and promenade from the town, work was begun on a 120 foot high wooden vertical hoist, also designed by John Anderson. The hoist was in operation fourteen months after the opening of the pier.

The pier proved to be an immediate success with over 50,000 visitors paying to stroll upon it during its first six months.

Consisting of iron trestles under a wooden deck, the pier was built to a length of 1500ft. There was a steamer landing stage at the head of the pier and two circular kiosks at the entrance. On May 14th 1870 two steamers operated a service from the pier to Middlesbrough whilst a band performed on the pier head. In the following month there were further steamer trips to both Middlesbrough and Hartlepool and an excursion to Scarborough aboard the Victor. The company also gained revenue from advertising spaces on the pier for 5s per annum. This early success enabled the Pier Company to announce profitable dividends for its shareholders and by October 1873 it was announced that all the shares had been disposed of.

  During 1873 it was decided to build a saloon at the pier head - as had been originally intended - and to provide gas lighting along the length of the pier. 1874 also proved to be reasonably successful and at Whitsun 1875 it was reported that 'the whole stretch of the 1,500ft promenade appeared to be literally alive all day'

Unfortunately the first of numerous disasters struck the pier during the night of 21/22 October 1875 when horrific gales struck and 300ft of the sea end of the pier was washed away taking out the pier head, the landing stage and part of the pier deck.

The damage was repaired but, at a time when development of the town had halted due to a slump in the iron trade, the company decided that the lost section of the pier along with the landing stage - which had rarely been used - was not to be rebuilt. The subsequent alterations reduced the length of the pier to 1250ft. The pier re-opened in 1877 but the heavy debt incurred by the Pier Company led it to be wound up in December 1879. The Pier and hoist were sold at auction at the Alexandra Hotel for ÂŁ800 in 1880.

The new owners were the Saltburn Improvement Company who themselves had been acquired by the Owners of the Middlesbrough Estates following the formation of the Local Board in 1880 to administer the town. The new owners carried out a number of improvements to the pier in 1884. The pier head was widened and windshields, a bandstand, and refreshment rooms were added. The entrance kiosks were replaced by two larger buildings designed to match the style of the entrance to the new incline tramway which was built to replace the hoist. One kiosk was used as a cafe and the other as ladies and gentlemen's cloakrooms.

On 20th July 1887 the gas lighting was replaced and the pier was illuminated for the first time by electric lighting. Saltburn blossomed into a popular resort during the later Victorian, early Edwardian period. The pier itself provided genteel band concerts during the summer months and bracing promenading over the water.

The pier-head suffered further storm damage in 1900 but escaped relatively unharmed for the next twenty years until May 1924 the china clay vessel 'Ovenbeg' (formerley the Russian registered St Nicholi) collided with the west side of the pier causing a great deal of damage leaving a gap of 210ft. A barrier was erected at the end of the shortened pier which enabled the remainder of the structure to still be used for promenading. The bandstand was, however, now inaccessible. On 30th March 1929 it was announced that the gap was to be repaired and a theatre was built at the shore entrance for dancing, concert shows and meetings. The damage caused by the collision was finally repaired, five years later, in 1930 and the full length of the pier was re-opened.

Purchased by the local council in 1938, Saltburn Pier, along with others like it, was sectioned in 1940 for fear of German invasion. By the end of the war the pier was in a very poor condition. A planning application to repair the pier was granted on 13 April 1949 but, due to the shortage of steel, restoration and repair work was not commenced until 1951 and the pier was finally re-opened to the public in April 1952 (the official opening took place on 31st May 1952) with over 25,000 visitors using it during the first month.

Severe gales hit again the following year and badly twisted the whole structure resulting in repairs estimated at £23,000. These took a further five years to complete, but no sooner had the pier reopened than two piles were lost at the seaward end costing a further £6,000 to replace. In 1961 another twenty piles were badly twisted in exceptional storms. Despite these problems the pier remained a popular attraction throughout the sixties with up to 90,000 people using it.

The 1970s were no kinder in Saltburn Pier's history. In 1971, 1973 and 1974 piles were lost at the seaward end leaving the pier in a dangerous state. As emergency plans were being drawn up to save the pier, a severe gale on 29th October 1974 washed away the pier-head, badly damaged the remainder of the deck and reduced the length of the pier to 1,100ft. Finally, in 1975, the local council submitted an application to the Department of the Environment to have the pier demolished.

Saltburn Pier continued it's fight for survival when a public enquiry concluded that only the last thirteen trestles should be removed and the remainder of the structure should be restored. The pier, now reduced in length to 681ft (206m), was completely refurbished, reopening to the public on 29th June 1978 after a closure of five years. The following year the buildings at the pier entrance were restored. The 1950's cladding was removed and new cladding designed to reflect the Victorian/Edwardian character of the pier was introduced.

Further restoration work was carried in the early 1990s when the entrance-building roof was renewed. With the new millenium and the aid of National Lottery Grant funding Saltburn pier underwent a major restoration programme designed to return it to its former glory. The grant enabled the cast iron trestles that support the pier to be conserved to reinforce the structure and the steel deck beams were replaced with traditional hardwood timber to reflect the pier's original appearance. Access to the pier was improved through the use of an inclined path that provides step-free access.

It was officially re-opened to the public on 13th July 2001. The success of the pier restoration has been widely acknowledged, and the pier, along with the town's cliff lift, won a top placing in the Queen's Golden Jubilee Heritage Awards.

50 Spades of Clay...

Growing your own fruit and vegetables.

October With autumn well under way, October is usually a month full of chilly mornings and spooky nights – the kind of weather that puts you in mind of hot mugs of tea, bowls of soup and if you’re an allotment gardener, lots of lovely winter digging! Remember that the clocks go back an hour at the end of this month so grab every minute of daylight on the allotment that you can before the dark days of winter are upon us.

Harvesting.

Every child loves to make a Jack o’ Lantern, so harvest your pumpkins and squashes now. Any that aren’t used for Halloween will make a perfect supper.

If any outdoor tomatoes are left, collect the fruit and place them in a drawer or shoe box to complete their ripening, but don’t forget to check on them from time

to time! Early leeks can be lifted now because they are less hardy than the later cultivars. Maincrop potatoes must be got out of the ground before the end of the month using a potato or garden fork to lift them to prevent damaging the tubers. Harvest the last of the peas and runner bean crop for this year, and keep harvesting chard, spinach, carrots, celeriac, lettuce and the Oriental vegetables. Also, lift and store any Florence fennel bulbs before they are damaged by frost.

Sowing and Planting

Sow winter lettuce and a couple of short rows of winter hardy peas and broad beans towards the end of the month to provide you with an early crop next Spring.

General Rough dig over heavy ground and leave it in lumps or ridges to be broken down gradually by the winter frosts and rain. Keep off the soil if it is wet and don’t be tempted dig it if it is frozen. When to soil is frozen hard it is a good opportunity to cart barrows of manure or compost over it.

Insulate your greenhouse before using it to protect the your more tender plants using horticultural fleece or plastic bubble sheeting; newspaper is an excellent substitute if you lay several layers over your most precious plants whenever a frost is forecast. It is also a good idea to wrap their pots in bubble wrap to insulate their roots.

The last couple of winters have been cruelly hard.

Be prepared to protect chard plants, spinach, winter lettuce, peas, broad beans and any other crops that

you are overwintering from the worst of the winter weather. Keep some fleece, plastic or have cloches nearby ready to use.

Clean and clear the plot of spent crops and take down the runner bean poles, cleaning the soil off the bottom of them before storing them somewhere cool and airy ready to use next year.

Stake Brussels sprouts and sprouting broccoli plants to prevent them from being blown over in strong winds, it is also worthwhile dragging soil up around the base of the plants to give them extra support.

Sow: Second week in April, indoors or in a heated propagator. Soak seeds overnight before sowing on their side.

Soil: Plenty of well-rotted manure, comfrey mulch. Add food waste from kitchen in a trench up to one month before. Can grow on compost heap.

Sun: Full sun, no frosts.

Pumpkin.

Grow: Continue to pot up in food-rich compost until frosts have passed and plant out on small mound to prevent rots. Feed every 10-14 days with a high potash liquid fertiliser once the first fruits start to swell.

You can also grow pumpkins in growbags or containers (at least 45cm/18in wide). Plant one or two per growbag, or one per container.

Keep the soil constantly moist by watering around the plants not over them. As they need plenty of water, sink a 15cm (6in) pot alongside the plants when planting out. Water into this and it will help ensure the water goes right down to the roots and does not sit around the neck of the plant, which can lead to rotting.

Harvest: Cut back all leaves around the fruit to allow it to ripen in last week of August, and place straw underneath to prevent rots. Harvest mid-October, leaving an inch of stem either side of the stalk. Leave to cure in the sun or on a windowsill for 10 days. Many varieties will keep until mid spring.

Problems: Protect plants from slugs with cloches in their early stages. Do not plant out too early.

PUMPKIN SOUP Food historians tell us the history of soup is probably as old as the history of cooking. The act of combining various ingredients in a large pot to create a nutritious, filling, easily digested, simple to make/serve food was inevitable. This made it the perfect choice for both sedentary and travelling cultures, rich and poor, healthy people and invalids. Soup (and stews, pottages, porridges, gruels, etc.) evolved according to local ingredients and tastes.

Soups were easily digested and were prescribed for invalids since ancient times. The modern restaurant industry is said to be based on soup. Restoratifs (wheron the word "restaurant" comes) were the first items served in public restaurants in 18th century Paris. Broth [Pot-au-feu], bouillion, and consomme entered here. Classic French cuisine generated many of the soups we know today.

Advancements in science enabled soups to take many forms...portable, canned, dehydrated, microwaveready. "Pocket soup" was carried by colonial travellers, as it could easily be reconstituted with a little hot water. Canned and dehydrated soups were available in the 19th century. These supplied the military, covered wagon trains, cowboy chuck wagons, and the home pantry. Advances in science also permitted the adjustment of nutrients to fit specific dietary needs (low salt, high fiber, etc.).

"The etymological idea underlying the word soup is that of soaking. It goes back to an unrecorded postclassical Latin verb suppare soak', which was borrowed from the same prehistoric German root (sup-) as produced in English sup and supper. From it was derived the noun suppa, which passed into Old French as soupe. This meant both piece of bread soaked in liquid' and, by extension, broth poured onto bread.' It was the latter strand of the meaning that entered English in the seventeenth century. Until the arrival of the term soup, such food had been termed broth or pottage. It was customarily served with the meat or vegetable dishes with which it had been made, and (as the dreivation of soup suggest) was poured over sops of bread or toast (the ancestors of modern croutons). But coincident with the introduction of the world soup, it began to be fashionable to serve the liquid broth on its own, and in the early eighteenth century it was assuming its present-day role as a first course."

---An A-Z of Food and Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 316)

Ingredients and method:

This velvety pumpkin soup recipe is great for Halloween - it’s served with a splash of sherry in a hollowed-out pumpkin.

Ingredients:

1 x 4kg/8lb 13oz pumpkin 125g/4oz butter 2 medium onions, peeled, finely chopped 1 cinnamon stick freshly grated nutmeg salt and freshly ground black pepper 1.7 litres/3 pints chicken stock (vegetarians may substitute vegetable stock) 3 tablespoons sherry

Preparation method:

1. Cut the top off the pumpkin and set aside. Scoop out the seeds and fibres from the middle and discard.

2. Using a sharp knife and a spoon, carefully hollow out the pumpkin, removing the flesh and setting aside. (It is imperative that you do not cut right up to the inside of the skin or pierce it.

Leave 2cm/1in of flesh all around the inside.)

3. Roughly chop the scooped-out pumpkin flesh.

4. Melt the butter in a large pan with a lid over a low heat and add the onions. Cook the onions gently for 10-15 minutes, until they are softened and golden-brown.

5. Add the pumpkin flesh, the cinnamon and nutmeg, and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Increase the heat to medium and cover with the lid. Cook for 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the base from burning, until the pumpkin is cooked through.

6. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Transfer the soup to a food processor in batches and blend until smooth.

7. Return the soup to the pan and bring to a low simmer and cook for a further half an hour.

8. Forty-five minutes before eating, preheat the oven to 170C/335F/Gas 3.

9. Pour the soup into the hollow pumpkin shell, add the sherry and stir to combine.

10. Place the reserved pumpkin 'lid' onto the pumpkin and place onto a large baking tray. Cook in the oven for about 45 minutes, to bring the soup up to temperature.

11. To serve, carefully remove from the oven and serve the soup in the pumpkin at the table.

Ladle into bowls and serve.

The Seaside Girl drawn by Will Owen, printed in 'The Black and White' 1908. The Black and White ran from 1891 to its eventual incorporation with The Sphere in 1912. The newspaper employed many of the talented artists and engravers of the period to illustrate news and events and to entertain.

Discover some of the hidden jewels Of the North Yorks Moors. This years programme of walks has everything from short family rambles to a challenging 12 mile moorland hike for experienced walkers.

Each walk is guided by National Park Rangers, specialist guest leaders or a knowledgeable and dedicated band of volunteers. They will take you to almost every corner of the Park to enjoy a breath of fresh air, to look at wildlife, geology, archaeology, buildings, signs of Spring, beautiful views, in fact almost everything that makes the North York Moors the place it is.

Booking is essential

Other information

All walks are FREE but donations are welcome as they help us to care for the National Park.

Unless specifically stated dogs are welcome on walks provided they are on a short fixed lead at all times.

Places are limited on all walks and each one operates on a first come first served basis, so booking is essential. To book a place call 01439 772738 What to bring

Please wear appropriate clothing and suitable footwear. Do bring sun protection in hot weather.

Please bring plenty to drink and for our longer walks, the individual event details will state whether you need to bring a packed lunch with you.

1 Level 1 Walks are 30 minute walks on easy going terrain for about 1-1.5miles. Total time allowing for stops etc will be about 1hr.

Children are welcome on all walks but MUST accompanied by an adult; some of the walks stipulate a minimum age.

A number of walks are accessible by wheelchair and this will be specified in the individual walk details.

You can get to many of our walks by Moorsbus or public transport, check out www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/public-transport for more information.

2 Level 2 is slightly more challenging. You will be walking about 2 or 3 miles.

These walks could take up to 2 hours including information stops.

3 Level 3 is the highest level and will be up to 5 miles. These walks are much more challenging and you will need to be reasonably fit; they could take up to 3 hours for the total walk including information stops.

Wed 2 october

Sunday 6 October

Damage and disaster

An ascent of Roseberry topping

This 3.75 mile walk with Chris Bush examines the evidence left of the damage caused by a flash flood that destroyed all in its path. The event occurred in June 2005, when six inches of rain fell on the Hambledon Hills in just 45 minutes.

One of our most dramatic walks - up the famous landmark of Roseberry Topping - might only be 2.75 miles long, but it has some very steep sections. Walk leader Mike Nicholson will take these slowly, with plenty of stops to admire the wonderful views on the zigzag approach to the summit.

Start time 2:00pm Finish 4:00pm Anya's Wood, between Hawnby and Osmotherly.

(OS Grid Ref. SE528928)

Sunday 3 November Life and death on Levisham moor

Explore the early history of Levisham Moor, discover how our Bronze Age and Iron Age ancestors lived - and see what happened when they died. Our 5 mile walk with Peter Turton includes superb views of the legendary Hole of Horcum and the Tabular Hills.

Packed lunch required.

Start 11:00am Finish 3.00pm Saltergate car park on A169 (OS Grid Ref. SE85239390)

Thursday 17 October Maybeck and Littlebeck meander

Let our National Park Rangers introduce you to the splendours of the autumnal woodland on this 4 mile circular that passes Falling Foss waterfall and its unique stone hermitage.

Please note paths will be muddy.

Start 10:00am Finish 1:00pm May Back Car Park (NZ 893 024)

Start time 10:00am. Finish 12:3m Newton under Roseberry car park A173 (Grid Ref. NZ570127)

Wed 6 November Hackness history trail

Hackness village is in a beautiful, secluded location, surrounded by hills and close to the River Derwent. Discover its long and varied history, including a 17th century Anglo-Saxon monastery, on this 1.5mile walk led by Peter Turton.

Start 1:30pm Finish 3:00pm Hackness Village Hall (OS Grid Ref. SE967906)

A brief glimpse of the past... Gisborough Priory and Gardens Gisborough Priory is a ruined Augustinian priory. It was founded in 1119 as the Priory of St Mary

by Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale, an ancestor of the Scottish king, Robert the Bruce. It became one of the richest monastic foundations in England with grants from the crown and bequests from de Brus, other nobles, gentry and local people of more modest means. Much of the Romanesque Norman priory was destroyed in a fire in 1289. It was rebuilt in the Gothic style on a grander scale over the following century. Its remains are regarded as among the finest surviving examples of early Gothic architecture in England.

The priory prospered until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540, when it was abolished along with England's other monastic communities. The priory buildings were demolished and the stone reused in other buildings in Guisborough. The east end of the priory church was left standing with its great window forming a distinctive arch, a well-known landmark used as a symbol for Guisborough. It became part of the estate of the Chaloner family, who acquired it in 1550. The east window was preserved by them as part of a Romantic vista adjoining their seat, Gisborough Hall, from which the priory takes its idiosyncratically spelled name.

In addition to the east window, surviving visible fragments of the complex include the lower courses of the west range, a vaulted undercroft, a gateway and a 14th-century dovecote. The adjoining Priory Gardens, laid out by the Chaloners in the 18th century, are currently under restoration by a volunteer group.

By the Side of the Sea: Round the Bandstand drawn by Will Owen, printed in 'The Black and White' 1908.

The Black and White ran from 1891 to its eventual incorporation with The Sphere in 1912.

Join us on our reading project. Month by month we will present part of a short story from R Austin Freeman's 'Dr John Thorndyke's Cases', a collection of short stories of detective fiction first published in 1909.

Richard Austin Freeman (11 April 1862 London – 28 September 1943 Gravesend) — known as R. Austin Freeman — was a British writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr. Thorndyke.

He claimed to have invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in which the commission of the crime is described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator, with the story then describing the detective's attempt to solve the mystery). Freeman used some of his early experiences as a colonial surgeon in his novels.

A large proportion of the Dr. Thorndyke stories involve genuine, but often quite arcane, points of scientific knowledge, from areas such as tropical medicine, metallurgy and toxicology.

JOHN THORNDYKE'S CASES (1909) (a.k.a. Dr. Thorndyke's Cases) ORIGINAL PREFACE TO 'JOHN THORNDYKE'S CASES' THE MAN WITH THE NAILED SHOES - Part 7 this (October 2013) issue..

THE STRANGER'S LATCHKEY THE ANTHROPOLOGIST AT LARGE THE BLUE SEQUIN THE MOABITE CIPHER THE MANDARIN'S PEARL THE ALUMINIUM DAGGER A MESSAGE FROM THE DEEP SEA Preface...

The stories in this collection, inasmuch as they constitute a somewhat new departure in this class of literature, require a few words of introduction. The primary function of all fiction is to furnish entertainment to the reader, and this fact has not been lost sight of. But the interest of so-called 'detective' fiction is, I believe, greatly enhanced by a careful adherence to the probable, and a strict avoidance of physical impossibilities; and, in accordance with this belief, I have been scrupulous in confining myself to authentic facts and practicable methods. The stories have, for the most part, a medico-legal motive, and the methods of solution described in them are similar to those employed in actual practice by medical jurists. The stories illustrate, in fact, the application to the detection of crime of the ordinary methods of scientific research. I may add that the experiments described have in all cases been performed by me, and that the micro-photographs are, of course, from the actual specimens.

R. A. F. Gravesend, September 21, 1909.

"When we turned into St. Bridget's Bay, I saw the body of deceased lying on the sand close to the cliff. The sand all round was covered with footprints, as if a prolonged, fierce struggle had taken place. There were two sets of footprints, one set being apparently those of the deceased and the other those of a man with nailed shoes of a very peculiar and conspicuous pattern. The incredible folly that the wearing of such shoes indicated caused me to look more closely at the footprints, and then I made the surprising discovery that there had in reality been no struggle; that, in fact, the two sets of footprints had been made at different times."

"At different times!" the magistrate exclaimed in astonishment.

"Yes. The interval between them may have been one of hours or one only of seconds, but the undoubted fact is that the two sets of footprints were made, not simultaneously, but in succession."

"But how did you arrive at that fact?" the magistrate asked.

"It was very obvious when one looked," said Thorndyke. "The marks of the deceased man's shoes showed that he repeatedly trod in his own footprints; but never in a single instance did he tread in the footprints of the other man, although they covered the same area. The man with the nailed shoes, on the contrary, not only trod in his own footprints, but with equal frequency in those of the deceased. Moreover, when the body was removed, I observed that the footprints in the sand on which it was lying were exclusively those of the deceased. There was not a sign of any nail-marked footprint under the corpse, although there were many close around it. It was evident, therefore, that the footprints of the deceased were made first and those of the nailed shoes afterwards."

As Thorndyke paused the magistrate rubbed his nose thoughtfully, and the inspector gazed at the witness with a puzzled frown.

"The singularity of this fact," my colleague resumed, "made me look at the footprints yet more critically, and then I made another discovery. There was a double track of the nailed shoes, leading apparently from and back to the Shepherd's Path. But on examining these tracks more closely, I was astonished to find that the man who had made them had been walking backwards; that, in fact, he had walked backwards from the body to the Shepherd's Path, had ascended it for a short distance, had turned round, and returned, still walking backwards, to the face of the cliff near the corpse, and there the tracks vanished altogether. On the sand at this spot were some small, inconspicuous marks which might have been made by the end of a rope, and there were also a few small fragments which had fallen from the cliff above. Observing these, I examined the surface of the cliff, and at one spot, about six feet above the beach, I found a freshly rubbed spot on which were parallel scratches such as might have been made by the nailed sole of a boot. I then ascended the Shepherd's Path, and examined the cliff from above, and here I found on the extreme edge a rather deep indentation, such as would be made by a taut rope, and, on lying down and looking over, I could

see, some five feet from the top, another rubbed spot with very distinct parallel scratches."

"You appear to infer," said the chairman, "that this man performed these astonishing evolutions and was then hauled up the cliff?"

"That is what the appearances suggested," replied Thorndyke.

The chairman pursed up his lips, raised his eyebrows, and glanced doubtfully at his brother magistrates. Then, with a resigned air, he bowed to the witness to indicate that he was listening.

"That same night," Thorndyke resumed, "I cycled down to the shore, through the Gap, with a supply of plaster of Paris, and proceeded to take plaster moulds of the more important of the footprints." (Here the magistrates, the inspector, and Mr. Bashfield with one accord sat up at attention; Sergeant Payne swore quite audibly; and I experienced a sudden illumination respecting a certain basin and kitchen spoon which had so puzzled me on the night of Thorndyke's arrival.) "As I thought that liquid plaster might confuse or even obliterate the prints in sand, I filled up the respective footprints with dry plaster, pressed it down lightly, and then cautiously poured water on to it. The moulds, which are excellent impressions, of course show the appearance of the boots which made the footprints, and from these moulds I have prepared casts which reproduce the footprints themselves.

"The first mould that I made was that of one of the tracks from the boat up to the Gap, and of this I shall speak presently. I next made a mould of one of the footprints which have been described as those of the deceased."

"Have been described!" exclaimed the chairman. "The deceased was certainly there, and there were no other footprints, so, if they were not his, he must have flown to where he was found."

"I will call them the footprints of the deceased," replied Thorndyke imperturbably. "I took a mould of one of them, and with it, on the same mould, one of my own footprints. Here is the mould, and here is a cast from it." (He turned and took them from the triumphant Polton, who had tenderly lifted them out of the trunk in readiness.) "On looking at the cast, it will be seen that the appearances are not such as would be expected. The deceased was five feet nine inches high, but was very thin and light, weighing only nine stone six pounds, as I ascertained by weighing the body, whereas I am five feet eleven and weigh nearly thirteen stone. But yet the footprint of the deceased is nearly twice as deep as mine--that is to say, the lighter man has sunk into the sand nearly twice as deeply as the heavier man."

The magistrates were now deeply attentive. They were no longer simply listening to the despised utterances of a mere scientific expert. The cast lay before them with the two

footprints side by side; the evidence appealed to their own senses and was proportionately convincing.

"This is very singular," said the chairman; "but perhaps you can explain the discrepancy?"

"I think I can," replied Thorndyke; "but I should prefer to place all the facts before you first."

"Undoubtedly that would be better," the chairman agreed. "Pray proceed."

"There was another remarkable peculiarity about these footprints," Thorndyke continued, "and that was their distance apart--the length of the stride, in fact. I measured the steps carefully from heel to heel, and found them only nineteen and a half inches. But a man of Hearn's height would have an ordinary stride of about thirty-six inches--more if he was walking fast. Walking with a stride of nineteen and a half inches he would look as if his legs were tied together.

"I next proceeded to the Bay, and took two moulds from the footprints of the man with the nailed shoes, a right and a left. Here is a cast from the mould, and it shows very clearly that the man was walking backwards."

"How does it show that?" asked the magistrate.

"There are several distinctive points. For instance, the absence of the usual 'kick off' at the toe, the slight drag behind the heel, showing the direction in which the foot was lifted, and the undisturbed impression of the sole."

"You have spoken of moulds and casts. What is the difference between them?"

"A mould is a direct, and therefore reversed, impression. A cast is the impression of a mould, and therefore a facsimile of the object. If I pour liquid plaster on a coin, when it sets I have a mould, a sunk impression, of the coin. If I pour melted wax into the mould I obtain a cast, a facsimile of the coin. A footprint is a mould of the foot. A mould of the footprint is a cast of the foot, and a cast from the mould reproduces the footprint."

"Thank you," said the magistrate. "Then your moulds from these two footprints are really facsimiles of the murderer's shoes, and can be compared with these shoes which have been put in evidence?"

"Yes, and when we compare them they demonstrate a very important fact."

"What is that?"

"It is that the prisoner's shoes were not the shoes that made those footprints." A buzz of astonishment ran through the court, but Thorndyke continued stolidly: "The prisoner's

shoes were not in my possession, so I went on to Barker's pond, on the clay margin of which I had seen footprints actually made by the prisoner. I took moulds of those footprints, and compared them with these from the sand. There are several important differences, which you will see if you compare them. To facilitate the comparison I have made transparent photographs of both sets of moulds to the same scale. Now, if we put the photograph of the mould of the prisoner's right shoe over that of the murderer's right shoe, and hold the two superposed photographs up to the light, we cannot make the two pictures coincide. They are exactly of the same length, but the shoes are of different shape. Moreover, if we put one of the nails in one photograph over the corresponding nail in the other photograph, we cannot make the rest of the nails coincide. But the most conclusive fact of all--from which there is no possible escape--is that the number of nails in the two shoes is not the same. In the sole of the prisoner's right shoe there are forty nails; in that of the murderer there are forty-one. The murderer has one nail too many."

There was a deathly silence in the court as the magistrates and Mr. Bashfield pored over the moulds and the prisoner's shoes, and examined the photographs against the light. Then the chairman asked: "Are these all the facts, or have you something more to tell us?" He was evidently anxious to get the key to this riddle.

"There is more evidence, your Worship," said Anstey. "The witness examined the body of deceased." Then, turning to Thorndyke, he asked:

"You were present at the post-mortem examination?"

"I was."

"Did you form any opinion as to the cause of death?"

"Yes. I came to the conclusion that death was occasioned by an overdose of morphia."

A universal gasp of amazement greeted this statement. Then the presiding magistrate protested breathlessly:

"But there was a wound, which we have been told was capable of causing instantaneous death. Was that not the case?"

"There was undoubtedly such a wound," replied Thorndyke. "But when that wound was inflicted the deceased had already been dead from a quarter to half an hour."

"This is incredible!" exclaimed the magistrate. "But, no doubt, you can give us your reasons for this amazing conclusion?"

"My opinion," said Thorndyke, "was based on several facts. In the first place, a wound inflicted on a living body gapes rather widely, owing to the retraction of the living skin.

The skin of a dead body does not retract, and the wound, consequently, does not gape.

This wound gaped very slightly, showing that death was recent, I should say, within half

an hour. Then a wound on the living body becomes filled with blood, and blood is shed freely on the clothing. But the wound on the deceased contained only a little blood-clot.

There was hardly any blood on the clothing, and I had already noticed that there was none on the sand where the body had lain."

"And you consider this quite conclusive?" the magistrate asked doubtfully.

"I do," answered Thorndyke. "But there was other evidence which was beyond all question. The weapon had partially divided both the aorta and the pulmonary artery--the main arteries of the body. Now, during life, these great vessels are full of blood at a high internal pressure, whereas after death they become almost empty. It follows that, if this wound had been inflicted during life, the cavity in which those vessels lie would have become filled with blood. As a matter of fact, it contained practically no blood, only the merest oozing from some small veins, so that it is certain that the wound was inflicted after death. The presence and nature of the poison I ascertained by analyzing certain secretions from the body, and the analysis enabled me to judge that the quantity of the poison was large; but the contents of the stomach were sent to Professor Copland for more exact examination."

"Is the result of Professor Copland's analysis known?" the magistrate asked Anstey.

"The professor is here, your Worship," replied Anstey, "and is prepared to swear to having obtained over one grain of morphia from the contents of the stomach; and as this, which is in itself a poisonous dose, is only the unabsorbed residue of what was actually swallowed, the total quantity taken must have been very large indeed."

"Thank you," said the magistrate. "And now, Dr. Thorndyke, if you have given us all the facts, perhaps you will tell us what conclusions you have drawn from them."

"The facts which I have stated," said Thorndyke, "appear to me to indicate the following sequence of events. The deceased died about midnight on September 27, from the effects of a poisonous dose of morphia, how or by whom administered I offer no opinion.

I think that his body was conveyed in a boat to Sundersley Gap. The boat probably contained three men, of whom one remained in charge of it, one walked up the Gap and along the cliff towards St. Bridget's Bay, and the third, having put on the shoes of the deceased, carried the body along the shore to the Bay. This would account for the great depth and short stride of the tracks that have been spoken of as those of the deceased.

Having reached the Bay, I believe that this man laid the corpse down on his tracks, and then trampled the sand in the neighbourhood. He next took off deceased's shoes and put them on the corpse; then he put on a pair of boots or shoes which he had been carrying--perhaps hung round his neck-- and which had been prepared with nails to imitate Draper's shoes. In these shoes he again trampled over the area near the corpse.

Then he walked backwards to the Shepherd's Path, and from it again, still backwards, to the face of the cliff. Here his accomplice had lowered a rope, by which he climbed up to the top. At the top he took off the nailed shoes, and the two men walked back to the Gap, where the man who had carried the rope took his confederate on his back, and

carried him down to the boat to avoid leaving the tracks of stockinged feet. The tracks that I saw at the Gap certainly indicated that the man was carrying something very heavy when he returned to the boat."

"But why should the man have climbed a rope up the cliff when he could have walked up the Shepherd's Path?" the magistrate asked.

"Because," replied Thorndyke, "there would then have been a set of tracks leading out of the Bay without a corresponding set leading into it; and this would have instantly suggested to a smart police-officer--such as Sergeant Payne--a landing from a boat."

"Your explanation is highly ingenious," said the magistrate, "and appears to cover all the very remarkable facts. Have you anything more to tell us?"

"No, your Worship," was the reply, "excepting" (here he took from Polton the last pair of moulds and passed them up to the magistrate) "that you will probably find these moulds of importance presently."

As Thorndyke stepped from the box--for there was no cross-examination-- the magistrates scrutinized the moulds with an air of perplexity; but they were too discreet to make any remark.

When the evidence of Professor Copland (which showed that an unquestionably lethal dose of morphia must have been swallowed) had been taken, the clerk called out the-to me--unfamiliar name of Jacob Gummer. Thereupon an enormous pair of brown dreadnought trousers, from the upper end of which a smack-boy's head and shoulders protruded, walked into the witness-box.

Jacob admitted at the outset that he was a smack-master's apprentice, and that he bad been "hired out" by his master to one Mr. Jezzard as deck-hand and cabin-boy of the yacht Otter.

"Now, Gummer," said Anstey, "do you remember the prisoner coming on board the yacht?"

"Yes. He has been on board twice. The first time was about a month ago. He went for a sail with us then. The second time was on the night when Mr. Hearn was murdered."

"Do you remember what sort of boots the prisoner was wearing the first time he came?"

"Yes. They were shoes with a lot of nails in the soles. I remember them because Mr. Jezzard made him take them off and put on a canvas pair."

"What was done with the nailed shoes?"

"Mr. Jezzard took 'em below to the cabin."

"And did Mr. Jezzard come up on deck again directly?"

"No. He stayed down in the cabin about ten minutes."

"Do you remember a parcel being delivered on board from a London boot-maker?"

"Yes. The postman brought it about four or five days after Mr. Draper had been on board. It was labelled 'Walker Bros., Boot and Shoe Makers, London.' Mr. Jezzard took a pair of shoes from it, for I saw them on the locker in the cabin the same day."

"Did you ever see him wear them?"

"No. I never see 'em again."

"Have you ever heard sounds of hammering on the yacht?"

"Yes. The night after the parcel came I was on the quay alongside, and I heard someone a-hammering in the cabin."

"What did the hammering sound like?"

"It sounded like a cobbler a-hammering in nails."

"Have you over seen any boot-nails on the yacht?"

"Yes. When I was a-clearin' up the cabin the next mornin', I found a hobnail on the floor in a corner by the locker."

"Were you on board on the night when Mr. Hearn died?" "Yes. I'd been ashore, but I came aboard about half-past nine."

"Did you see Mr. Hearn go ashore?"

"I see him leave the yacht. I had turned into my bunk and gone to sleep, when Mr. Jezzard calls down to me: 'We're putting Mr. Hearn ashore,' says he; 'and then,' he says, 'we're a-going for an hour's fishing. You needn't sit up,' he says, and with that he shuts the scuttle. Then I got up and slid back the scuttle and put my head out, and I see Mr. Jezzard and Mr. Leach a-helpin' Mr. Hearn acrost the deck. Mr. Hearn he looked as if he was drunk. They got him into the boat--and a rare job they had-- and Mr. Pitford, what was in the boat already, he pushed off. And then I popped my head in again, 'cause I didn't want them to see me."

"Did they row to the steps?"

"No. I put my head out again when they were gone, and I heard 'em row round the yacht, and then pull out towards the mouth of the harbour. I couldn't see the boat, 'cause it was a very dark night."

"Very well. Now I am going to ask you about another matter. Do you know anyone of the name of Polton?"

"Yes," replied Gummer, turning a dusky red. "I've just found out his real name. I thought he was called Simmons."

"Tell us what you know about him," said Anstey, with a mischievous smile.

"Well," said the boy, with a ferocious scowl at the bland and smiling Polton, "one day he come down to the yacht when the gentlemen had gone ashore. I believe he'd seen 'em go. And he offers me ten shillin' to let him see all the boots and shoes we'd got on board. I didn't see no harm, so I turns out the whole lot in the cabin for him to look at.

While he was lookin' at 'em he asks me to fetch a pair of mine from the fo'c'sle, so I fetches 'em. When I come back he was pitchin' the boots and shoes back into the locker. Then, presently, he nips off, and when he was gone I looked over the shoes, and then I found there was a pair missing. They was an old pair of Mr. Jezzard's, and what made him nick 'em is more than I can understand."

"Would you know those shoes if you saw them!"

"Yes, I should," replied the lad.

"Are these the pair?" Anstey handed the boy a pair of dilapidated canvas shoes, which he seized eagerly.

"Yes, these is the ones what he stole!" he exclaimed.

Anstey took them back from the boy's reluctant hands, and passed them up to the magistrate's desk. "I think," said he, "that if your Worship will compare these shoes with the last pair of moulds, you will have no doubt that these are the shoes which made the footprints from the sea to Sundersley Gap and back again."

The magistrates together compared the shoes and the moulds amidst a breathless silence. At length the chairman laid them down on the desk.

"It is impossible to doubt it," said he. "The broken heel and the tear in the rubber sole, with the remains of the chequered pattern, make the identity practically certain."

As the chairman made this statement I involuntarily glanced round to the place where Jezzard was sitting. But he was not there; neither he, nor Pitford, nor Leach. Taking advantage of the preoccupation of the Court, they had quietly slipped out of the door.

But I was not the only person who had noted their absence. The inspector and the

sergeant were already in earnest consultation, and a minute later they, too, hurriedly departed.

The proceedings now speedily came to an end. After a brief discussion with his brothermagistrates, the chairman addressed the Court.

"The remarkable and I may say startling evidence, which has been heard in this court to-day, if it has not fixed the guilt of this crime on any individual, has, at any rate, made it clear to our satisfaction that the prisoner is not the guilty person, and he is accordingly discharged. Mr. Draper, I have great pleasure in informing you that you are at liberty to leave the court, and that you do so entirely clear of all suspicion; and I congratulate you very heartily on the skill and ingenuity of your legal advisers, but for which the decision of the Court would, I am afraid, have been very different."

That evening, lawyers, witnesses, and the jubilant and grateful client gathered round a truly festive board to dine, and fight over again the battle of the day. But we were scarcely halfway through our meal when, to the indignation of the servants, Sergeant Payne burst breathlessly into the room.

"They've gone, sir!" he exclaimed, addressing Thorndyke. "They've given us the slip for good."

"Why, how can that be?" asked Thorndyke.

"They're dead, sir! All three of them!"

"Dead!" we all exclaimed.

"Yes. They made a burst for the yacht when they left the court, and they got on board and put out to sea at once, hoping, no doubt, to get clear as the light was just failing.

But they were in such a hurry that they did not see a steam trawler that was entering, and was hidden by the pier. Then, just at the entrance, as the yacht was creeping out, the trawler hit her amidships, and fairly cut her in two. The three men were in the water in an instant, and were swept away in the eddy behind the north pier; and before any boat could put out to them they had all gone under. Jezzard's body came up on the beach just as I was coming away."

We were all silent and a little awed, but if any of us felt regret at the catastrophe, it was at the thought that three such cold-blooded villains should have made so easy an exit; and to one of us, at least, the news came as a blessed relief.

Les Très Riches Heures