h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Sidmouth and The Sid Valley, Devon, England. - A5061610
Author: Parrferris - U168284

An entry on my current place of residence.

Good oh: a geographical entry

Have you told the Geog Inst?

to read the entry. I'll be back

Oh Parfers Bl**dy brilliant. I love it

I read it and was wafted into a world of the sainted Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Miss Marple and all things ENGLISH Thank you.

Mind you, it goes without saying that I have a few comments

>Sidmouth became a notorious centre for smuggling...< Was this because of, or in spite of the harbour entrance being choked? More about smuggling please (Hopeless romantic)

>...a nice cup of tea then Sidmouth's could be...< ---- >...a nice cup of tea then Sidmouth could be...<

>...adherents of the bucket and spade...< I think you can only adhere *to*, not *of*.

>repetory company< ---- >repertory company<

>move around the town a more than an arthritic shuffle< ---- >move around the town at more than an arthritic shuffle<

You have restored my faith in PR

There's no Guide Entry on smuggling and / or smugglers

Off to be a Researcher

...which was pretty much why I skipped lightly over the subject - I thought there was too much to it and it might deserve an entry of its own. In fact smuggling seems to have been the main industry on the East Devon and Dorset coast in the 17th and 18th centuries (and I wouldn't like to say that it doesn't continue to some extent today, though these days it's less likely to be barrels of brandy). The names of some notorious smugglers such as Jack Rattenbury and Amos Mutter are still treated with reverence around here; the village of Beer about 5 miles along the coast from here holds an annual Jack Rattenbury Day! I will endeavour to expand the reference without going overboard.

Thanks for the kind comments - I'll attend to the things you mention ASAP.

Yes, smuggling's a huge topic. I think I'll concentrate either on one geographical area, or on one type of item smuggled (brandy possibly).

First revisions done. I'm not too happy with my replacement for 'adherents' - if anyone can think of something better...?

I realised that I could actually adapt what I needed to say about smuggling from my post in this thread! I hope this satisfies you, FB, and good luck with the smuggling entry. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

I preferred 'adherents' to 'lovers' - something about the combination of 'determined' and the following word means that 'lovers' sounds too soft. Some would say that the juxtaposition of the words is wrong now

Yup, the smuggling bit is good. I might take you up on the offer of help with that entry in due course Parfers Mind you, I have one on quite a differnt topic to knock out this weekend I'll come and chat to you about smuggling on your PS in a while.

Yes, you're right. I've now changed it to 'adherents to', though it somehow sounds odd to me. I also get the mental image of the poor people physically welded to their buckets and spades!

I've got the same picture I rather like it

Some expert advice sought: I'd like to quote some lines of verse from John Betjeman's poem 'Sidmouth' - how much can I get away with as fair use? I have in mind five lines which I think sum up the town's charm beautifully (the entire work is 124 lines). If using these five isn't acceptable, I'll drop the idea altogether as there isn't any other section that really works out of context.

Hi, Parferris!

I really like this entry--it gives a great feel for the distinctive character of Sidmouth, and is really well and entertainingly written.

Another visitor you could mention is Jane Austen, who visited Sidmouth in 1801. Some commentators think that Sidmouth was the inspiration for the seaside town of Sanditon, in her last unfinished novel.

You mention the "spectacular red cliffs."--it would be nice to mention what rock they're made from. I suppose it's sandstone?


There are a few typos and possible errors:
"a retirement haven for the well-healed." Did you mean "well-heeled" or am I being obtuse about a pun?

"At the time of the Domesday," I've usually seen it used only as "Domesday Book" or "Domesday Survey"

"With the opportunities for legitmate trade"----"legitimate"

"In fact, with its long stretches of isolated shingle landings accessible by hidden cliff paths and gorges, it became one of the main industries of the East Devon coast in the 17th and 18th centuries."
The two usages of "it" are referring to different things, but the sentence structure makes it look as if they should refer to the same thing. I'd change it to "with the long stretches of isolated shingle.."

"less far-flung than most of the peninsular,"----"peninsula"

"unlike in some comparable Westcountry towns,"----isn't that usually "West Country"?

Footnote 4: "It is the priciple provider of lifeboat services"----"principal"

Anyway, it's a really great entry, highly readable and nicely individual. It certainly deserves to appear in the Edited Guide.


Azara

Oh, and about the Betjeman quote, I think the simplest thing would be to check with Jimster or Paully on Monday. 5 lines out of over 100 certainly sounds okay to me, but the italics should know for sure.

Azara

Cheers Azara! It's amazing how many daft mistakes slip past no matter how many times one reads the text before posting. I'll attend to them now.

I've now fixed most of the ghastly errors you spotted. I'll tackle Jane Austen tomorrow, because if I mention her I should probably also note that Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, RF Delderfield and HG Wells are also connected to the town. I'll try to keep it brief!

Yes, the cliffs are sandstone, and I've added that. I deliberately decided not to go any further on that score (one footnote already notes that it is largely Triassic) as there's a whole entry for someone in the geology and palaeontology of the 'Jurassic Coast'.

'Well-healed' No pun intended, unfortunately, though one of my reference works does note that John Taylor, a local shoemaker, made Princess Victoria's first pair of shoes.

I've changed 'Domesday' to 'Domesday Book'. I originally had more detail there, and I must confess that I deliberately fudged it because neither of my sources were clear as to whether their own source was the Domesday Book itself or the Exon Domesday. As I've removed the detail before submitting the entry, no need for the fudge!

I've stuck with Westcountry rather than West Country. Both versions are in common use, but as the regional media (eg The Western Morning News and ITV Westcountry) use the compound. BBC Plymouth seems to avoid the issue by always using 'South West', which my MS Word spellchecker insists should be 'southwest'.

Thanks again.

I've now added in a short paragraph about the various authors, but I think I'll leave it at that. For the record I've also discovered that Lizst performed here, Henry Wood used to holiday here, George Bernard Shaw stayed here and Arthur Conan Doyle twice played here as part of an MCC XI. I could go on...

for the changes!

I really like the paragraph about the authors.

As far as I'm concerned, the entry's ready for the Edited Guide!
(except for one remaining typo "pricipal" in the footnote is still missing its n )


Azara

Missing 'n' added! I must avoid that word in the future, it seems to be giving me problems...

Thanks for your help.

Five lines of Betjemen should be fine. Just stick 'em in a blockquote.

Paully

PS - FANTASTIC entry!

Thanks Paully, I'll put the quote in now.

Cheers for the compliment, too.