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Wednesday 12 April 2017

A-Z Challenge 2017 - Houses, some real, some not - 'J'

J - Jamaica Inn


Jamaica Inn

Jamaica Inn, in the middle of Bodmin Moor was built as a staging post for changing horses for stagecoaches crossing the moor.

It was made famous by Daphne du Maurier in the fourth of her novels. Jamaica Inn told the story of Cornish wreckers led by a parson.

On a winters night in 1930 stayed at the Inn with her friend Foy, the daughter of Sir Arthur Quiller Couch.

While they were  there they went riding on Bodmin Moor. Finding themselves lost in bad weather they apparently sheltered for some time in a derelict cottage on the moor being eventually led back to Jamaica Inn by their horses. 

During that stay at Jamaica Inn Daphne also met and talked to the parson from the nearby church at Altarnun. 

Her story tells the tale of Mary, an orphan who goes to live with her Aunt Patience and Uncle Joss Merlyn, the terrifying landlord of Jamaica Inn and the mystery surrounding her uncle’s business - smuggling along the Cornish coast.



Today Jamaica Inn is both a pub and a museum, alongside the A30

Hitchcock's 1939 film of Jamaica Inn had its ending altered due to restrictions of the American Hays Production Code - the leader of the wreckers could not be seen as a man of the cloth and was changed to the local squire.

Daphne did not appreciate the changes.

Recently Jamaica Inn was made into a BBC TV series, ruined for me and hundreds of viewers by mumbling, inaudible  dialogue.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had no idea it was based on an actual Inn. Interesting post.

Mail Adventures said...

I had never seen about this one. I'd like to visit it, and that seems easy since it is a pub.
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Eva - Mail Adventures

Trin Carl said...

Oh man, I wish one of my venues from one of my novels becomes a "Go-to" place on tourist' agendas.
theglobaldig.blogspot.com

FinnBadger said...

Fascinating place. I'm completely unfamiliar with the work of du Maurier.

Phillip | J is for Jean-san

21 Wits said...

Wow, that is something I didn't know! I really like how the old telephone booth stands out so well. Now try to fit orange in one of these posts, as Carmi has given us orange for this week!

Jo said...

I recently re-read the book. I didn't realise the inn was a genuine place.

Kristin said...

I heard "Jamaica Inn" on BBC awhile ago. That inn keeper was terrifying!
Was the story actually based on a real terrifying inn keeper, or just the inn.

Finding Eliza

Unknown said...

At first I was a bit confused, as I figured a place like Jamaica Inn would be closer to Jamaica. I wonder how it got its name. That's fascinating that it's now a museum, but it sounds like it has a heritage and history all its own, apart from the novel.

Thanks for sharing!

John Davis Frain said...

Gotta confess, I had no idea. But I'd love be there one day now!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Bob - I didn't know the background to Daphne's finding the Inn. That BBC tv adaption I was so looking forward to - I think I'd just had my hip done - and that would have been an excellent production to watch without guilt - but no - as you say it was awful ... way too dark, and way too mumbly ... such a pity. Having since been to Altarnun - I now appreciate the area a bit more. We used to stop there in the 50s, but soon afterwards just kept going - we weren't much for the masses! We kept going to Penzance or took the A38 avoiding the crowded A30 ... cheers Hilary

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