Literary Lyme Walking Tours0

Jane Austen's Lyme Regis --- Jane Austen visited Lyme on at least two separate occasions and set Persuasion, her last novel, in the town. On the tour we follow in the footsteps of Austen and her characters. See the steps from which Louisa Musgrove fell on the famous Cobb Harbour and visit the inns mentioned in Persuasion. See the house in which she stayed and enjoy the pleasure of Lyme Regis's views, knowing that you are seeing the same sights as Austen saw and loved. --- The French Lieutenant's Woman --- John Fowles is recognised in literary circles as one of the Twentieth Century's greatest writers. The effect of his novel, The French Lieutenant's Woman is testament to this. The opening sequence of the film with Meryl Streep walking along the Cobb will be forever imprinted on our minds. The tour focusses on the landscape that inspired the The French Lieutenant's Woman's creator. Fowles describes Underhill as a 'great complex poem.' In his journals he writes, 'the purity of the sun here: white, silver, gold.' 'I have never been more conscious of it...how the sea changes in texture, colour, transparency.' Take a walk to Fowles's recent home Belmont. Then, follow The French Lieutenant's Woman across the sunlit clifftops to the Undercliff nature reserve which forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tour includes sites featured in the novel and film, but the best is left till last. We visit the secluded farmhouse that Fowles adored and in which he wrote The French Lieutenant's Woman. We explore the grounds as Fowles would have done, reading and discussing exerpts from The French Lieutenant's Woman and his diaries. See the filming locations used by Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons. Finally, we go into John Fowles's quirky work room at Underhill (in the midst of the Undercliff nature reserve) where you can see the views of the sea and Undercliff exactly as Fowles would have enjoyed. --- Undercliff Walk --- 8 mile woodland trek from Lyme Regis to Seaton. Follow our Jurassic UNESCO World Heritage cliffs with info on how this English Jungle came to be what it is and info on people who lived there. Great invigourating walk with wonderful coastal views and tales of forgotten ruins.