I have always been a fan of Agatha Christie. My interest started when I was a young teenager confined to bed for months on end. This was following a bout of Asian Flu (a pandemic prevalent in 1957) I read her books avidly as my main source of entertainment – no home schooling or television in those days! Of course, today there are regular dramatizations of her characters Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple on TV. It is sad really that the long-running play “The Mousetrap” had to close because of this latest pandemic.
So, a visit to Greenway – a National Trust property in Devon and one of Agatha’s former homes, was really a must. She called the house “the loveliest place in the world”. It was her childhood home and later in life she spent summers and Christmases there relaxing with her family and friends. It is indeed a relaxing place and fascinating too with the extensive collection of objects from her travels.
To use Agatha’s own words “A white Georgian house of about 1780 or 90, with woods sweeping down to the Dart below, and lots of fine shrubs and trees – the ideal house, a dream house”. This is how it remains today, a treasure trove inside, with attractive gardens and stunning scenery outside.
Only the ground floor was open on the day we visited because of the restrictions, but we were still able to absorb the atmosphere of the place. Obviously, we had to pre-book and numbers were limited, which made it very pleasant. We had a good walk around the grounds and through the in the woods down to the riverside jetty. You can travel by ferry to Greenway, but we chose to go by car as we were visiting different places on the same day.
It is well worth visiting this delightful property.
