Jill McGown

Books

- Locations

- Translations

- Lloyd & Hill on TV

- Short Stories

Locations

Stansfield is based on Corby, and many of the locations in the books are real; I thought you might want to see what some of them look like, and I'd like to thank all the people who so kindly gave me permission to use their photographs.

For a bbc video clip featuring Jill click here
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Corby boating lake: © www.northamptonshire.co.uk

The boating lake in A Perfect Match is Corby's boating lake. At the far side, you can just see the boathouse and café in which some of the action takes place, and, as you can see, the ducks who watched the drama unfold are also real! It was not, however, a gift from local industry; it is owned and run by the Council, and so far it is innocent of any known murder victims. It crops up again in Verdict Unsafe, where it is the site of the official Stansfield bonfire on the fifth of November, and is indeed where Corby's official fireworks display takes place, with around fifteen thousand people gathering each year to watch

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Rockingham village: © www.northamptonshire.co.uk

The village of Byford in Redemption (US: Murder at the Old Vicarage) is based on Rockingham village, just a couple of miles from where I live in Corby, and it is exactly as described in the book, including the hill down into the village, which is only slightly less hair-raising than it once was, having had its gradient levelled out a little. And Rockingham really can be cut off by snow!

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Rockingham Castle entrance: © Bob Baker

The castle built at the top of that alarming hill is Rockingham Castle; this is its imposing entrance.

Rockingham Castle's history and location are as detailed in the novel; on the approach from Corby, only the road-signs give you any indication that it's there at all. It was built by William the Conqueror, and was a royalist stronghold during the Civil War. The family did build a small extension to live in while repairs were carried out in the wake of Roundhead occupation, and in the novel, this is where the archivist lives; in real life it is the tearoom. It was the location for the BBC's By the Sword Divided, and it is open to visitors in the summer. It is well worth seeing, as are its gardens, and the spectacular view from its battlements - these days (now that Rutland has been given back its independence), taking in five counties.

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Rockingham Castle courtyard: © Bob Baker

This courtyard is the scene for the denouement of the novel.

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St Leonard's Church: © Maurice Kellner

This photograph of St Leonard's church was taken from the castle ramparts; I dedicated the church in the novel to another saint, and I made up the bit about it being draughty in the pulpit, though it probably is! The vicarage in the novel is entirely imaginary, as is the vicar, I hasten to add.

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I've included this photograph of St Leonard's stained-glass because it's a beautiful photograph, and, of course, a tense scene in the novel takes place in its light

Throughout the books I mention the police station, the U-shaped taxi-rank, the Derbyshire Hotel and the Civic Centre- all these things exist or existed, and are in the same relationship to one another as their fictional counterparts.

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Corby police station: © Robert Findlay

This is the sixties-built police station - I have actually only ever been as far as the front desk, so the interior in the novels is entirely imaginary.

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The police station faces one end of the pedestrianised Corporation Street, and at the other end is the U-shaped taxi rank which gets a mention in The Murders of Mrs Austin and Mrs Beale, A Shred of Evidence and Verdict Unsafe - possibly others. Corby is a very taxi-minded town, as is Stansfield, and the rank is always busy.

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Right beside the taxi rank stands the rather unlovely multi-storeyed Grosvenor House, which is the fictional Derbyshire Hotel. The Derbyshire is featured in at least three books - A Perfect Match, A Shred of Evidence, and Births, Deaths and Marriages. The real building began life as the Strathclyde Hotel, but ceased to be a hotel some years ago. It is now being used as Council offices, as the Civic Centre which used to be across the road from it has been pulled down. The same fate has not befallen Stansfield's Civic Centre, which is still standing in Births, Deaths and Marriages.

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Stansfield, like Corby, began life as a small village; this view of Corby High Street shows the solicitors' office in which I used to work, in the light-coloured stone buildings on the left. Lloyd lives in the old village, and it is the part of Stansfield that Judy likes best.

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