Saturday, 4 March 2017

English Geography

SM Stirling, The Protector's War (New York, 2006), Chapter Three.

The fugitives:

ride up the M1;
mention a Welcome Break sign;
pass the Aston Martin plant;
enter Newport Pagnell;
cross Tickford Bridge;
enter St Peter and St Paul Church (see image);
enter the Cannon pub;
will travel up the Ouse to the Wash and King's Lynn.

Ten links! And there are probably many more potential links but that is as much as I can manage tonight.

We had a similar travelogue in Poul Anderson's The Corridors Of Time, e.g., here.
at

7 comments:

  1. S.M. Stirling5 March 2017 at 07:18

    I have an informant who lives in Newport Pagnel, is a Real Ale enthusiast, and does Morris Dancing... 8-).

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    Replies
    1. paulshackley2017@gmail.com5 March 2017 at 08:09

      Mr Stirling,
      My deduction was that you had been on holiday there.
      This also explains the earlier reference to Morris Dancing.
      Paul.

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    2. Sean M. Brooks5 March 2017 at 17:12

      Dear Mr. Stirling,

      One reason why I read your Nantucket books with PARTICULAR interest was because of how much of the action takes place in my home state of Massachusetts. Albeit on a island, Nantucket, which I've never visited. I live in Essex county, in the north east corner of Massachusetts, and is very different from Nantucket.

      Sean

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    3. David Birr5 March 2017 at 20:43

      Mr. Stirling:
      Ah, but does he also do the OTHER version, as done by the Lancre Morris Men?

      Paul and Sean, that question was a joking reference to Terry Pratchett's *DiscWorld*. The "OTHER Morris" is an autumn ritual, "because of the balance of things."

      One of Pratchett's books showed, too, that Lancre-style Morris dancing also functions as a rather deadly martial art, at least against the Fair Folk.

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    4. Sean M. Brooks5 March 2017 at 23:02

      Kaor, DAVID!

      Alas, you not touch on one of my many areas of ignorance. I know too little about the late Terry Pratchett to comment sensibly about his DiscWorld series. But, it's plain you unearthed another SF inside allusion by Stirling!

      Sean

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  2. S.M. Stirling5 March 2017 at 22:40

    Sean: Janet and I have gone to Nantucket nearly every April since we were married in 1988, and stayed at the Jared Coffin House. It's a magical place, tho' it has its drawbacks -- it's excruciatingly expensive, for example. But if it hadn't been ferociously defended it would have been grossly overdeveloped. (One example; 3% of all real-estate transactions go into a fund to by and preserve open space.).

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    Replies
    1. Sean M. Brooks5 March 2017 at 22:59

      Dear Mr. Stirling,

      Oh, I knew Nantucket has become a painfully expensive place to either live on or visit. And I agree this is not all bad, if it prevents the island from becoming "grossly overdeveloped."

      I'm glad you and your lady have pleasant visits to Nantucket!

      Sean

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