Settings for TSNS
Kynance Cove, Cornwall
Porthrosen
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Mevagissey, Cornwall
Cornwall is my favourite place on Earth so when I needed a setting for my first novel, Honest Dealing, I knew that it had to be based by the sea! I have fused many elements from different places in Cornwall, but I think it's fair to say that Porthrosen is mostly based on the small village of Mevagissey, albeit with my own twist! Cornwall has both a north coast and south coast, and Mevagissey is on the south coast near St Austell.
The Harbour Tavern on the corner of Jetty Street is my inspiration for KITTO'S CAVE. The hill and headland to the right of the tavern (as you look out to sea) is without all the properties in my Porthrosen.
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Mevagissey is somewhere that I visited a lot when I was young. My family would holiday at Pentewan Sands, and since then I have always loved this area of Cornwall. So much so, that I have visited many times with my own children!
The Harbour Tavern & Jetty Street
The Koyt
Chûn Quoit, Cornwall
Cornwall is home to several Neolithic monuments called 'Quoits', or variously, Dolmens or Cromlech or 'Koyt'. These are possibly the earliest of any of the prehistoric monuments remaining in the UK, dating from the early Neolithic period (3500-2500 BC). There is evidence that these structures were used as a form of ancient burial chamber – although it is thought that this was not there only purpose.
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Porthrosen Koyt is based on Chûn (pronounced 'choon') Quoit which is located on the West Penwith moors near Pendeen, Cornwall.
Spriggan Stone Circle
Boscawen-ûn Stone Circle, Cornwall
In Book 2: Veiled Tide, Kerenza visits a stone circle, 'SPRIGGAN' on the edge of Porthrosen in order to travel to the Cempalli training ground. This stone circle is based on Boscawen-ûn Stone Circle near Penzance which is believed to be an ancient sacred site for ceremony and ritual. Quartz stone was seen by megalithic builders as sacred so the quartz stone in the centre of the the circle may have had some significance relating to healing and possibly the moon.
Porthwithiel Woods & Bridge Egress
Golitha Falls, Cornwall
Porthwithiel Woods is inspired by the Golitha Falls Woodland Nature Reserve. Golitha Falls are a series of spectacular cascades through a steep-sided valley gorge on the upper reaches of the River Fowey (pronounced Foye). As the Fowey winds it way from its source on Bodmin Moor to its estuary at the harbour of Fowey, it passes through the picturesque wooded gorge between Draynes Bridge and Treverbyn Bridge in Liskeard, Cornwall.
The above picture is just one of a few bridges that I used to inspire the Bridge Egress in Porthwithiel Woods, Cornwall. I believe that this one is in Ireland.