The plot
for McLaren’s sixth mystery, “No Known Address,” was mentally making a
nuisance of itself, so I decided to do something about it while I was in
England. I wanted a unique setting for a section in the novel,
and--after book-researching candidates such as Matlock Bath’s cable
cars, the flooded Speedwell Cavern, Peveril Castle’s ruined keep
(erected in 1176), and the moors surrounding the Cat and Fiddle Inn (the
two centuries-old pub is the second highest in England)--I thought the
old windmill in Heage, Derbyshire sounded a perfect choice. Heage is
about seven miles as the crow flies from the bed-and-breakfast where I
would be staying in Dethick. But add at least twice that mileage for
the twisting roads.
Armed with directions from the B-&-B owner,
and confident I could find the thing, I set off. Twenty minutes of
driving in what were probably circles, U-turns and figure eights never
brought me to the mill. Nor produced any signs proclaiming the thing’s
existence. I was more than disappointed; my frustration verged on
panic. That wonderful scene was evaporating into the hedgerows and
stone walls that kept me from my goal. But when my anxiety finally
lessened, I realized I had another option.
In my circular wandering
I had discovered the village of Crich and the old Wakebridge Engine
House. Wakebridge is a remnant of the by-gone lead mining days in
Derbyshire, and joins the list of other mines with colorful names:
Bacchus Pipe, Leather Ears, Merry Bird, Pigtrough, Silver Eye, Wanton
Legs… The region wallows in mining history stretching from Roman times
into the 1950s. With such a past, surely I’d get something useful out of
Wakebridge. So, assuming a bird in the hand is worth more than trying
to locate its nest, I latched onto the mining house. Which is why
you’ll read about Wakebridge instead of the Heage windmill in “No Known
Address.”
I still love the idea of a scene in the mill, though.
The creaking of its six sails, the moaning wind whipping up the hill,
the birds huddled in the loft, the scuff of thick-soled shoes on the
wooden steps… Perhaps next trip I’ll find where it’s hiding. A
potential scene in a mill is too good to become chaff in the wind.
Jo A. Hiestand, www.johiestand.com
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