The Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Little bit tricky this week (the puzzle author has been very crafty) but near as I can figure it, the most likely answers seem to me to be


Q1. Par


Q2. The Treffry viaduct

N.B. (For question 1, Daphne Du Maurier's house Kilmarth, was near the town of Par and the town of Fowey but it is nearer Par than Fowey and the railway line out of Fowey goes to the north then turns to the east and does not pass under a viaduct around three miles from town, which does not fit with the clues.

For question 2, the viaduct in some sources, is sometimes referred to as the Luxulyan viaduct but it is marked on the OS map as the Treffry viaduct.)

The puzzle writer has thrown in some nacht und nebel this week, the UNESCO world heritage site  he is most likely referring to ie The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape (created c 2006), covers more than one location. These are, according to UNESCO.org:

St Just Mining District
The Port of Hayle
Tregonning and GwinearMining Districts with Trewavas
Wendron Mining District
Camborne and Redruth Mining District with Wheal Peevor and Portreath Harbour
Gwennap Mining District with Devoran and Perran and Kennall Vale
St Agnes Mining District
The Luxulyan Valley and Charlestown
Caradon Mining District
Tamar Valley Mining District with Tavistock .

The one which seems to me to be the best fit, with the clue about the novelist born c1907,  one Daphne Du Maurier, is The Luxulyan Valley and Charlestown, which lie close to the town of Par, where her house Kilmarth was. There can be some confusion as to whether Kilmarth is in the village of Tywardreath, the town of Par or the town of Fowey but from looking at the OS map, it's clearly closer to Par and the railway clue does not fit with Fowey.

An industrialist born c 1782 was one Joseph Thomas (Austen) Treffry. I found several references which claim that he built the Treffry viaduct, which does seem to lie around three miles north of Par, anytime between 1839 and 1847,depending on which source you want to believe. The viaduct is said in some references to be 216 yards long, 98 feet high with ten arches and to have carried a tramway and leat or stone water channel, to power a water wheel. The tramway, which was built to connect to the canal that leads to Par, closed c 1933.

Walking north from the Treffry viaduct brings you to the town of Luxulyan, which is said to have been founded by a saint Sulien (feast day 29th July) c 6th century. A granite called Luxullianite is said to be found in the locale and was used in the duke of Wellington's tomb, in Saint Paul's cathedral in London.

The railway line out of Par does run to the north and pass under the Treffry viaduct, before turning to the west, where it eventually terminates in the town of Newquay, which c 1911, was the birthplace of an author called William Golding (wrote Lord of the Flies). Golding won the booker prize in 1980 and the Nobel prize for literature in 1983. Travelling roughly three miles west south west from Newquay would take you to Hollywell bay, which is where some sources claim that the North Korean beach landing scene in the film 'Die Another Day' was filmed, c2002.

In the belief that "Eine stetige tropfen höhlt den stein", there are words concealed within the UK Thunderball lotto data, sometimes, when you see one developing, you can intuit what the next letter is going to be and get  lucky. Word puzzlers, Lotto players and data miners, check out the Eastender's book on the subject here:

Lotto Codewords In The Thunderball Game



Link to the competition

Where Was I?