Foxglove Summer

Architectural and Historical Notes

Readers with an eye for the esoteric and unusual in architecture will recognise Hugh Oswald’s home as The Folly in Herefordshire which was built in 1961 by Raymond Erith, whose response to modernism was to pretend it never happened. It sits just as I describe it up on the Wylde and is a sight to see – although please remember that it is a private house and act accordingly.

Hugh Oswald demonstrates the benefit of a classical education by quoting from Book 17 of the Iliad:

Pokehouse Wood is a real place, but I’ve changed the dates on which it was replanted to suit the necessity of my story. I’m almost totally certain that it doesn’t form a gateway to the land of faerie, since if it did I’m sure its owners, the National Trust, would have, at the very least, put up a useful informative sign, if not a visitors’ centre with an attached café and small play area for potential changelings.

Since the events of this book, West Mercia Police have entered into a close alliance with several neighbouring police services. As a result Leominster nick is now fully staffed while Ludlow has become as lawless a town as Deadwood ever was – although presumably with better cuisine. This is assuming, of course, that they haven’t reorganised again while my back was turned.