Stourhead: in the steps of Miss Marple

Miss Marple (right) talks with the soon-to-be-murdered
Elizabeth Temple in Stourhead Gardens

To my mind, only one actress has convincingly portrayed Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. Margaret Rutherford was comical but fell well short of the mark, not helped by some truly diabolical scripts. Geraldine McEwan was much better (which is more than can be said for her scripts, too) but her smiling incarnation of the oft-knitting, tea drinking super-sleuth never quite came up to the standard set by the queen of them all — Joan Hickson.

One of my favourites in the 1980's BBC series that stared Joan Hickson is Nemesis. Miss Marple is booked on an 'all expenses paid' coach tour of stately homes and gardens, in the hope that she can unravel the mystery of who killed Verity Hunt. If the logic of that escapes you then you'll have to get the book or lay your hands on a copy of the old programme. However, if perchance you come across the Geraldine McEwan version, just put it back on the shelf.  It's nothing like the original.

Anyway, the second stop on this carefully crafted coach tour was Stourhead, in Wiltshire. Miss Marple arrives on a miserable, rainy day, so much of the beauty of the place is lost. Whether that was intentional, a ploy to dodge the crowds or just bad luck, I know not, but it certainly adds to the gathering gloom of the plot.

Enthusiasts for the 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice will also recognise Stourhead as the place where Mr Darcy proposed to Elizabeth – again in the rain. Me, I prefer the earlier series that stared Colin Firth. He's just so dishy!

When I visited, over this past weekend, I'm pleased to report that the weather was not at all Nemesis-like; quite the opposite, in fact. One of the National Trust stewards told me that visitor numbers peak at this time of the year as the autumn colours are so spectacular, and indeed they are.

I joined the crowds and ambled slowly around the lake, intending to take lots of photographs. Unfortunately, after only a couple of clicks, my camera battery signaled that it was about to expire... and oh flip, I didn't have a replacement!  Consequently, all the photos here were taken on S-'s Sony smartphone.  I suppose one might expect Sony, of all manufacturers, to have a decent camera on their smartphone, but I am still very impressed with the quality. Since returning home I've read a few reviews and yes, the Sony camera is acknowledged to be better that Samsung's, despite them both having 13 megapixel resolution. It does have it's drawbacks, compared to a conventional camera, but hey... any port in a storm, as they say.

So here, to show off the spectacular beauty of Stourhead and the excellence of that smartphone, are some views, taken on my circuit of the lake.