Canny Scots See The Potential

... of tourism and the arts. I've just been looking at ferry prices in Scotland and came across a page on the Caledonian MacBrayne website: "CalMac and Jolomo". (That page has gone. Try this one and this for John Lowrie Morrison.)

My interest in "CalMac" prices is for a walking expedition to Scotland in August. Just the sort of holiday Tollers and Jack would have liked! I must say that I have been pleasantly surprised by the reasonable rates for accommodation at Scottish Youth Hostels. Nevertheless, we have done well to book in advance and we couldn't always get the rooms we wanted. I would suggest that there is considerable demand for accommodation for walkers in the UK. Lyme Regis, with its hinterland of beautiful countryside and prime location on the South West Coastal Footpath, might do well to promote this sector of the hotel industry. A building such as The Three Cups Hotel with its many cultural connections would be in demand for visitors and walkers passing through Lyme, if it were open for business.

Some may say that I should be camping. Well, I am prepared to camp in Scotland at certain times of year but I am more afraid of midges than orcs. From this perspective, Dorset is more salubrious and attractive than the Highlands. But for Misty Mountains, it has to be Scotland ... or Wales.

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G.K. Chesterton and more Plaques

The Three Cups Hotel needs more than just one blue plaque to commemorate Tolkien's many visits.

I was told of a connection with G.K. Chesterton and this has been explained in detail by Dale Ahlquist, President of the American Chesterton Society, who wrote this to me in an email:

"Chesterton stayed at The Three Cups Hotel in Lyme Regis in 1930, and wrote a letter from there on the hotel’s stationery and a poem. So it belongs to eternity."

Dale asked me to refer to his society's website at www.chesterton.org which I highly recommend.

I have also obtained my own copy of "Signs of History, A Guide to the Historical Plaques and Notable Buildings of Lyme Regis", published by The Lyme Regis Society, 2002. (Thanks to The Lyme Regis Museum.) I see from this booklet that there is, at number 11 Broad Street, a plaque describing the role played by that building in the film, "The French Lieutenant's Woman". Wouldn't it be worth having another plaque pointing out that The Three Cups also played a leading role in the same film?

There is yet another reason for a plaque mentioned in the "Signs of History" booklet, namely that The Lyme Regis Society was formed after a meeting at the hotel in 1930.

It looks like The Three Cups Hotel could be famous for displaying at least four blue plaques. Now I think that would attract some visitors and many customers if it were open for business.

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