Alistair Duncan's Blog, page 78

What next for Undershaw??

I've had a comment on Twitter where I was asked - what next for Undershaw?
All I can do here is speculate based on what I know as I’m not on the inside.
The first thing to remember is that the owners of Undershaw still own it. The court decision has not changed that. What has changed is the commercial value of the house. A house without planning permission is worth a lot less than one with planning permission.
So what are the possible outcomes?
The owners could draft and submit new plans taking care to address all the oversights that led to their previous planning permission being thrown out. Whether they are prepared to do this is anyone’s guess. However they are clearly looking to ensure that they don’t lose money or they would not have appealed in the first place.
They could just give up and put the house on the market. However the chances of someone buying it are minimal without planning permission to convert it.
The only person who would find it attractive is someone who was prepared to restore it as a single structure for either residential or commercial purposes. Needless to say this will be an enormous financial undertaking.
So what is desperately needed now is an individual or organisation with both the money and the will to undertake this task.

Undershaw - Permission to appeal refused

Permission to appeal refused
As reported by Lynn Gale last night on Twitter, the appeal against the decision to reject Undershaw's planning permission has been refused.

My understanding is that an appeal was made and rejected and then an appeal against the rejection was made and this has now also been rejected. The owner's redevelopment plans for Undershaw are now well and truly squashed.

Visiting the site in early 2012
So the next stage of the battle can now commence. Plans must be put forward for the house's future. Everyone needs to get behind The Undershaw Preservation Trust to help them keep this house in one piece for future generations.

Sherlockian Nostalgia - The House of Fear

The House of Fear is, I think, my favourite of the Basil Rathbone films. 
You're nicked!
As pointed out by Dr. Amanda Field, it is one of the temporally ambiguous films. In her excellent book on the series, Field points out that the films went through a number of distinct phases. Firstly we had the two “Victorian” films with 20th Century Fox; when Universal picked up the franchise we moved onto the Nazi films, the temporally ambiguous films and, finally, the borderline horror films.
Buy it now! Winner of the 2010 Tony & Freda Howlett AwardReturning to this particular film; it is loosely based on The Five Orange Pips and adheres to the lonely house, fixed group of suspects formula so loved by Agatha Christie. It is its temporal ambiguity that makes it for me and the obvious parallels it shares with Agatha Christie’s story And Then There Were None. Even though it is set in the 1940s, the absence of any real technology of the time (there are no telephones in the house for example – not that telephones are particularly a 1940s item - and no electricity) leaves us with only the sartorial standards as any indication of a time period.
I also think that the fact it is black and white also makes a huge difference. I do not think for a second that this film would have the same impact in colour (and that applies to all of the Rathbone films).
If by some chance you've not seen it, put it on your "to do" list.

Sherlockian board game

This looks fun and is available on eBay.

Is the game afoot?

Has anyone played it? Is it worth getting?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sherlock-Holmes-Detective-Board-Game-Gibsons-Games-1980s-COMPLETE-VGC-/120980897666?pt=UK_Toys_Games_Games&hash=item1c2b05ff82&_uhb=1#ht_500wt_824

A slight rebranding

I've decided to re-brand this blog as Doyleockian. This seems to me to be a good blend of its subject matter. My blog has never been wholly Sherlockian or Doylean; it has always been a mixture and the new title reflects that I feel.

The URL will remain the same so that the various links to this site from elsewhere remain unaffected.

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Swiss Trip on BBC Website

Read the BBC's take on the SHSL trip to Switzerland.

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19598997

Where it all started for me

I was just mindlessly Googling (as you do) and came across this picture which brought it all back for me. This is where my journey started.


Does this ring any bells for you Sherlockians out there?

What would you like to see?

I've been writing this blog for a while now so I thought it was about time I asked what people like about it and whether or not there are things you'd like to see more of.

No promises that I'll be able to follow the suggestions but I thought I'd ask. I'll try and accommodate you where I can.

The Conan Doyle Estate - updated website

Here is a link to the web page of the Conan Doyle Estate.

http://www.conandoyleestate.co.uk/

  This site contains plenty of information about the work of Arthur Conan Doyle and the work of the Estate who manage those works that are still protected by copyright.

Video - SHSL Swiss Pilgrimage

The early stages of the journey.