The charming port of Fowey in Cornwall is closely associated with the writer Daphne du Maurier. She it was who wrote one of the most famous first lines of any English novel – ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Mandalay again.’

The beginning of ‘Rebecca’ refers to a house which du Maurier may well have based on an actual building on this coast.

We walked down into Fowey from a car park set high on the cliffs and wondered at how perfectly the character of the place has been preserved.

Brenda Daly, who is in the photo with me, does a tremendous job in organising the Fowey Festival every year. She arranged for me to be interviewed by BBC Cornwall’s Daphne Skinnard, who ensured the packed house was fully involved. This was just as well, as two members of the audience had lived (separately) on Tagg’s Island, the little enclave where ‘Death on the Thames’ is set. As the island consists of the ‘liveaboards’ on sixty two houseboats, this was an extraordinary coincidence – but far from the only extraordinary thing about Fowey and its festival.