Riddle of the Sands Adventure Club

We’re back! Having come to the end of ‘The Riddle of the Sands’, we find another book that is ‘curiously specific about dates and locations’.

A day-trip to Woking, Weybridge and Shepperton allows us to map out the action of the opening chapters of H. G. Wells’s ’The War of the Worlds’.

Lloyd explains how Woking, since Victorian times, has been a town marked by death, and goes in search of the first working mosque in Western Europe outside of Moorish Spain. Tim addresses the basic questions of exactly when the Martians might have landed in Woking, how long it would have taken them to fly from Mars to Earth, and how big a Martian tripod is (not the size of the model one in Woking shopping centre btw).

First up, we explain how and why our attempt at crowdfunding at Unbound has come to an end, and how our supporters can get their money back (00:25). We affirm our intention to keep noodling around with old books, and focus on ‘The War of the Worlds’ (02:57).

Our first impressions of Woking (04:17); the story of how a pub in Woking got to be named after Ogilvy the astronomer (05:41); Woking as a town of death (07:07); a tip of the hat to Woking boy, Paul Weller (08:54); a visit to Horsell Common, where the Martians landed (10:32).

Tim’s thoughts about when the Martians might have landed (12:00), including information about the Opposition of Mars (13:21), a proposed launch date from Mars of 12th February 1901 (14:54), a discussion about how fast objects fly through space (17:28), a proposed landing date of 7th or 14th June 1901 (21:56).

Lloyd reveals the history of the Woking mosque (22:20), and the town’s long association with Islamism (24:36); the extraordinary life of Gottleib Leitner and the creation of the Oriental College (27:23).

Having razed Woking, we move on to the destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton, and try to work out how big a Martian tripod actually is (30:51); a few interesting and mainly useless facts about Shepperton (33:15); estimating a tripod’s stride and height (36:05); tall buildings of Britain that a tripod might tower over, including the tallest building in the UK in 1895 (38:02).

No Club Business - but many many thanks to everyone who has written to us, and to all who have supported us over the last 18 months.

MUSIC CREDITS

Great Open Sea by the Wellington Sea Shanty Society: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea

Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds - https://youtu.be/6fnPn9Xr7fI

Funeral Pyre - The Jam : https://youtu.be/EndqhHJx-Ko (filmed at the sandpits on Horsell Common, where the Martians landed)

We’ve made it to the last day in the book - October 26. Our heroes, Carruthers and Davies, sail off into the sunset with the delightful Clara on board, and her dastardly dad, Dollman, overboard.

In this podcast Lloyd notDavies plots out how to get us back to Blighty via Ostmahorn, Holland. Tim notCarruthers, meanwhile, considers the end of Dollman, and the potentially tricky subject of suicide at sea.

First up, we make yet another plea to the listeners to support us on Unbound (02:52), where we’re trying to raise money to produce a beautiful new book and online adventure for you. Sign up here: https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands

Lloyd charts the route from Norderney to Ostmahorn via the island of Rottum (04:56); a brief description of Rottum & its warden (06:42); the tale of the ‘crazy Earl’ who once owned the place (08:12); how we might sail past Rottum today (10:28); how the SS held out in this part of the world at the end of WW2 (12:20).

Tim talks about Dollman ‘falling’ overboard (14:00); people who fall off cruise ships (15:46); people who jump off the Staten Island ferry (18:06); the strange tale of Donald Crowhurst (18:58).

Tim talks about late-19th century attitudes to suicide (21:56); the move to treating would-be suicides as mental patients rather than criminals (23:26); where would Dollman’s body have ended up anyway?(25:35); how ‘The Mikado’ ridiculed English attitudes to anti-suicide laws (27:37).

Lloyd tries to get us to Ostmahorn but finds there’s a dyke in the way (29:56). Musical Interlude: the legendary Ostmahorn/Gröningen folk scene of the ‘70s featuring Törf and Fungus (33:19).

Tim is puzzled as to whether Dollman really is a double agent (36:04); examples of real-life German double agents of the period (37:41); stories of criminals, madmen and fantasists working as spies (40:55). Lloyd consults his Bradshaws (again) about trains, and steamers from Harlingen to London (45:41); our landing point at Tower Bridge (46:49); a problem with getting back to London before October 29 (47:56).

Club Business - Kim’s fears for ship’s dog allayed (50:54); Nick on the Battle of Dorking (51:40). Having brought this narrative to an end, there are no missions for next week! Thank you everyone for your contributions.

MUSIC CREDITS

Great Open Sea by the Wellington Sea Shanty Society: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea

The Mikado - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLOY_R5XIJ8

Törf - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7F9l-zk7Qk

Fungus - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr9voaqgSIw

After weeks of sailing and suspense, ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ explodes into action on October 25.

At last we discover what the ‘Riddle’ is. Sadly, as you will hear, Lloyd notDavies and Tim notCarruthers fall out quite badly - and loudly - about the basic credibility of Erskine Childers’s premise in describing the imminent German threat.

We start the podcast, though, by plotting out the day for Carruthers, starting with an extended pub/gin bar crawl in Dornumerland, followed by an arduous cross-country walk to Hage, a fair deal of train travel in heavy disguise, and finally a bold act of sabotage on a galliot and a confrontation with, of all people, the Kaiser.

We quickly descend into chaos when Lloyd notDavies becomes aerated by the presence of ‘lighters’ in Bensersiel harbour (05:43); a heated discussion of the canal vs ditch issue ensues (07:50); Club Member Ian provides useful information about riverine vessels of the period (10:18); Club Member Tony sides with notCarruthers (12:37).

Lloyd notDavies then turns his attention to the viability (or not) of amphibious warfare and invasion by rowboat, using Gallipoli as his main case study (16:21). Tim notCarruthers changes the tone by referencing the Marx Brothers (23:04), and talking about the use of disguises in late Victorian literature. (24:44)

Finally, we address the pub crawl in Dornum and how to recreate it (or not) in modern times (30:03); a connection is made back to the Marx Brothers (34:03), and the true story of Groucho’s one visit to Dornum is revealed (36:14).

As if the tone couldn’t get any lower, we then discuss the 1970s sex comedy The EastFriesland Report (39:07), filmed on location in exactly the same places that Carruthers visits on October 25.

Club Business (45:14) - Adrian on why submarines were considered to be underhand and ‘unEnglish’ (45.26); Brian & John correct us on what a submarine engineer actually is (46:31); the status of marine engineers generally in 1903 (47:25); we find a real-life German diving/wreck engineer - living in Lambeth (48:39); Nick on TS Eliot and Baedecker (51:20); Ian on ejaculation(52:27); Ben and Fiona support us on Unbound (52:54); Peter finds us a Munich beer house in London (53:24).

MUSIC CREDITS

Great Open Sea by the Wellington Sea Shanty Society: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea

Mr Gallagher and Mr Shean (from Ziegfield Girls): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkzAEGarl9Q

Finally, on October 24 with only two days to go in the book, we get to discuss the actual riddle of ‘The Riddle of the Sands’.

Lloyd notDavies uses his train timetables to get us to Esens. Minus a moustache, Tim notCarruthers points out the cultural highlights of this ancient Frisian town. And then both men argue at length about the proper use of canals. Finally the talk turns to the significance of submarines.

First, a plug for our Unbound project. Just £25 will get you a beautiful ROTS Handbook, an ebook, an audiobook and access to the month-long online adventure in September. (02:00)

https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands

We start the podcast proper, as we often do, by referring to train timetables (05:19). We discover it isn’t as easy to get to Esens by rail as it was one hundred years ago.

We find the humblest guesthouse in Esens where we can eat wurst and drink beer (10:29); Tim notCarruthers tells tales of the Frisian pirate Junkers Balthasar (16:35) and, friend of Wagner, Theodore Thomas (17:29).

A long conversation about canals ensues (20:35) including: memories of the newsreader Peter Sissons (21:32); the geological history of Frisia (23:20); a canoeing trip down the Bensertief (27:30); German enthusiasm for navigable canal-building (29:15); the plan to ‘kill’ Rotterdam (30:42); how to get from Bensersiel to Aurich by barge (the long way round) (32:43).

We return to last podcast’s subject - the villainous engineer Böhme (38:12). If he hails from Bremen and is a submarine engineer, he can only have worked at one place. Tim notCarruthers follows this clue back to West Norwood (41:58), and ends up talking about an American-Irish engineer who imust have been known to Childers(43:03).

Club Business: Brian offers us a chance to row in the North Sea (45:18); Pat also talks rowing, and his brief time as a hero (47:33); Jeff gives us a chance to tell you about the mysterious annotated 1920s edition of ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ which has inspired this whole project(49:07).

MUSIC CREDITS

Great Open Sea by the Wellington Sea Shanty Society: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea

Flying Dutchman Overture by Wagner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqezCR_XzaI

It’s October 23 in ‘The Riddle of the Sands’, a day when Carruthers takes advantage of the mighty German railways to speed his way to Amsterdam for a night in a proper bed. The only downside? He has to endure half the journey with the creepy engineer, Böhme: “Don’t forget to go to Lloyds…”

So, it’s railways, luxury hotels by the Amstel River, and possible real-life role models for Böhme. If that floats your boat, don’t forget to pledge your support for the Adventure Club Handbook on https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands. Just £25 gets you a Handbook, a Field Audiobook, an e-book and full web access to our live web adventure.

First up, Lloyd NotDavies gets his Bradshaw’s out and indulges his obsession for timetables (07:34). We discover how Carruthers would have got from Nordeney to Amsterdam in real life in 1898 - and how Tim NotCarruthers can ride (roughly) the same route today.

Astute readers will notice how quickly a German army could travel through Holland and Belgium by train. Lloyd refers to the famous historian AJP Taylor to show the importance of train timetables in army mobilisation and the start of World War One (14:05).

Tim NotCarruthers ignores the rattling of sabres and researches, instead, the nicest possible hotels to stay at by the Amstel River (19:35). He finds a historic hostelry with basement showers and a unique line in deep massage and physical therapy. Tim also goes looking for a slop-shop in the Jewish Quarter in Amsterdam, and uncovers the dark reasons for why he can’t find one (24:38).

And so to real life examples of Böhme the military engineer - Böhme the Nazi war criminal (28:08); von Pressel the chief architect of the Baghdad Railway (31:30), von der Goltz Inspector-General of Fortifications in 1898, and lover of young Turks (33:13); Krupp the steel magnate, and lover of young Corsicans (36:23).

Club Business: John Ironside on German comedy videos (39:43); Zydny on Lancaster guns (40:41); Tony F on rowing speeds (41:36); Kass reports calmly on a proper sailing (mis)adventure (43:43); Jeff loves our Memmert episode (45:28); Brian offers to set us up with rowing lessons (45:40); Jon joins in with tales of Thames sculling at speed (46:33); a special ‘Ahoy’ to Adrian for finally tracking down the original Queenborough steamer pier (48:30).

MUSIC CREDITS

Great Open Sea by the Wellington Sea Shanty Society: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea

Waiting for a Train - Flash and the Pan: https://youtu.be/skVv0__xKdY

We’re now at the most important moment of the book, and the section that could be claimed to have secured the reputation of ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ as one of the greatest British adventure novels of all time. It’s the row to the island of Memmert in a thick fog on October 22: a fantastic feat of navigation and physical strength by our two heroes, Carruthers and Davies.

But can it actually be done? And what of the dinner afterwards at the Dollmans on the Schwannallee in Norderney? This podcast covers amazing feats of dinghy rowing, bird wardens, the holiday exploits of Chancellor von Bülow, and German (and Norwegian) dinner parties.

First up, we explain again why you should be supporting our efforts to create a brand new Handbook Edition of our favourite book, all yours for just £25 with Field Audiobook and an online adventure thrown in for free. Full details at https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands. (01:44)

Tim notCarruthers consults the maps, the text and Yahoo Answers, then does the maths (in a very rough way) and concludes that the row to Memmert is probably a very tall tale indeed(05:30). He goes on to discuss real-life ocean rowers Harbo and Samuelsen (13:20), and the larger-than-life John Fairfax (15:33).

Lloyd NotDavies evaluates our chances of making it to Memmert at all on a real adventure next year (20:20), and talks about the only people to have lived on the islands in the last 100 years - a strange family of bird wardens and rabbit hunters. (21:07)

We then go in search of the Schwannallee and find only the Bülowallee (27:18). Much talk about Schwann the physicist, and Bülow the Chancellor, with speculation about Norderney as a place for ‘all-male gatherings’(30:58). We sit down to dinner and consider what kind of meal would be had in 1898 (36:07), rediscovering ‘Babette’s Feast’ along the way (37:28), and enjoying Germany’s funniest ever TV comedy sketch to boot. (40:24)

Club Business. Inspired by talk of foghorns in a previous podcast, John tells us about ‘The Hornster’ (45:10); Gordon wants to know more about McMullen’s ‘Down Channel’, so we oblige (45:58); EC Childers tells us more about Erskine’s personal library of sailing books (48:17); Emma on Facebook calls out Victoria BC for poor sewage management (49:23); Ian on Twitter points us back towards Latakia, the possible source of our pipe tobacco (51:09); instructions on how to pack a pipe come from Sergeant Matron of the Kervaig Pipe Club (52:04).

MUSIC CREDITS

Great Open Sea by the Wellington Sea Shanty Society: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea

The Ballad of Harbo and Samuelsen by Jerry Bryant: https://youtu.be/-rdqQxlx9hI

Dinner For One: https://youtu.be/b1v4BYV-YvA

The Hornster: https://youtu.be/_9nonCqesLI

Part of the package of extra goodies you’ll get from us when you support us https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands (pledge £25 for the Handbook Edition of ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ today!), will be a Field AudioBook: a complete reading of the book, recorded in exactly the right places at precisely the right dates - and enhanced by the addition of local ambient sounds and field recordings.

‘What will that sound like?’ I hear you ask. Well, now you can find out. We’re giving all our existing supporters on Unbound access to Field Audiobook sample files describing the events and conversations of October 2 and October 3.

To entice you into becoming a supporter on https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands, here’s a short sample of what you can expect to hear in full after you’ve pledged your support.

When Clara Dollman comes to meet our heroes off the coast of Norderney on October 21, it all kicks off. Carruthers has to make the cabin fit for a lady, Davies gets hot under the collar and there’s something fishy about the library of sailing books on board.

We discuss the best books to have on a small boat, the history of Norderney, what makes a cabin woman-friendly, Edwardian cocoa, and how Childers has got his tide tables terribly terribly wrong. We then drift off into a long diversion about the popularity of 1970s TV series ‘The Onedin Line’ in Romania. Hopefully, we’ll be back on course in time to discuss the row to Memmert in the next podcast.

Lloyd notDavies dives straight in by announcing he’s going on a sailing course (00:52), but what books might he have on board any boat he skippers? (05:11); Davies favours E. F. Knight (05:58), Cowper (09:29) and Macmullen (10:44); we list the top 25 books that one might except to find on a cruising saloon bookshelf (12:38); a brief discussion of George Crowninshield Jnr and the birth of small boat cruising culture (14:37).

Tim notCarruthers gets very cross about Childers’s frankly cavalier disregard for tides and tide tables (16:55); he cites an article in Cruising World by Alistair Buchan proving that the events of October 21 are impossible to re-enact (18:09); there are consequences, too, for October 22 and the plausibility of the row to Memmert (22:52).

Lloyd notDavies offers brief notes on Norderney (25:58); we discover that the island is practically British, thanks to Hanoverian connections (27:14); the case is made to put Isak Dinesen into our growing onboard library ( 29:49).

Tim notCarruthers tries to understand womens’ cabins (31:30); details of the HMS Daring ‘unisex’ warship (32:14); drawer management on boats - is it different for girls? (34:50); cocoa as a woman's drink, and the story of Egbert Fry (36:52).

Club business: Tony F reminds us about the German TV series ‘Das Rätsel der Sandbank’, allowing us to reprise the theme tune (42:08); how ‘The Onedin Line’ fuelled the revolution in Romania (43:14); Jon on Boulter’s lock in Berkshire (45:55); more on ‘The Onedin Line’ and on to ‘Howard’s Way' - we've gone too far... (46:50).

Missions for next week: how possible is the row to Memmert?; more meals including breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel and dinner with the Dollmans; did the address at Schwanallee ever exist? (48:40)

MUSIC CREDITS

Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society : http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea

Finally, after months of talking about having an adventure, Lloyd (notDavies) and Tim (notCarruthers) head off to Germany, using The Riddle of the Sands as their guide.

It’s October 2 - 4, both in the book and in the real world. The route is Holtenau to Brunsbüttel. But how does the Germany of today match up to the world of Carruthers and Davies in 1898?

We start with a discussion about the difference between ‘reliving’ and ‘replaying’ a book. Inevitably, we ask you again to pledge your support for the full Adventure Club experience, by supporting us at https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands (00:54)

Tim (notCarruthers) starts us off at Kiel, taking in the harbour, the bierkeller, the post office and even some of the edgier parts of town (03:22); a musical interlude with Ulrich Schnauss (11:10); Lloyd (notDavies) describes Holtenau and indulges in a bit of container ship spotting (12:03).

October 3 finds the two adventurers in Rendsburg, (22:40), enjoying eels form the canal (29:26), and finally realising it’s German Unity day - *not* German Unification Day (31:36); the final stop is Brunsbüttel, leading out into the Elbe and on to the sands... (36:52).

Club Business: Nick on Baltrum house numbers (not Borkum!)and in Japan (42:03); Meg knows a song about kümmel (44:32); Brian brings coals from Newcastle(46:22); Jeff helps on the history of foghorns (46:35); Peter focusses on apples from Kappeln, putting the Finkenwerder in the mix (48:08).

MUSIC CREDITS

Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society : http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea

Ulrich Schnauss - https://youtu.be/o4LsDPdD4T4

Dring: Song of a Nightclub Proprietress (Felicity Lott) https://youtu.be/XGbGmHwUeUs

There’s barely a couple of pages covering October 20 in ‘The Riddle of the Sands’, but somehow we’ve managed to create an information-packed podcast out of it.

We include a bit of Roman history, obscure house numbering systems, spinnakers, gibs & what-not, a symphony composed for foghorns, a plate of wurst, more pipe-smoking *and* a trip to the Foreign Office! Plus we have several excellent contributions, clarifications and corrections from Club Members. Thank you all.

First, we remind you that the next podcast will come direct from the Kiel Canal, on exactly the dates (October 2-4) that Carruthers and Davies would have been there. (01:10)

If you want to see us goofing around in Germany ‘live’, and receive a resulting chapter of the Handbook, plus a field audio book excerpt, you need to pledge your support for this project at https://unbound.co.uk/books/riddle-of-the-sands.

Tim (notCarruthers) offers a few interesting facts about the Ems (04:32): the site of a Roman military base called Amisia (05:04); how the Dutch have stolen the German wind (06:52); the opening of the Dortmund-Ems canal (08:03); the bombing of Emden in 1944 (11:10); Wolfgang Petersen and ‘Das Boot’(12:22); Baltrum facts, including the islanders’ idiosyncratic attitude to bicycles and house-numbering (13:36).

Lloyd (notDavies) works closely with Club Members Tony F. and Frankie to produce a definitive guide to the boat Dulcibella’s sail-plan (15:23); Tony F. describes the different sails (17:38); Frankie produces a drawing (18:45); Lloyd charts out every reference to sails in the book (20:30).

Tim gets excited about foghorns (21:58); the Tyfon original that Davies might have used (22:49); beware of buying a fake foghorn (23:57); a musical interlude concerning ‘The Foghorn Requiem’ (25:11).

Club Business: as requested by Jeff - a trip to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London (followed by wurst & beer at a German inn) (32:12); a shout-out again to the Kervaig Pipe Club (39:23); Brian on bicycles, and our kümmel related confusion about where Glasgow is (40:26); more kümmel-related facts from Nick (42:47); Tony suggests that there are still wreckers and pirates in the Frisians (44:50).

MUSIC CREDIT

Great Open Sea by Wellington Sea Shanty Society : http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society/none_given_1098/12_-_Wellington_Sea_Shanty_Society_-_Great_Open_Sea

Foghorn Requiem: http://foghornrequiem.org/