Sunday 9 September saw Babbacombe Cliff Railway and Oddicombe Beach busy with people attempting to help foil a dastardly plot. For one day only visitors were transported back to 1926 when the Cliff Railway first opened and found there was a fictitious plot to murder a VIP at the opening event. In order to foil the plot visitors had to find clues and use their detective skills to solve the mystery. To help set the scene there was also live music and dancing all day with a number of characters in period costume.
John Ayres, Chairman of the Babbacombe Cliff Railway Community Interest Company which runs the railway, said “We had a lovely day. Our volunteers, including me, really enjoyed dressing up in their costumes and helping people with the clues.” Once visitors had come to a conclusion they had to find the patrolling 1920s policeman and report their findings. The mystery even attracted the attention of a very special visitor who came to lend a hand! John added “This event was part of the English Riviera Agatha Christie Festival and was a first for the Cliff Railway. Having an event within a larger festival was definitely helpful for us as it spread the word about our day far more widely than we would have been able to on our own and we very much hope to take part in the Festival in the future.”
The day was supported by a number of local people and groups who all played their part. John said “We were delighted with the way people got behind our event to help out. Lionel Digby kindly supplied the costumes for the policeman and railway guard, Datel sponsored some of the entertainment. We had some vintage cars brought along to help set the scene and John Glanville supplied two lovely 20s bicycles which we had down by our Visitor Centre on the beach. We also have to thank Jo Lindsay who made all our other beautiful costumes and the Friends of Babbacombe Cliff Railway who contributed significantly to the cost of running this event.”
Now the event is over visitors can rest assured that justice was done and the culprit was stopped in their tracks. If you didn’t manage to work out who the plotter was and what they were plotting visit http://www.babbacombecliffrailway.co.uk/news/ where all is revealed along with some great photos from the day itself.
For all the latest on the Agatha Christie Festival visit www.agathachristiefestival.co.uk