In the summer of 1948 a fisherman found a small steel box on the beach at St Margaret’s Bay

The box contained a notebook

He handed it to the village’s most famous resident Noel Coward who made discreet enquiries as to its history as he suspected it to be connected with a spy ring which was known to have operated in the Dover area during World War One

His enquiries drew no conclusions and he subsequently handed the box and the notebook to Colonel Howard who although by that time retired had previously worked in military intelligence

The Colonel also drew a blank and the box and the notebook were slowly forgotten

The granddaughter of Colonel Howard kindly gave me the mysterious notebook for my further investigation

In no particular order I will reproduce the pages below

If you have any further information you would like to share with me then the author would be glad to hear from you

 

Come walk with me in these fields of wheat
and imagine the damp soil beneath our feet

In your letters you have described the Karaja Dagh

I reply to you telling you to exercise caution
as even older snakes can bite

Your travels have dwarfed my own but as I sit here at the rest window and write this letter I feel you are quite near

Probably less than a dozen countries separate us

It is nearing noon breakfast is finished and the sun is now almost directly above me

The light is so sharp that it almost slices ones eye in two

I can understand what attracted the artists to this area

Although my room is dimmed the reflected light from the sea floods it with the most serene glow which is most restful

Before this war I can imagine that day trippers would have explored the rock pools left by the retreating tide whilst others might have relaxed in chairs on the small promenade

Children would have flitted in and out of the sea whilst the more serious swimmers would have had thoughts about crossing the channel

The bay which is not far from the town of Dover in enclosed by the famous white cliffs of the area although access here is difficult it is not impossible

Between us ships pass in both directions
I sketch them quite frequently
to allow time for corrections

This may encourage your eyes to laze
but why get lost in a sudden haze

Nannies and their charges
Stop to eat
Where previously shy lovers
Agreed to meet

When I correspond with you I urge that on receipt of my letter that you close your eyes and let each of your senses imagine me here on the edge of England

 

Tom Darnell (1917)