January 8th | Wilkie Collins (Birth) | ||||
One of the closest friends of Charles Dickens and a famous writer in his own right (The Woman in White and The Moonstone), Wilkie Collins wrote a magisterial book about Cornwall, Rambles Beyond Railways (1850) relating his discoveries on an extensive walking tour.
Since he was an already famous novelist his memoir of his travels made Cornwall increasingly popular once the Royal Albert Bridge (May 2nd) had been constructed facilitating direct trains from Paddington to Penzance and his travel memoir was hugely significant in introducing tourism to the county. |