The Forest - Edward Rutherfurd [287]
Edward told him about the racecourse that was now laid out above Lyndhurst. ‘And we don’t only race horses, Martell,’ he remarked. One amusing local gentleman, it seemed, had a racing ox which he rode himself and challenged all comers to compete in a similar manner.
By the time the second course was served – potato pudding, anchovy toast, syllabubs, jugged pigeon and tarts – Martell could reasonably conclude that the seaside town below the ancient forest was probably one of the most pleasant to represent in all England.
The tablecloth had been removed, however, the jellies, nuts, pyramids of sweetmeats and plates of cheese set out, port appeared for the men and cherry brandy for the ladies, before Martell remembered to ask after Fanny Albion.
‘Poor, dear Fanny,’ cried Louisa. ‘She has, I declare, the disposition of a saint.’
There was, it seemed, small likelihood of her appearing. ‘Although you may be sure’, said Edward, ‘that we shall try to coax her out.’ Her aunt Adelaide’s lifelong friend having fallen sick in Winchester, the intrepid old lady had insisted upon getting in her carriage and going over to stay there, despite her own advanced age, leaving Fanny and Mrs Pride in charge of old Mr Albion. Before leaving, she had given her brother strict instructions not to be ill until she came back – instructions he had already disregarded. And if the nature of his present malady remained unclear, this was only because it was too advanced, he told them, to be identified. So Fanny was stuck at home with him and didn’t feel she could get out.
‘Perhaps we should call upon your cousin,’ Martell suggested.
‘I’ll suggest it,’ said Edward, ‘but I think she’ll say no.’
Shortly after this the ladies retired and Martell was able, over the port, to question Mr Totton about the business of the town. As he had expected, Totton was thoroughly well-informed.
‘Salt, of course, has been one of our main trades here for centuries. As in other towns, you’ll find that most of the larger merchants have several businesses and salt is usually one of them. St Barbe, for instance, deals in groceries, salt and coal. The coal, by the way, fuels the furnaces in the salterns. Salt, remember, is not only used to preserve fish and meat; it’s a medicine against scurvy – vital for the Navy, therefore – it’s used in curing leather, as a flux in glass–making and metal smelting, a glaze in pottery.’
‘There are cheaper ways of making salt than from the sea, I believe.’
‘Yes. In the long run Lymington’s salterns will be threatened. But that’s a long way off yet.’
‘You export timber?’
‘Some. Less than before. The Navy and other shipbuilding seems to take most of our local supplies. The port is busy, though. Coal comes in from Newcastle. There are various merchantmen sailing to London, Hamburg, Waterford and Cork in Ireland, even Jamaica.’
‘And the local industries?’
‘Apart from those mentioned, most of the parishes have clay, so there are a number of brickworks. That’s why you’ll find some handsome brick barns in the area nowadays. Brockenhurst’s got the biggest works. Then there’s a rope factory at Beaulieu Abbey. Rope for the Navy, of course. Some of the Forest people drift into Southampton too. Apart from the port, there are some very big coachbuilding works there now.’
‘But our greatest hope for the future’, Edward interposed with a smile, ‘lies in quite another direction. We are going to become a fashionable resort, a second Bath.’
‘Ah, yes.’ Totton laughed. ‘If Mrs Grockleton has her way. You have not met Mrs Grockleton yet, Mr Martell?’
Martell confessed that he hadn’t.
‘We are going to take tea with her,’ Edward chuckled. ‘Tomorrow.’
The next morning was occupied by a visit to Hurst Castle. Although the day was bright, a fresh breeze was coming across Pennington Marshes, causing the little windpumps by the salterns to click loudly. Mrs Beeston’s bathing house, which was situated near one of the windpumps by the beach, was deserted. In the channel between the fortress and the Isle of Wight the running waves were flecked with foam, while