Rambles Beyond Railways by Wilkie Collins
Rambles Beyond Railways is a travel story with aspects of his fictional writing, but it’s also about him and a buddy, an artist by the name of Henry Brandling, going on a walking vacation in Cornwall. They are venturing “beyond the reach of the railway,” which is both true and misleading, into this almost legendary world. Cornwall isn’t exactly the backcountry they picture it as, even if the mainline of the railway from London hadn’t reached Cornwall by 1851 and Brunel’s bridge at Saltash hadn’t been built until 1859. It involves them touring the area, taking in the sights, observing the inhabitants and themselves as interesting outsiders, learning about the local traditions, and transforming this into the kind of adventure that the literary market would swallow, an exercise in regional flavour.
Rambles Beyond Railways by Wilkie Collins
Free shipping
Amazon.com
It offers a window into a bygone era as he strolls with his buddy around Cornwall in the middle of the 19th century, before the era of mass travel. His experiences, especially those he had while working underground in a tin mine, are unique and definitely worth reading about.
As fascinating to Collins as what he sees is the imaginative colouring Collins applies to the scenery. He never would have travelled if he hadn’t been a writer, in my opinion. He wants to portray Cornwall as this odd, remote location where ancient customs still exist. The mail coach is still in use. It continues to be this area of secret, mystery, and fog, surrounded by the pounding Atlantic waves when he depicts it in his novels.
