Page 185 - Guiding LIghts: A History of the STGA 1959-2019

‘Rosamunde was a Cornishwoman, born and brought up in Lelant, and most of her books are set in south west England. Luckily for us in Scotland, she married a Scot, settled and raised a family with him in Longforgan near Dundee where we met her.
‘The group – her German publisher of the time (based in Munich, where I had lived as a student), his wife, Ros’s publicity lady (coincidentally sharing my surname) and three prize-winners and their partners, our driver and I – were to be entertained to afternoon tea with the obligatory scones, jam and cream.
‘Rosamunde told me that, until then, she never knew her cleaning lady was a dab hand at baking scones. The author also revealed she had been bribed to host the afternoon with a piece of her favourite Hungarian porcelain.
‘The competition was the idea of the publisher, who wanted to do a new book of short stories. It was won by a lady from the German tax department and the runners-up, two male journalists.
‘We had an amazing afternoon. Graham, Rosamunde’s husband, was from a Dundee jute family and a very charming and interesting man in his own right and his sister, Buffy, was a dead ringer for Dame Maggie Smith.
‘What do you do after a highlight like that? We had no further programme that day but no one, not even our driver, was keen for the day to finish – I suggested we do the Fife coast and find a good pub for fish and chips. We found a perfect one at Anstruther – sadly the pub no longer exists.
‘Rosamunde had a holiday home in Dornoch and I once stopped in the town with a group on an Orkney trip, telling them about her.
‘On return to the coach, an excited lady said: "I SAW her! I had actually booked to go to Cornwall but the trip was cancelled - company said since their Orkney trip was happening, why not take it and here I am and now I saw Rosamunde Pilcher, WOW, thank you!"
‘Meantime I have totally fallen in love with south west England and regularly guide there (have done some qualifications). Prideaux Place is the most-used film location and it seems appropriate that the wife of owner Peter Prideaux-Brune should be a fellow Scot – the films have, and are, helping to save both the house and its garden.
‘I met Rosamunde again in Cornwall when she was speaking at a meet the author dinner at Prideaux - Newquay. She told me that our visit had been the only time she had hosted an afternoon tea in Longforgan.
I was asked by some Cornish fishermen who do boat trips to thank her for bringing such enormous economic benefits to Cornwall and was able to pass it on.
184