Put another way, the pub that features in the classic Seventies horror movie
The Wicker Man is up for
sale.
In the movie, Ellangowan Hotel in Creetown, near Newton Stewart, was the fictional Green Man pub and had actress Britt Ekland as a barmaid. Plockton, Ayrshire and Skye also featured in the film starring Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee. The nine-bedroom hotel in Dumfries and Galloway has been put on the market for offers of about £200,000.
 |
| Britt Ekland no longer pulls pints |
By an odd coincidence, the town of Newton Stewart was one of the places in Scotland where my family holidayed in the late Sixties. (I live in the North East of England, which makes Scotland easier to get to than London, say, and much more accessible than Wales or Cornwall.) Anyway, at Newton Stewart I spent a week in a
guest house that was once visited by the young Edgar Allan Poe. So that small part of the Scots lowlands has quite a horror heritage.
 |
| Flowerbank House - Poe slept (or was insomniac) here |
9 comments:
I've always fantasised own a pub... maybe this is the one for me!
Maybe - bit pricey for me, though.
Imagine staying where Poe himself once stood. Do they make a point of pointing it out at the hotel? Meanwhile, here in America, there's talk of closing Poe's house in Baltimore sometime in June 2012, due to lack of funds.
I tell you, one of these days I have to get over to the British Isles and spend a huge amount of time exploring all the sites associated with the classic supernatural literature. First stop would be Whitby Abbey...
Whitby is good, but but be careful! It's fully booked by Goths around Halloween. Also, lots of steps to climb.
Re: Poe, I was very young when we stayed there and only remember the reference to Poe, no details - true or otherwise. I find it baffling that such a world-famous Bostonian should be so neglected. Does the city have a more famous literary native, I wonder?
Had to laugh at your caption about Poe. One sees those signs about who slept where quite often, but it never occurred to me to wonder "just how do we know what he got up to during the night hours, anyway?"
Re Poe House in Baltimore, I still harbor hope that that situation will be rectified, but it's no sure thing. The city had been providing most of the funds, and there were severe budget cuts over the past couple of years (sound familiar, anyone?) Support for arts and culture took it on the chin.
Oh dear. I suppose a Poe theme park would be considered more viable. There could a House of Usher ride then a Premature Burial, followed by forcible tooth extraction ('Berenice') before everyone is chained together and burned ('Hop-Frog'). Maybe not, then.
Ooh! Now I know where to take Aunt Seatonia for her birthday!
I must visit this place sometime. It is strange and pleasing to believe that an idol of mine once stayed here.
Post a Comment