Showing posts with label #Lord Wellington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #Lord Wellington. Show all posts

Tuesday 19 May 2015

The Smugglers' Road


The Pyrenees are  three lines of high mountains running east to west from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. They form a natural barrier between France and Spain, one that is difficult to cross. However, as well as being a border they are also a bridge. 




From the earliest times, people always have found ways through. There are a number of different routes, all carefully guarded by the local community. Each crossing needs a skilled guide to lead the travellers, who might be pilgrims, refugees, or traders. Many times through the centuries, refugees have crossed the Pyrenees to escape persecution. And in more recent times, during the Second World War, a significant number of people escaped the Nazis by crossing from France into Spain

From one side to the other, the trail can take up to eight days, descending sheer slopes into deep valleys and climbing to a pass [known as a "port"] over 2,000 metres high. 

In certain remote villages, where the living was very hard, banditry and smuggling were common and the authorities often turned a blind eye to the trade.





  In the summer of 1813, the British, Spanish and Portuguese Allied Army under the command of Lord Wellington, pushed the French troops into the southern Pyrenees.

On 28th July, at Sorauren, Wellington pushed the French troops back to the north.


Wellington's local guides were Basques on this occasion.


Saturday 28 March 2009

The Wild Card


Take a young man seeking adventure and action. He fights in Wellington's Peninsular Army against the French forces of Napoleon. But then he is badly wounded at the battle of Talavera and has to give up the military career he loves so much. He becomes moody and difficult.


Another young man lives the life of a society darling but he has no money. He must live by his wits. Into their lives comes a lively young lady, determined that she will not be married off to anyone, even though her mother has ordered her to make a good match. She longs to go back home and carry on helping her father the vicar with his good works.

B -u -t the two gentlemen are so very handsome and so admiring, she is tempted.... just a little....and at the same time she becomes aware of sinister undercurrents in society life. She has to prevent a spy from damaging her country, but at  a possibly fatal cost to herself.

 The Wild Card was one of the winners in the RNA Joan Hessayon Awards for a first novel.  
The Judge’s summary:


The Wild Card (Hale) by Beth Elliot  - "The background is terrific, the story lively and the pace relentless as the story builds to a fantastic climax. A wonderful charming and well-written Regency with its essential lightness spiced with intrigue."