Express & Star

Graham's stunning photographs put Agatha Christie in the picture

Based in the heart of the West Midlands, Graham Gough lives about as far from the sea as you can get.

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Greenway House at Galmpton on the River Dart in South Devon and once the home of Agatha Christie. Photo: Graham Gough.

But when well-known author Hilary Macaskill wanted some dramatic pictures of the Devon coast for her new book on Agatha Christie, she turned to the Kinver-based photographer.

Graham, a former chief photographer at the Express & Star's Dudley office, was commissioned to take 20 pictures for Macaskill's latest book Agatha Christie at Home.

The book looks at Christie's upbringing in Devon, the various homes where she lived, and the settings that featured in many of her novels.

Graham Gough's picture of the colourful south Devon coast

While Graham may live 180 miles from the Devon coastline, he is well familiar with the area from the 10 years he spent living in Brixham while working as south-west regional photographer for the Daily Mirror in the 1960s and 70s.

And since retiring from the Express & Star in 2000, he has taken a number of scenic shots for the Devon tourism authority.

He says he was approached by Macaskill after previously taking some pictures for an article she wrote on a Cornish author about 20 years ago.

Graham Gough

The book looks at Christie's early life in Devon, from her birth in Torquay, and features 20 pictures from Graham.

"The county meant a lot to Agatha Christie," says Graham, who is 84.

"There is a lot about her childhood at Greenway House, which is one of my pictures."

Graham's picture of Burgh Island

Another is of the famous Burgh Island, off the beach at Bigbury-on-Sea

"Burgh Island is steeped in folklore, once the haunt of pirates and smugglers, and then in the 1920s and 30s a jet-set paradise," says Graham.

"Agatha Christie wrote two books whilst staying there, Evil Under the Sun and And Then There Were None."

The River Dart at Greenway. Photo: Graham Gough.

The book also features a striking shot of the River Dart at Greenway, and an image of Dartmoor's famous Haylor Rocks on a bright winter's morning.

High on Dartmoor Haytor Rocks look out on a bright winter morning. Photo: Graham Gough.
A fishing boat rests on the quay as dusk descends on the Kingsbridge estuary, South Devon. Photo: Graham Gough.