Location Hunting for "Met by Moonlight"   Although Rosemary Edghill has set the novel in a fictional location, in fact the Christchurch which is now in Dorset only moved to that county with the boundary changes in 1971. Before then it was in Hampshire, which serendipitous fact gave rise to a great afternoon's location hunting followed by a fine meal in the evening. These pictures aren't the finest quality, but are a reminder that, once again, it's taken American influences to remind me how nice my own local area is. A map from about 1750. "The Haven of Christchurch" is at the left, the New Forest is at the top and "Limmington" (now Lymington) is at the inlet in the centre of the map. A portion of the Isle of Wight is visible at the bottom. Present-day Lymington is just a little more than the prescribed ten miles from the real Christchurch by the old road shown on the map and the "preserved" village of Buckler's Hard (whence some of the pictures) is just off the map to the left.   The town of Talitho was a community of about two dozen buildings grouped at the edge of the ocean.   Modern day Lymington is a good deal bigger, but if the fictional Christchurch were the real one, then Talitho would be just about here. This is the new harbour and marina development, which blends quite nicely with the older buildings.   What would someday be the village's fashionable High Street was scarcely a city block long, crammed with timber and plaster buildings...   The fashionable area of Lymington. Shops tend to be either chandlery or touristy, but it's tastefully done and mostly pedestrian-friendly. And best, if you head up here round the corner and turn right, then there's Peeler's, a friendly, informal restaurant with an extremely inventive menu and a good wine list. Take the train (to "town" station) if you intend to try both types of dessert wine!     There were one or two fishing boats pulled up onto the shore and a short stub of dock... There are still a few fishing boats at Lymington, but the majority of the trade now is in marina berths for yachts. Expect to have to wait for the most sought-after berths and to pay accordingly. But what a place to have a mooring.     Torches burned up and down the fog-shrouded High Street, and the Moon and Lantern was brilliant with candles.   The only street in Buckler's Hard counts as the High Street. On the right is the Master Builder's House, now a pub and hotel, replacing earlier pubs which are now part of the museum.   And in the Moon and Lanten...   The interior. A little bit "yottie" for my taste, but nice nonetheless. Always gives the morris a good welcome when we dance at the village festival, even if...   "Good Christian Folk lie abed and do not dance; dancing is lewdness and heathenish"     The low ceiling of the private parlour captured the coils of smoke from tobacco and candles and made it a thick pearly blanket just beneath the age-blackened timbers of the ceiling.   Jemima was married to the miller who llived in the direction of Christchurch. The mill was several miles away...   Place Mill, Christchurch. On the road in from the Quay, past the priory towards the centre of town, the mill contrasts with the new marina development behind it - 'Christchurch, where time is enjoyment.'     But even clear glass was expensive, so replacements for the smashed windows of Popish coloured glass would not come soon. The priory church of Christchurch. The earliest parts date from the eleventh century, before Christchurch was granted its charter in 1094, so this church probably suffered the same indignities during the reformation.     Christchurch Gaol had been a castle once and retained both its battlements and the Murderer's Walk.   The stone castle and keep at Christchurch, dating from the 1100s, with the "Norman House" in the foreground and the priory church behind.   The Courthouse was a large, square, new-looking building built of yellow brick.   Actually the nineteenth century market (by the Saxon Square shopping experience), but the closest I could find to a building of the type. There is some yellow brick in the area, but mostly either very modern or used in church buildings.     "They thought there would always be enough" ... "just as we do". These logs, drying near where the meeting ground would be, are actually the last of some storm damage which has been carefully managed, extracted in well-thought-out stages, and allowed to regrow naturally rather than being planted with nursery-grown stuff. Some people out there are doing a good job. But, their predecessors and some of their contemporaries are one reason that there are fewer trees in the New Forest than previously, so that old, named oak trees like the "Naked Man" are now a tourist attraction rather than the norm.   (new - the old picture is here).