During a long weekend one dank November over forty years ago we used to drive across Bodmin Moor from Liskeard in the evenings to sit with a pint in front of a blazing log fire in the Jamaica Inn. In those days it was not the highly commercialised place that it has become now, and I still cherish memories of that off-season weekend break.
The Grade II-listed building dates from 1750, and having an association with smuggling, it was the setting for Daphne du Maurier's novel Jamaica Inn, which was made into a film in 1939 by Alfred Hitchcock.
Located just off the A30, near the middle of the moor by the hamlet of Bolventor, it was used as a staging post for changing horses. The inn is alleged to be one of the most haunted places in Great Britain. Daphne du Maurier wrote her novel in 1930 when, having gone horse riding on the moors, she became lost in thick fog and sought refuge at the inn. During the time spent recovering from her ordeal, the local rector is said to have entertained her with ghost stories and tales of smuggling. He would later become the inspiration for the enigmatic character of the Vicar of Altarnun.
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