In this episode Mike & Will return to M.R. James’s old alma mater for chaos in the classroom, death in the dormitory and revenge in the refectory.

That’s right, it’s ‘A School Story’!

N.b. If you have forgotten your gym-kit, you have to listen to this episode in your vest and pants.

Show notes:

• The History of Temple Grove School (.pdf)
  The school in ‘A School Story’ is based on the prep school that M.R. James attended, Temple Grove School which was at the time based in East Sheen, London.
• Site of Temple Grove School on Googlemaps
  Temple Grove School is not longer in existance, but this gives an idea of where the parkland in which it stood used to be. Note Well Lane where the old stable stands (now converted to a very nice looking house) and where we spotted yew trees! In the photo of us below we are standing at the north-eastern end of Observatory road, where the lake used to be. This Map from 1895 gives an indication of where the school stood (see ‘H’), and this map shows the layout of Temple Grove Estate in 1811.
• “I’ve Seen It!” – A School Story and the House in Berkeley Square by Rosemary Pardoe
  Here Rosemary Pardoe provides some background information on the legends surrounding the famously haunted 50 Berkeley Square in London, mentioned in ‘A School Story’.
• Ancient Coin Pendants
  Jewelry such as the ‘coin charm’ that Mr Sampson wears on his watch chain is not hard to come by these days! For more info on Byzantine coins see Wikipedia.
• Eton and Kings (Ghosts & Scholars)
  M.R. James published a volume of recollections about his life at school and in academia.
• Ancient Yews Group FAQs
  Yew trees are a common sight in English churchyards. The Ancient Yew Group website provides some interesting information on the historical and mythological significance of yew trees.
• ‘A School Story’ at FreakyTrigger
  Some excellent analysis of this story at FreakyTrigger, plus some interesting views in the comments.
• ‘The Well’ by W.W. Jacobs
  This story, published in 1902 by James’s contemporary W.W. Jacobs, features some similarities to ‘A School Story’. Mike Pincombe highlights this story in his excellent essay ‘Homosexual Panic and the English Ghost Story’ (Ghosts & Scholars Newsletter 9).

Visit to the Site of Temple Grove School, East Sheen

Top: Temple Grove Estate, East Sheen, 1812
Bottom: Mike & Will at Temple Grove Estate, East Sheen, 2012.

Can you spot the differences? Hint: top image = more bonnets, bottom image = less swans.

We are standing in the slight dip in Observatory Rd that marks where the lake stood 200 years before. Mike had brought his umbrella to fight off the swans. Turns out this was unneccesary.

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In this episode Will & Mike follow M.R. James on a terrifying treasure hunt to Germany in ‘The Treasure of Abbot Thomas’.

Show notes:

• Steinfeld Abbey & Glass (also see Googlemaps)
  Read about the read-world location of this story on wikipedia.
• The Treasure of Steinfeld Abbey, A Visit to the Scene of “The Treasure of Abbot Thomas” by Helen Grant
  Interesting account of a visit to Steinfeld, in which Helen Grant compares the real abbey to the one described by M.R. James.
• Ashridge Park
  This story was inspired by James’s own study of the stained glass at Ashridge Park in 1904. The glass is now in the Victoria & Albert museum in London, and the park is now home to Ashridge Business School (check out the cool virtual tour!)
• Steinfeld stained glass in Wales
  To illustrate how widely glass from Germany and Belguim circulated in Britain, here some more of the Steinfeld stained glass shows up in a church in Wales!
• Review at GhostingImages.com
  An excellent review of the 1974 tv version.
• Origin of “Gare à qui la touche” (“Woe to he that touches it”)
  The origin of this ominous phrase appears to be Napoleonic!
• An Introduction to Classical Cryptography by William Stalling
  A useful guide for those who wish to get their head around the cryptographic puzzles solved by Mr Somerton.
• ‘A Pleasing Terror’ (Ash Tree Press)
  This definitive anthology of and commentary on James work is now available as an e-book.
• Ghost Stories of Christmas at the BFI Mediateque
  You can currently watch the BBC’s classic M.R. James tv adaptations at the BFI Mediateque centres.

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This episode features the second half of our podcast extravaganza on M.R. James’s seaside shocker ‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’. Neither beach nor bedtime will ever be the same again!

Thanks again to Tom Hemmings who lent us his wonderful voice for the readings, and to Dave Senior (EastScapes) for the excellent groyne photo.

Show notes:

• ‘The Toad in the Study: M.R. James, H.P. Lovecraft & Forbidden Knowledge’ by Simon McCulloch
  This essay first appeared in Ghosts & Scholars 20-23, and can now be found in ‘Warnings to the Curious’, a book of excellent criticism edited by Rosemary Pardoe and S.T. Joshi.
• ‘Innocents and Not-So-Innocents in the Stories of M. R. James’ by John Alfred Taylor
  Another essay featured in ‘Warnings to the Curious’ which explores and categorises what M.R. James’s characters did (if anything) to deserve the horrors that confront them.
• Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972)
  Read more about this Templar-tastic Spanish horror film which features many ‘Oh, Whistle…’-esque qualities.

For more ‘Oh, Whistle…’-related links, see the post for Episode 7a.

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