AN ex-teacher has penned her second dale-inspired novel with The Bowes Museum and other landmarks taking centre stage.
Val Scully was moved to write Molly Bowes on the back of her earlier work My name is Eleanor – stirred by her study of the family of John Bowes and the Silver Swan.
The 61-year-old, from Blaydon, spent much of last spring in an attic in Middleton-in-Teesdale to come up with a new idea for her new novel.
She said: “I was there looking for inspiration and read of the lead company.
“It was a bit of a eureka moment.
“I had to get her from the Peterloo Massacre, in Manchester, to her meeting John Bowes.”
The tale plays with time using the fictional Molly Bowes – one of five children of rogue Stoney Bowes.
It follows on from the death of John Bowes’ grandmother, May Eleanor, in 1800 and ends with the arrival of the silver swan in 1878.
Ms Scully’s book sees Molly’s baby stolen at the Peterloo Massacre and follows a trail into Middleton-in-Teesdale. The story moves on to Cotherstone and Barnard Castle before heading into Weardale and on to the Derwent Valley.
Ms Scully explained: “It’s really a timeless tale.
“From where I live in Blaydon there are a lot of lead routes which come down here – I knew there were connections and I used them to move my heroine.”
Other Teesdale figures and landmarks include Mary Milner, dowager countess of Strathmore Mary Bowes, as well as John and Josephine Bowes.
Ms Scully hails from Salford but moved to Blaydon 30 years ago to teach.
It was while she was gardening at Gibside in the Derwent Valley that she stumbled upon the story of Mary Eleanor Bowes.
She spent two years researching and writing My name is Eleanor for release in 2016 before going on to pen Molly Bowes.
Ms Scully added: “I’m having a year off now – this is the third one and it really killed me.”
Her latest work has sold 200 copies and is available from The Bowes Museum, on Amazon, Kindle or at Ms Scully website: www.valscully.co.uk
