Torquay, Devon

Torquay is a town in Devon, England. It lies 22 miles (35 km) south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, 38 miles (61 km) north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. The town's economy was initially based upon fishing and agriculture as in the case of Brixham across Torbay, but in the early 19th century the town began to develop into a fashionable seaside resort, initially frequented by members of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars while the Royal Navy anchored in the bay and later by the crème de la crème of Victorian society as the town's fame spread. Renowned for its healthful climate, the town earned the nickname of the English Riviera and favourable comparisons to Montpellier. Read more on Wikipedia

Lowry stayed in the resort at the Vernon Court Hotel while recuperating after his admittance to the Morteonhampstead Cottage Hospital in June 1933. He stayed in the resort up until late September. The recuperation was arranged and paid for by Arthur Lowry. Lowry did occasionally go to London and elsewhere though he was supposed to be confined to the resort. (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 163). He acquired a MG F-Type Magna from Tom Forman while he was staying in Torquay. Lowry was visited in Torquay by Bob Pocock who he met through James Travers who also visited. Lowry went swimming in Torre Abbey Sands Beach while recuperating. Lowry wrote to Jan Gabrial asking her to visit him in Torquay and to travel there via Plymouth from France onboard the Paris. (Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg.22).

According to Bowker, Lowry was very unstable while staying in Torquay. (Pg. 164). He suffered paranoia whilst out swimming off Torre Abbey Sands.

Lowry wrote to Jan Gabrial in August 1931 from the Vernon Court Hotel;  "Torquay "a funny, tawdry place, on the sea, like a pub picture of China gone crazy, only its got speedboats & plenty of sea & diving boards & this afternoon a cruiser, god knows where that came from. And we shall spend some blue sea mornings here." (Collected Letters Volume 1 Pg. 137). Lowry may be referring to the visit of HMS Renown to Torbay in July 1933 when King Feisal of Iraq visited the ship.


In another letter to Jan in August 1933, Lowry wrote; "I told you that Torquay was drab in daytime but at night like a picture postcard of China. Its a loveable & laughable kind of tawdriness though: harbours full of immense toy battleships, quite cuckoo." (Collected Letters Volume 1 Pg. 138). He also tells Jan that he went to see an "American crook film" and a "dilapidated musical comedy called The Belle of New York just so as I could think about the title-" (Pg.138). 

Vernon Court Hotel, Torquay, Devon

The hotel is located in Warren Road, Torquay - "TORQUAY VERNON COURT HOTEL (unlicensed). Overlooking Princess Gardens, Pavilion Harbour, Town Gardens and Tennis Courts. Electric lift to all floors. Greatly enlarged and re-furnished. Magnificent balcony ( Royal Automobile Club guide and handbook) and TORQUAY.— Vernon Court Hotel ; 1 South aspect ; h.and c. all bed, garage. From 3 guineas. (National and English review: Volume 102). The hotel has now been converted into apartments offerings fantastic panoramic views across The English Riviera, including Torquay marina to the left, Brixham and Paignton across the water, and Torre Abbey beach below. The hotel is to the centre of Torquay and Torre Abbey Sands can be accessed from directly below the hotel via a path.


Lowry stayed with his friend James Travers who owned a silver-fox farm near Chagford in early June 1933. On the 12th June, Lowry was admitted to Morteonhampstead Cottage Hospital suffering from "dysentry" contracted in Spain, though Clarissa Aiken reported that he had gone in for drying out. (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 159). Lowry left the hospital after several days to recuperate at the Vernon Court Hotel in Torquay. The accommodation was arranged and paid for by Arthur Lowry. Lowry garaged his MG F-type Magna at the hotel's garage. He was visited here by James Travers and Bob Pocock during the Summer of 1933. Lowry went swimming on the nearby Torre Abbey Sands.

Lowry wrote to Jan Gabrial from the hotel and 6 letters survive (Collected Letters Volume 1 Pgs.133-138)

Chagford, Devon

Chagford is a small town and civil parish on the north-east edge of Dartmoor, in Devon, England, close to the River Teign. It is located off the A382, about 4 miles (6 km) west of Moretonhampstead. The name Chagford is derived from the word chag, meaning gorse or broom, and the ford suffix indicates its importance as a crossing place on the River Teign.


Lowry stayed with his friend James Travers who owned a silver-fox farm near Chagford in early June 1933. On the 12th June, Lowry was admitted to Morteonhampstead Cottage Hospital suffering from "dysentry" contracted in Spain, though Clarissa Aiken reported that he had gone in for drying out. (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 159). Lowry left the hospital after several days to recuperate at the Vernon Court Hotel in Torquay.

Lowry did return to Chagford from time to time during the summer of 1933 to visit James Travers. On one of these occasions he began an affair with a local woman called Peggy Power. Lowry also crashed his MG F-Type Magna into a rock near Chagford after getting drunk at the Three Crowns Hotel in the town.

Three Crowns Hotel, Chagford, Devon

The Three Crowns Hotel, also Three Crowns Chagford, is a historical hotel in Chagford, Devon, England. The building dates to the 13th century and was several centuries was a manor house before becoming an inn. The hotel, noted for its 13th century granite facade has been reported to be haunted since 1643 by Sidney Godolphin, a poet who fought as a Cavalier during the English Civil War and is said to stride the corridors in full uniform.

Lowry got drunk at the hotel with James Travers and Bob Pocock sometime in September 1933. Lowry left the hotel with Pocock in his MG F Type Magna following Travers in his car back to his farm. Lowry crashed the car on the way back.

The Hotel was renovated in 2011/12. The photographs below show the interior before renovation which would have been similar to what the hotel looked like when Lowry got drunk there in 1933.

MG F-Type Magna

The MG F-type Magna was a six-cylinder-engined car produced by the MG Car company from October 1931 to 1932. It was also known as the 12/70. Fitted with 1 in (25 mm) twin SU carburettors it produced 37.2 bhp (27.7 kW) at 4100 rpm at first, later increased to 47 bhp (35 kW) by revising the valve timing. Drive was to the rear wheels through a four-speed non-synchromesh gearbox of ENV manufacture. The chassis was a 10-inch (250 mm) longer version of the one from the MG D-type with suspension by half-elliptic springs and Hartford friction shock absorbers all round with rigid front and rear axles. Wire wheels with 4.00 x 19 tyres and centre lock fixing were used. The car had a wheelbase of 94 in (2,388 mm) and a track of 42 in (1,067 mm). With its sloping radiator and long bonnet the F-Type is an attractive car capable of reaching 70 mph (110 km/h). 188 of the cars were supplied in chassis form to outside coachbuilders such as Abbey, Jarvis, Stiles and Windover. Read more on Wikipedia 

After Lowry was released Morteonhampstead Cottage Hospital, he decided that he needed a car like (James) Travers but better (Draft Dark as the Grave Wherein Lies My Friend Pg 692). Lowry recalled the MG Magna that Tom Forman wanted to sell and went to London. However, Tom Forman gave him the car as a present. Somehow, Lowry with the help of James Travers got the car down where he was staying at the Vernon Court Hotel in Torquay Devon.(Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 160). Though he took instruction from Travers, Lowry was too nervous to drive the car alone.

In September, Travers invited him to a pub crawl with Bob Pocock and told Lowry to bring the car. Lowry drove from Torquay by himself to Chagford embarking on a drinking spree with Travers and Pocock. After leaving the Three Crowns Hotel in Chagford, Lowry crashed the car on a narrow road while following Travers back to his farm - 'disembowelled it on a great tombstone of a rock' (Gordon Day Malcolm Lowry Pg. 181). Jan Gabrial recalled the car; "He'd wrecked his short-lived MG Magna, but was fortunately unhurt. Thank God I had not been with him when he crashed!" Jan says that though the car was a wreck, Lowry still talked about driving in it to the South France; "When we go to the South of France we must take the MG" (Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano" Pg. 22). Arthur Lowry arranged for the car to be towed back to Liverpool.

Lowry refers to the car in his novel Under The Volcano; "......The English "King's Parade" voice, scarcely above him, the Consul saw now, of an extremely long low car drawn up beside him, murmurous: an MG Magna.....(Pg. 84); in October Ferry to Gabriola; "Nor their towing the MG away — it was still the same one (and one of the few of its kind, that special 1932 four-seater convertible MG Magna "University" model), like the sporting hearse..." (Pg. 115)

Morteonhampstead Cottage Hospital, Devon

Morteonhampstead Cottage Hospital is located in Ford Street on the edge of the town . This was a gift to the town in 1900 from Lord Hambledon, the Lord of the Manor, and it still remains an essential part of local health care. The hospital was built for the benefit and accomodation (with or without payment) of poor persons suffering from disease or accident and being resident in the parishes of Moretonhampstead, Lustleigh, North Bovey, Manaton, Chagford, Drewsteignton, Bridford and Dunsford. It was run by a local committee and was kept by legacies, subscriptions, donations and the proceeds of the local carnival. It was taken over by the government in 1945 under the National Health Acts.

On the 12th June, Lowry was admitted to the hospital while staying with his friend James Travers in nearby Chagford. Lowry was admitted suffering from "dysentry" contracted in Spain, though Clarissa Aiken reported that he had gone in for drying out. ( Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 159). He stayed at the hospital for several days. Bowker states that Lowry was "strangely threatened by the hospital physician, a Dr Dixey, who told him the authorities knew all about his conduct at Cambridge and elsewhere and were only waiting a chance to 'get him on the mat'." (Pg. 160). Lowry left the hospital sometime in mid-June, Arthur Lowry arranged for him to stay at the Vernon Court Hotel in Torquay, in order to recuperate.