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Welcome to the charming village of Foxmore
- Lilac Mills
- Jan 26, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Tucked away in a hidden corner of the stunning Welsh countryside, Foxmore nestles in the bottom of a pretty valley with a river flowing through it, and is surrounded by tree-clad hillsides with dramatic mountains rising above.
I usually do some research before I start writing, which also gives me some inspiration, and I based Foxmore loosely on these places. The high street is Usk in South Wales, and the valley is Dinas Mawddwy, at the lower end of the Snowdonia National Park. The village green is actually Aldbourne, in Wiltshire, and the inside of the pub is The Bear in Crickhowell - a place I've eaten in many times and can highly recommend if you are ever in the area.
I had fun drawing a map of the village, and it also helps me keep all the locations straight in my head, otherwise I forget what is where!
The Books in the Series
I drew inspiration for the cottage that features in The Corner Shop on Foxmore Green from this quaint cottage which is available to rent from Airnbnb and is actually in Dinas Mawddwy itself. If I had the money, I'd want to buy it just like Huw did, because I've fallen in love with it, too.
This lovely shop is the inspiration behind Rowena's corner shop. It's called Natural Weigh and can be found in Crickhowell.
Owen lives in a camper van (and a very nice van it is, too). I have been inside a few and that way of life really appeals to me - although I'm not too enamoured of Owen's method of showering!
Car boot sales are an integral part of this story, and I've spent many a happy hour dibbling around stalls in fields - and I've come away with many a bargain.
Etta, the dachshund, is a real sweetie, and naughty, too. I have a soft spot for these little dogs with bags of personality - and the smooth-haired ones are so soft and silky that I could stroke one for hours!
Pen's Pantry also plays a part in the book - as does Pen herself, although I don't envy her or Harriet trying to work the coffee machine.
And here are some more images that were in my mind as I wrote the book - but I won't go into detail because... spoilers!!
The Allotment on Willow Tree Lane is particularly close to my heart because of my own love of gardening. I just wish I was as good at it as Ceri.
Before I began this book, I had a firm image in my head of what Damon looked like, and I think out of all the male main characters I have written so far, he is the one I am in love with the most. He is such a contrast, I feel.
Why did I want to set a book in an allotment?
This book grew from a what if? idea about a piece of unused land near where I live, because I thought it would make the most fantastic allotment. It’s also a haven for wildlife, alive with buddleia, hawthorn trees and loads of wildflowers, and I’d hate to see that disappear. So I dreamt of having an allotment geared towards both.
There is also a big chunk of me in this book. I love growing vegetables and in the absence of an allotment of my own (they’re like hen’s teeth around here!) about four years ago I sectioned my modest garden into three distinct areas: a veggie patch, a wildlife area, and a place for me and my family to relax with a cuppa - although sometimes the wildlife manages to have fun in the veggie patch. Take a look at that caterpillar munching on my squashes!
The spot I chose for the vegetable plot was partly gravelled, the rest of it covered in overgrown bushes, so it was a bit of a task to take it back to bare earth, but once I had a blank canvas I could plot out my veg beds. I’ve got eight raised beds and in them I grow a variety of vegetables from sweetcorn to beetroot. And potatoes seem to pop up everywhere – even where they haven’t been planted! I’m not complaining though, because I simply adore new potatoes with a generous dollop of butter.
As well as the raised beds (they’re not that raised, I still have to do far more kneeling and bending than I’d like) I also grow things in pots, such as tomatoes. I’ve had a bumper crop of strawberries two years running using this method, which proves that no matter how little space you have, you can still grow your own.
My pride and joy though, is my pear tree. I bought it around ten years ago for £1, planted it, and ignored it ever since. Despite my appalling neglect, the little tree which was barely 30cm high, has grown to over 4 metres tall, and every year it provides me with an enormous bounty of sweet, juicy pears.
When it comes to gardening, I still class myself as a beginner. I’ve got a long way to go to come even remotely close to Ceri’s expertise (the main character in the book), and every growing season brings fresh challenges and the opportunity to learn new things. Pottering in the garden gives me time to switch off and lose myself in the natural world, and very often fresh ideas for new stories will come to me whilst I’m sowing or weeding. There is also something intrinsically satisfying about putting food on the table that I have grown and harvested with my own hands.
My carrots may look a bit wonky and my onions may be smaller than those in the shops, but they taste delicious, and I know exactly what has gone into growing them – a little bit of time, a lot of hope and a great deal of love.
If you want to take a look at my other books, you can check them out here.
And finally, here are some Welsh words and phrases that you'll hear all over the country.
Daps – plimsolls, usually the sort that primary school children wear when they do PE. Although daps can also refer to trainers.
Lush – can mean anything from food being delicious, to someone being sexy, or even kind.
Drive – short for ‘driver’, and is what a bus driver is called. You get off a coach, you say ‘Thanks, Drive.’
Stunnin’ – spectacular, wonderful, impressive.
Bangin’ - great, fantastic.
Tampin’ – seriously annoyed.
Cwtch – rhymes with butch. Both a noun (give me a hug/cuddle) and a verb (eg to cuddle under a blanket on the sofa e – Welsh version would be ‘cwtch down on the settee for a bit’).
Cariad – love, darling.
Butt – short for buttie, which means mate.
Buttie – sandwich (confusing, isn’t it!).
Tidy – eg, ‘There’s tidy’ – means that’s good, eg, ‘That’s a tidy bit of kit.’
Alright? - a form of greeting, like hi or hello – Typically ‘Alright, butt?’ Also used as ‘Alright or wha?’
Buzzin’ / gompin’ / boggin' – all mean the same thing: smelly or stinky, but can also mean ugly,.
Chopsy – someone who doesn’t stop talking, or someone who is cheeky and impudent.
Dwt – the w is pronounced the same way you’d say the oo in foot. Means tiny, small eg; ‘she’s only a dwt’.
Hangin' – very drunk eg, I was hanging last night. ‘Blotto’ and ‘steaming’ also mean the same.
Mun – doesn’t really mean anything, but is often added to sentences as a kind of emphasis eg, come on, mun, stop it. Presumably originally came from the word man.
Mam – mum, mom, mother / mammy – mummy, mommy.
Grancha/bamps/bampi – grandpa, granddad, grandfather.
Sorted – taken care of, resolved, handled eg ‘Don’t worry, it’s sorted.’
Twp – can mean several things… mad, idiotic, not very intelligent.
Now in a minute – eg I’ll do it shortly/soon.
I’m not being funny – usually a sentence starter when the speaker is about to say something that may be offensive eg ‘I’m not being funny, but she wears some weird clothes.’
There's lovely – that’s nice.
My lovely – term of endearment similar to ‘love’.
Over by there – over there.
Come by here – come here.
Gutsy – greedy.
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About the Author
Lilac Mills writes heartwarming romance inspired by life in the Welsh countryside, her love of simple pleasures, and the beauty of everyday moments. She’s the author of over twenty feel-good novels, and also writes as Liz Davies and Etti Summers. Meet her here.
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