Greenway, Brixham, Devon

Greenway, also known as Greenway House, is an estate on the River Dart near Galmpton in Devon, England. Once the home of the author Agatha Christie, it is now owned by the National Trust.

The estate is served by a steam railway service with trains from Paignton and Kingswear stopping at Greenway Halt station.

In 1938, the writer Agatha Christie and her husband, the archaeologist Max Mallowan, were becoming disenchanted with their home in nearby Torquay. The town had changed in the previous years, and the once uninterrupted view of the sea from the house became obstructed with new buildings.[18] Looking around south Devon, Christie saw Greenway was available. She had seen the property during her youth and always thought it “the most perfect of the various properties on the Dart.

The house was occupied by Christie and Mallowan until their deaths in 1976 and 1978 respectively, and featured, under various guises, in several of Christie’s novels. Christie’s daughter Rosalind Hicks and her husband Anthony lived in the house from 1968 until Rosalind’s death in 2004.

Whilst extending my south-west trip by a couple of days, I found myself down in Brixham so decided to revisit a place I often went to back in my youth, although, back then only the gardens were open, so this time it was nice to see exactly what was stored behind previously closed doors.

I have to admit that I have never actually read any of Agatha Christie’s books (I received a rather disgusted – in the nicest way – look from the greeter at the door when I told them this), however I appreciate a multitude of different literature genres’ so it was nice to see a real piece of history.

There is a piano in the main living room which they let guests play if they like and as I was passing through, there was a rather talented woman playing some classical music, which was a nice added extra and made me think of how things may have been back in Agatha’s time at the house, relaxing after a hearty meal listening to the family play their favourite songs.

After reviewing the photos of the inside, I am a little disappointed with them, so a revisit is certainly on my list of things to do at some point in the not too distant future.