{"id":1809,"date":"2020-02-16T09:27:15","date_gmt":"2020-02-16T09:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cityadventurers.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1809"},"modified":"2020-02-16T09:27:15","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T09:27:15","slug":"mystery-visitor-to-harrogate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cityadventurers.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1809","title":{"rendered":"Mystery visitor to Harrogate"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post first appeared on Treasure Hunts In London – Explore, Discover,Experience<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Beating Storm Ciara as it raced across the country we made our way to Harrogate and\u00a0The Old Swan Hotel<\/a>. Entering it\u2019s revolving doors we found a friendly welcome and a warm foyer with a real blazing fire. That night we dined in the glass-ceiling-ed Wedgwood Restaurant.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Old Swan Hotel – photo by Juliamaud<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were travelling in the footsteps of Agatha Christie and could just image her turning up amid a cloud of mystery in December 1926\u2026\u2026..<\/h3>\n
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From its\u00a0 to its famous , the hotel exudes romance and mystery. It was to The Old Swan that Agatha Christie famously disappeared in 1926, resulting in a public furore over the 11 days that she could not be traced.<\/p>\n

In 1926, Agatha Christie discovered her husband Archie was having an affair with Nancy Neele. He told her he wanted a divorce\u00a0left their house, Styles, in Sunningdale, to spend the weekend with his mistress at Godalming.<\/p>\n

That night\u00a0Agatha disappeared.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Around 9.45pm on 3rd December 1926, Agatha kissed her sleeping daughter, Rosalind, and drove away. Her car was found abandoned near Guildford. There was no sign of her, and the only clue was a letter for her secretary saying that she was going to Yorkshire.<\/p>\n

A massive\u00a0manhunt began to find her amid a public outcry. The home secretary\u00a0put pressure on the police to make progress and celebrated crime writers Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy L Sayers were drawn into the investigation.\u00a0Sayers visited the scene of the disappearance while\u00a0Conan Doyle took one of\u00a0Christie\u2019s\u00a0gloves to a medium.<\/p>\n

Eleven days after her disappearance, Agatha Christie was identified as the guest registered as\u00a0\u2018Mrs Teresa Neele\u2019 from Cape Town staying at\u00a0the Old Swan\u00a0in Harrogate. She never gave any explanation for her disappearance, although some have speculated she was\u00a0suffering from amnesia.<\/p>\n

There is a plaque about the\u00a0Agatha Christie connection to the hotel in the lobby and a newpaper article to accompany it in a glass case.<\/p>\n

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