Tobias Tallowick
Night attendant on the sleeper, with thirty winters of journeys behind him.
Look closer at the illustration ↗Tobias Tallowick sees to blankets, hot-water bottles and the comfort of passengers who are away from home after dark. His cocoa has nutmeg in it. The work is familiar; the people travelling are not always so.
Home is two rooms over a chandler’s at Paddington Basin. He sleeps by day with a shawl over the window, to the sound of boats. Mrs Tallowick’s family were boat people.
When the carriage continues to the coast, he goes with it: linen to count, a room behind the goods shed, and a walk along the sea wall before the return turn.
People they know
Bartholomew Bellweather · From the illustrated world of Candlebury Bartholomew Bellweather
A returning passenger
Tobias attends to Bartholomew on his journeys between London and Brindlecombe.
Henry Bellweather · Current character illustration. Henry Bellweather
A passenger on the winter sleeper
Henry writes ahead about the berths and asks Tobias to bring his father oxtail soup.
Dorothea · From the illustrated world of Candlebury Dorothea
His host at the Copper Dormouse
Dorothea takes Tobias in when snow stops the sleeper. The Tallowicks also keep her card with three beech leaves.
Beatrice beside the window on the sisters’ seaside holiday. Beatrice Thistleby
A passenger he brought to the inn
Tobias brings the sisters from the snowbound sleeper to the Copper Dormouse.
Louisa in her plum hat on the sisters’ seaside holiday. Louisa Thistleby
A passenger he brought to the inn
Tobias brings the sisters from the snowbound sleeper to the Copper Dormouse.
Places in their stories
Brindlecombe
The railway brings you here. There is more than one way to leave.
The Copper Dormouse
Dorothea’s inn, a little beyond the green at Little Tallowmere.
Stories
The Sleeper Train to Brindlecombe
Leave the toyshop with Bartholomew Bellweather and take the overnight sleeper towards his sister’s inn.
With Bartholomew Bellweather, Tobias Tallowick, Dorothea
The Winter Sleeper Home from Brindlecombe
Say goodnight to Dorothea, then travel home through the winter with Bartholomew and Henry Bellweather.
With Bartholomew Bellweather, Dorothea, Tobias Tallowick, Edward Bellweather, Henry Bellweather, Lucy Bellweather
Snowed In at the Copper Dormouse
Dorothea means to close the inn for a week and paint. The snow has other plans for her household.
With Dorothea, Beatrice Thistleby, Louisa Thistleby, Tobias Tallowick