On 3 December, 1926, Agatha Christie and her husband, Archie, had a quarrel after he confessed his infidelity with Nancy Neele of Godalming, Surrey. During the argument, he told Agatha that he wanted a divorce so that he could make his relationship with his mistress legitimate. He promptly left their home saying he was going to spend the weekend with Miss Neele. Later that same night, Agatha Christie disappeared.

The hunt for Agatha became a nation-wide affair after her car was discovered by police, abandoned at a chalk pit near Newlands Corner, Surrey...not far from Godalming. When it was discovered that Archie was staying in nearby Godalming with a mistress, foul play was suspected. Every day the papers had new stories regarding the possible fate of Agatha and the beastliness of her husband. The search even employed aeroplanes – a first in England!

But after 11 days she was discovered in Harrogate, Yorkshire, relaxing in the Swan Hydropathic Hotel under the name of ….Mrs Teresa Neele. She claimed temporary amnesia when her husband came to collect her. Some suspected a nervous breakdown. But many still believe Agatha staged the entire affair as a way of punishing her husband and exposing him to public ridicule for his infidelity. Either way, public sentiment towards the author was vitriolic. Many thousands of pounds of public funds were wasted in the search and the public did not appreciate it one bit.

On 1 July, 2009 Newlands Corner witnessed another mysterious occurrence. At 11 o'clock in the morning the thundering note of Phantom EG 001 echoed across the South Downs. Erasmus and the first Phantom EG broke cover briefly at the Newlands Corner Cafe on the A25 as some discerning gentlemen have arranged to give the machine a test along the surrounding country lanes. The result of this adventure c an be seen within the pages of Classic Bike magazine...

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