Welcome to St. Emerly

St. Emerly is a fictional British coastal town where the sea is fabulous, the tea is strong, the pub is never quiet, and the gossip moves faster than the tide. Nestled between its lively harbour, windswept promenade, cliffside estates, cosy cafés, eccentric shops, and beloved local pub, St. Emerly is the beating heart of the Marco Delvaux universe. It is charming, dramatic, slightly ridiculous, deeply human, and full of people who know far too much about one another — but somehow show up when it matters most.

Here, a missed appointment can become a scandal, a dinner reservation can become a disaster, a family secret can shake the whole village, and a simple walk along the harbour can change everything.

St. Emerly is more than a setting. It is a comfort world — a place of humour, heart, romance, old wounds, new beginnings, and recurring village life. Readers return to St. Emerly because it feels familiar, alive, and strangely like home.

The Village

St. Emerly sits on the North Yorkshire coast with the uncomplicated confidence of a place that has simply always been there. It's built into the cliff face in tight terraces of pale limestone and dark pantile — houses so close their chimney stacks seem to lean on each other for warmth. From the harbour wall, it resembles a wedding cake that's been very slightly nudged by someone not concentrating.

The sea is not a backdrop here — it's a participant. The North Sea off St. Emerly is never quite the same colour twice, and in winter the spray reaches the upper terrace of the High Street.

It's a working coastal community of around 1100 permanent residents, doubling in summer with tourists, sailors, day-trippers from York and Leeds, and families in caravans. Its High Street runs along the harbour front in a curve of fiercely independent shops whose proprietors collectively know more about the village's residents than the residents know about themselves.

Key locations include:

• The Jolly Taxpayer — the pub, Marco's anchor job, the social heart of the village

• The Rusty Anchor (also referenced as Angus's pub) — run by the gruff, permanently unimpressed Angus MacGregor

• The Westcott Estate — home of Lady Penelope, Daphne, Lady Helen, Davina, and Harry

• The Vet Clinic — Maya's calm, competent domain

• The Tree Huggery — Daphne's spiritual shop; the emotional axis of Marco and Daphne's slow-burn story

• The Harbour & Seaside — for quiet moments, regattas, and the occasional disaster

St. Emerly doesn't gossip — it archives. A stranger arriving on the morning coach will be fully documented and cross-referenced before they've finished their first cup of tea.

It's a beautifully layered world — funny and warm on the surface, with a lot of genuine emotional depth underneath. You've built something really special here!

Come and Meet St. Emerly

Meet the families, friends, eccentrics, old flames, unlikely allies, and well-meaning troublemakers who bring this seaside village to life. Their lives are tangled together through love, loyalty, family history, village gossip, questionable decisions, and Marco Delvaux’s remarkable ability to complicate an otherwise perfectly ordinary day. In St. Emerly, everyone has a story—and everyone else has an opinion about it.

Marco Delvaux

Marco Delvaux is St. Emerly’s charming centre of gravity — ambitious, slightly rumpled, forever adjusting his tie, and usually one confident idea away from a completely avoidable disaster.

His life comes with plenty of complications: the memory — and occasional ghostly commentary — of his father Marc, the irresistible influence of his roguish Uncle Max, and his glamorous, unpredictable mother Muriel. Add a string of questionable jobs, romantic entanglements, and business ventures that rarely unfold as planned, and Marco is never short of material.

Luckily, he has his old friend Dr. James Spencer, his loyal sidekick Oliver Jones, and his calm, capable cousin Dr. Maya Delvaux to help steady the chaos — or at least witness it properly.

In St. Emerly, Marco may not always know what he is doing, but he does it with confidence, charm, and remarkable hair.

Daphne Westcott

Lady Daphne Westcott owns The Tree Huggery, St. Emerly’s colourful home of eco-friendly clothing, handmade natural candles, balms, salves, oils, and botanical concoctions.

Most of the village finds her odd, Marco included. Daphne talks to her dog, Sir Lance-a-Lot, her duck, Sir Quack-a-Lot, and often no one in particular. Her mother says she dresses “like a bohemian caravan exploded,” while Davina calls her “an affectionate administrative emergency.”

When she is not freeing chickens or talking to goats, Daphne can be found speaking earnestly to the river while organising a clean-up—or conducting a “weather clean-up,” which involves addressing the air and clouds in a brisk, commanding tone remarkably similar to Davina’s. From a distance, villagers are not always entirely sure which Westcott woman is issuing instructions.

Daphne could not care less. She is usually helping her friend Dr. Maya Delvaux at the veterinary clinic—or freeing one of the patients into the Yorkshire countryside.

James Spencer

Dr. James Spencer is St. Emerly’s calm, capable village doctor—and usually the sensible man standing nearest Marco Delvaux’s latest disaster.

A childhood friend of Marco and Henry Westcott, James later captained his college rowing crew at St John’s College, Cambridge. Davina Westcott was his childhood sweetheart, though neither of them discusses that with much success.

After working as a surgeon in London and being unexpectedly jilted by his fiancée, Melissa Fairbourne, James returned home at his father Charles’s urging to take over the retired Dr. Pendleton’s surgery. He occasionally regrets allowing himself to be persuaded—particularly when his meddlesome father interferes in his patients, his friendships, and his unresolved relationship with Davina.

James is both alarmed and fascinated by how rarely the people of St. Emerly follow medical advice, carrying on as though fresh air, stubbornness, and a strong cup of tea constitute a fully recognised treatment plan. He now divides his time between medicine, rowing, old feelings, managing his father, and telling Marco that something is a terrible idea moments before it happens.

Maya Delvaux

Dr. Maya Delvaux is St. Emerly’s warm, unflappable veterinary surgeon and Marco’s wonderfully capable cousin. Calm in a crisis and adored by animals, she is usually the person quietly fixing everyone else’s problems.

The eccentric Dr. Pendleton adores Maya and, despite being officially retired, keeps offering to “help” at the clinic—usually with outdated remedies, unsolicited theories, and an animal he has somehow acquired on the way. The village finds him delightful. Dr. James Spencer finds him exhausting.

Maya’s steady charm has also caught James’s eye, much to Davina Westcott’s carefully concealed consternation. Meanwhile, Maya’s father, Max Delvaux, is trying to win her back after a long absence—with awkward charm, badly timed sincerity, and the sort of nervous speech that falls apart the moment she looks at him.

Maya, naturally, notices everything and comments on almost none of it.

Marc Delvaux

Marc Delvaux is Marco’s late father—and St. Emerly’s most cheerfully inconvenient ghost. Warm, mischievous, and delighted by every family disaster, he appears at precisely the wrong moment to talk directly to Marco and offer commentary no one asked for.

He watches Marco’s schemes, Muriel’s chaos, and Max’s romantic nonsense with enormous amusement, drifting in with advice that is either unexpectedly wise or completely useless. Death, it seems, has done nothing to improve his timing.

For all his teasing, Marc remains fiercely proud of Marco and quietly protective of the family he left behind. He occasionally tries to guide his son towards better choices, although Marco reasonably points out that materialising beside him during important meetings and laughing at his decisions is not traditionally considered parental support.

Muriel Delvaux

Muriel Delvaux is Marco’s glamorous, unpredictable mother, best known for champagne at hours when most people are still considering tea, wealthy Italian admirers, and a trail of continental post-office mishaps and parking tickets.

She is fiercely loyal to her family and adores Marco, even if her maternal guidance often arrives from a hotel terrace with a cocktail in hand. Best friends with Lady Penelope and Lady Helen Westcott, she is also remarkably close to Max Delvaux, whose awkward charm, nervous jokes, and heroic avoidance of emotional seriousness she finds endlessly entertaining.

Muriel treats life as one long social occasion, consequences as optional, and scandal as something that usually improves with a good breakfast drink.

Max Delvaux

Max Delvaux is Marco’s flamboyant, charming uncle—a man with impeccable timing around women and absolutely none when emotions are involved. He adores his family, especially his sister-in-law Muriel, and still shares a sharp, affectionate banter with Lady Penelope Westcott, whom he dated—and rather spectacularly disappointed—when they were young. Decades later, the arguments are better dressed, but the spark may not be entirely gone.

The sudden appearance of his daughter Dr. Maya Delvaux both delighted and terrified him. Max had never imagined himself as a father, particularly after seeing how Marco turned out, but he is immensely proud that Maya became a doctor—even if, as he puts it, “most of her patients are unable to make proper conversation.”

Flamboyant, evasive, and effortlessly popular, Max enjoys the giggles of women at the bar with great amusement. Beneath the charm, however, is a man trying—awkwardly, sincerely, and usually with the wrong words—to make up for lost time.

 Penelope Westcott

Lady Penelope Westcott, of Jamaican and South Indian heritage, married into the Westcott family and brought warmth, elegance, and considerably better conversation with her. Widowed after the death of her husband, Richard Westcott, she remains devoted to their children, Henry and Davina—though she privately believes Davina might benefit from relaxing before she organises the tide.

Penelope enjoys a good laugh with “the girls”—meaning Helen and Muriel, certainly not Davina and Daphne—and takes great pleasure in sparring with Max Delvaux, the man who broke her heart when they were young. Their banter still makes her feel wonderfully alive, and neither is entirely convincing when insisting the spark has gone.

Although she publicly supports Davina’s efforts to keep St. Emerly respectable, Penelope secretly enjoys the village’s memorable hiccups, particularly those involving Daphne, escaped animals, troublesome weather, or “Pendleton Mendleton,” as she, Muriel, and Helen affectionately call the retired doctor. She also finds it rather touching that Davina and Daphne look so alike while approaching life as though they belong to different species.

Davina Westcott

Lady Davina Westcott is St. Emerly’s elegant organiser-in-chief, editor of The St. Emerly Gazette, and the woman most likely to have a timetable, a contingency plan, and a sharpened pencil ready before anyone else has even understood the problem.

Marco and Daphne are her greatest administrative challenge, though the rest of the village does its best to compete. Their talent for ignoring instructions, causing absurd mishaps, and treating rules as optional creates deep and entirely avoidable suffering for the famously impatient Davina.

The return of her childhood sweetheart, Dr. James Spencer, has also introduced several inconvenient feelings that refuse to fit neatly into any filing system. Davina insists everything is under control. Nobody believes her.

Henry Westcott

Lord Henry Westcott is charming, athletic, and generally baffled by women—an unfortunate condition in a family full of formidable ones.

The beautiful former beauty queen Victoria Houghton is very interested in him, while Henry himself cannot quite decide whether he is drawn to Victoria’s polish or Dr. Maya Delvaux’s quiet warmth. His mother and aunts are already discussing future brides over daytime drinks, his sister Davina is attempting to organise the entire village, and his cousin Daphne keeps making the sort of headlines no aristocratic family knows how to explain.

A lifelong friend of Marco and James, Henry is happiest rowing, competing, or escaping onto the water—preferably before another relative asks when he intends to marry.

Helen Westcott-Spencer

Lady Helen Westcott is St. Emerly’s loudest laugh, brightest hat, and most enthusiastic supporter of anything fashionable, charitable, or served with something sparkling.

Like her closest friends, Lady Penelope and Muriel Delvaux, Helen prefers to begin the day with an Irish coffee—partly for the caffeine, mostly because she believes mornings should make more of an effort.

She adores her daughter Daphne, though she cannot understand why she dresses “as if a travelling herb shop has fallen over her.” Her current beau, Charles Spencer, is endlessly patient, quietly bewildered, and frequently recruited to manage whichever trend, event, or small social catastrophe Helen has enthusiastically begun.

Warm-hearted, dramatic, and impossible to ignore, Helen never enters a room quietly—and sees no reason anyone else should either.

Charles Spencer

Charles Spencer is Dr. James Spencer’s dignified, meddlesome father—a man who has quietly decided that being related to a surgeon makes him medically adjacent.

He offers unsolicited diagnoses to villagers, attempts to involve Lady Helen in schemes to reunite James and Davina, and is deeply entertained by how indignant this makes his son. Charles adores Helen, though her fondness for Irish coffee before noon alarms him considerably. Naturally, he admits neither the alarm nor the adoration.

Beneath the interference, Charles genuinely wants James to be happy and believes St. Emerly is where his son belongs. Unfortunately, his methods usually involve strategic dinner invitations, suspiciously convenient seating plans, and medical opinions no one requested.

Margaret Spencer

Margaret Spencer is Charles’s younger sister, James’s aunt, Rose Spencer’s mother—and the highly capable Mayor of St. Emerly. Warm, observant, and deceptively mild, she remains informed about every council concern, household development, and village disagreement without ever appearing hurried.

She works remarkably well with Lady Davina Westcott, sharing her appreciation for order and properly documented village life. Margaret is also a close friend of Muriel Delvaux, though she prefers to experience scandal second-hand, with tea, rather than from inside a foreign police station.

She considers Charles’s interference in James’s romantic life embarrassingly amateur. In her view, James and Davina’s youthful romance has been folded away with the winter linens, and she will have no part whatsoever in any scheming of such nonsense.

Rose Spencer

Rose Spencer is Margaret Spencer’s daughter, James’s cousin, and St. Emerly’s answer to a romantic comedy nobody has managed to control. She works as receptionist at James’s surgery, where appointments migrate, messages become mysterious, and patients are occasionally booked under the name of their ailment. James finds this intolerable; Rose points out that everyone is eventually seen by someone.

Rose believes cooking is for people with aprons and emotional resilience, while university is an expensive way of discovering one still has no idea what to do with one’s life. She is, however, devoted to following her heart, wearing the good dress, and giving disastrous first dates a second chance.

Her romantic outings regularly end with James and Marco rescuing her from mishaps with unsuitable men. Yet every autumn, Rose wins St. Emerly’s Great Pumpkin Race—proving that while she may lose appointments, instructions, and suitors, she never loses control of a rolling vegetable.

John Pickles

Dr. John Pickles is St. Emerly’s eccentric retired doctor, although retirement has done very little to prevent him from practising medicine—or offering opinions on it.

Known affectionately by Muriel, Lady Helen, and Lady Penelope as “Pickled Pickles,” he continues to appear at James’s surgery and Dr. Maya’s veterinary clinic with outdated remedies, improbable theories, and the firm belief that patients of every species benefit from a brisk walk and fewer complaints.

The villagers find him enormously entertaining, Maya treats him with remarkable patience, and James finds his unsolicited assistance increasingly exhausting. Dr. Pendleton, meanwhile, remains convinced that both younger doctors are progressing splendidly under his supervision.

Olivia Pickles

Olivia Pickles is the impeccably polished Lifestyle, Social & Society Editor of The St. Emerly Gazette—and a woman who considers most village events vastly improved by her attendance.

A former beauty queen with expensive taste and a talent for making ordinary remarks sound like royal proclamations, Victoria reports on parties, fashion, local society, and anyone behaving beneath the standards she has personally invented.

Marco delights in chasing her, partly because she is beautiful and partly because she appears determined not to be impressed. Victoria treats his attention as mildly tiresome, entirely predictable, and secretly rather flattering—though she would sooner misprint the society pages than admit it.

Oliver Pickles

Oliver Pickles is Olivia's brother and Marco Delvaux’s loyal sidekick, enthusiastic assistant, and frequent source of business opportunities that should have been rejected before the sentence was finished.

Kind-hearted, red-haired, and dangerously persuasive, Oliver regularly hooks Marco into questionable schemes involving unlikely profits, borrowed equipment, vague paperwork, and a man he “knows from somewhere.” His solutions usually require rope, ladders, a van, or somebody shouting, “Oliver, put that down.”

He adores his wife, Pippa, who does not quietly repair the damage so much as arrive furious, make the situation louder, and demand to know why neither man possesses basic judgement.

Marco considers Oliver indispensable. St. Emerly considers him the first warning that something expensive is about to happen.

Pippa Pickles

Pippa Pickles is Oliver’s sharp-tongued, red-haired wife and a woman who becomes immediately suspicious whenever he announces that he has a plan—especially when the next words are “and Marco Delvaux is involved.” In Pippa’s view, the two men together possess the judgement of one sensible person who has briefly stepped out.

She arrives at disasters loudly, demands explanations from everyone at once, and often makes the situation considerably noisier before it becomes any clearer. Beneath the outrage, however, she is fiercely loyal to Oliver and will defend him against anyone except herself.

Pippa is also perpetually furious that Oliver forgets they have a baby. She is frequently seen—or more often heard—shouting “OLIVER! BABY!” from their house, the shop, across the harbour, or somewhere in the general direction of the entire village.

And here are some places of interest in St. Emerly

The Jolly TaxPayer -Meet Angus Briggs

“Welcome to The Jolly Taxpayer. I’m Angus Briggs — your host, keeper of the bar, and one of the few people in St. Emerly who knows exactly what everyone is having before they sit down.”

We serve good food, well-kept drinks, and a comfortable place to hear the latest village happenings. Though if Marco Delvaux or Oliver Pickles arrive announcing they have a plan, I recommend finishing your drink first.

A favourite gathering place for locals and visitors alike — because every seaside village needs a good pub, a good story, and somewhere to discuss both.

The Tree Huggery - Meet Lady Daphne Westcott

“Welcome to The Tree Huggery. I’m Daphne Westcott — creator, maker, and occasional organiser of conversations with nature.” Here you’ll find colourful eco-friendly clothing, handmade candles, botanical oils, natural balms, and a few creations inspired by the wonderful things growing around St. Emerly. Everything is made with care, curiosity, and a belief that the natural world has rather a lot to say — if only people would stop rushing about long enough to listen. Please excuse the duck, the dog, and any unexpected chickens. They are not staff, exactly… although they do consider themselves involved.

St. Emerly Veterinary Clinic.

“Welcome to St. Emerly Veterinary Clinic. I’m Dr. Maya Delvaux, and yes, I have treated everything from nervous pets to rather adventurous village animals.” Here we care for the beloved companions of St. Emerly with patience, kindness, and a little help from our occasional volunteer, Daphne Westcott — whose enthusiasm for animal welfare is admirable, even when it involves unexpected countryside escapes.

From routine check-ups to emergencies, our door is always open. Although if Sir Lance-a-Lot, Sir Quack-a-Lot, or Daphne arrive together, we do recommend preparing for anything.

Spencer Surgery

“Welcome to Spencer Surgery. I’m Dr. James Spencer, and I have spent months reminding the people of St. Emerly that fresh air, stubbornness, and a cup of tea are not substitutes for medical advice.”

Providing thoughtful care to the village and surrounding Yorkshire coast, Spencer Surgery offers trusted medical attention with a calm approach — even when patients arrive with unusual explanations for their ailments.

The Upper Crustacean - Meet Lionel Pike

“Welcome to The Upper Crustacean. I’m Lionel Pike — owner, host, and the man responsible for ensuring nobody in St. Emerly mistakes a fish supper for fine dining.” Here we serve the freshest seafood, beautifully prepared dishes, and an atmosphere of quiet elegance — although quiet can be difficult when Marco Delvaux is nearby.

I take great pride in every plate that leaves my kitchen. The prawns are perfectly arranged, the tables are correctly set, and the napkins are folded in a manner that suggests we have our lives together. Of course, St. Emerly being St. Emerly, someone will inevitably arrive late, bring an unexpected animal, or announce a business idea during dessert.

I remain professional. Mostly.

Mrs. Higgins Pharmacy

“Come in and tell me what’s happened. I’ll usually know before you’ve finished.”

Mrs Higgins has remedies for most things, patience for some things, and very little sympathy for people who ignored James, listened to Charles, or accepted medical advice from Pendleton Mendleton over lunch.

The CodFather

“I’m Joe Longbottom. I serve proper fish, crisp chips, and portions large enough to discourage unnecessary conversation.”

The cod is fresh, the batter is golden, and anyone asking for something deconstructed will be directed back towards the harbour.

The Cherry On Top

“I’m Joan Butterfield. I bake cakes for birthdays, apologies, and engagements the village knows about before the happy couple do.”

Everything is made properly, decorated generously, and kept confidential—unless the marzipan is suspicious.

The Salt & Anchor Brewery

“I’m Reggie Jubb. We brew proper beer by the harbour and leave the fruit experiments to people with less to lose.”

The taps are honest, the barrels are full, and Reggie can tell who has ordered a lager before they reach the door.

The Blue Geranium Florist

“I’m Phyllis Pudsey. I arrange flowers for weddings, funerals, apologies, and people who have left all three rather late.”

The bouquets are fresh, the ribbons are tidy, and no, Phyllis will not pretend that supermarket carnations are “just as nice.”

The Chocolate Gull

“I’m Gerty Giggleswick. I make chocolates for gifts, celebrations, apologies, and people who’ve decided one box is technically for sharing.”

The truffles are handmade, the gulls are decorative, and Gerty can usually tell who bought the chocolates for themselves by how firmly they insist otherwise.

Ink & Twine

“I’m Norma Bottomley. I sell notebooks, proper pens, ribbons, and cards for things people should really have said in person.”

Norma knows who is writing love letters, who is sending apologies, and who has bought far too much wrapping paper for an ordinary birthday. She never gossips—she merely notices excellent stationery choices.

The Salted Lemon

“I’m Prudence Pickard. I sell cheeses, preserves, fresh bread, and provisions for people who planned ahead—and those who remembered at half past five.”

The shelves are well stocked, the chutneys are properly labelled, and Prudence can tell exactly who is having guests by the sudden interest in olives.

Haddock & Hush

“I’m Billy Hush. I sell smoked fish, cured seafood, and lunches best enjoyed without unnecessary conversation.”

The haddock is excellent, the portions are generous, and Billy considers small talk something that ought to be booked in advance.

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