The people sensible enough to give good advice are usually sensible enough to give none.

One of his novels Widecombe Fair inspired by an annual fair at the village of Widecombe-in-the-Moor provided the scenario for his comic play The Farmer's Wife. He also wrote a number of other mystery novels both under his own name and the pseudonym Harrington Hext. He was for many years the President of the Dartmoor Preservation Association and cared passionately about the conservation of Dartmoor.

Late in his long writing career he wrote a few books of interest to science fiction and fantasy readers the most noteworthy being Saurus which involves an alien reptilian observing human life. Titles include: The Thing at Their Heels The Red Redmaynes The Monster The Clue from the Stars and The Captain's Curio. It went on to become a silent movie of the same name directed by Alfred Hitchcock and filmed in 1927.