pieces of string. His mother lives in Eastbourne; and his niece, Maudie, the bohemian of the family, ran away from home to become a barmaid at the old Criterion (where she was familiar with Galahad and Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe) under the name of Maudie Montrose; she later married several times before getting back together with her old flame "Tubby" Parsloe. As mentioned in Galahad at Blandings, Beach won a choir boys' bicycle race in his youth, and recently won the Market Blandings Darts Tournament. He inherits the library of thriller novels that Freddie Threepwood collected before his marriage. Appearances Beach plays some part in almost all of the Blandings stories. In early stories, such as Something Fresh and Leave It to Psmith, he is required to do little more than buttle, which he of course does with effortless dignity; in later works, he plays a more significant role in the action. He decides to give notice on one occasion, because of Lord Emsworth's beard, an admittedly dubious fixture which Beach fears will ruin Emsworth's respectability in the community. Since he cannot honorably criticise his employer while serving as a butler, Beach makes the painful decision to resign first, but is prevented from doing so by his master's decision to shave, in "Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best". He is placed in a similar position soon afterward, when Emsworth expects him to stand in the moonlight practising pig-calls, a practice he considers beneath his dignity, but is persuaded to overcome his foibles by the presence of young Angela, in "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey". His strength of character is sorely tested, when called upon by Ronnie Fish to help in his schemes involving the Empress, in Summer Lightning and Heavy Weather; he later does indeed resign, after shooting Rupert Baxter with an air gun. However, Emsworth cannot do without his butler, and he assures his faithful servant of continued employment, in "The Crime Wave at Blandings". He buttles on quietly through Uncle Fred in the Springtime and Full Moon, but returns to the fore in Pigs Have Wings, where not only does he celebrate a birthday, but he is also called on once again to assist in the affairs of the Empress and her challengers, feeding one of Parsloe-Parsloe's pigs when it has been kidnapped by Galahad, and moving it when its location has been discovered by the enemy camp. His pantry is the scene