Previous letters pages can be found here.

Letters page from Volume 2, issue 23.
November 10th – 23rd, 1954.

OUR

LETTER PAGE

 1. A letter from Elizabeth Stronach, Delgany, Ireland.
Dear Enid Blyton,
Here is some money we saved up for your poor children. My sister and I had a shop out in our field, and we had a bookstall, a toy stall and some amusements. We gave rides on our pony, too. We ran this stall all by ourselves. We do love the Famous Five Books, and the Adventure books, too.
Love from
Elizabeth Stronach.

(I am sending you the letter-prize, Elizabeth – and please give your pony a thank-you pat from me!)

2. A letter from Jean Roe, Wirral, Cheshire.
Dear Enid Blyton,
I throw titbits out for the birds. Whenever there is a quarrel between the sparrows, a big starling comes down and chases them away. We call him Mr. Plod because he behaves so like a policeman!
With lots of love from
Jean Roe.

(Your letter will give everyone a laugh, Jean – most amusing!)

A letter from Rosemary Mott, Watton-at-Stone, Herts.
Dear Enid Blyton,
A little while ago I was one winner of the three winners for the Enid Blyton’s Magazine, November 10, Famous Five Club Competition. I was simply thrilled when “Five on Kirrin Island Again” arrived one Saturday morning. I do the puzzles for the fun of them, and I never dreamed I would win a “Five” book for a prize.
With lots of love from
Rosemary Mott.

(I’m glad you had such a nice surprise, Rosemary!)

A card from Valerie Waddy, Cardiff.
Dear Enid Blyton,
Thank you very, very much indeed, for the very lovely badge. I am very proud to be a member of your club, and wear my badge with a great puffing-out of the chest!
With best wishes and thank you very much, from
Valerie Waddy.

(I have had many thank-you cards from readers, but Valerie’s was the first. Thank you, Valerie!)

Four letters again this week.

I noticed the other week that while the magazine had slightly changed the format of the printing of the letters I had not updated my template for these posts. I went back and changed the relevant posts and the template – then this week I see that the editor has got muddled themselves, with the first two letters being numbered (as they used to be) and the last two are unnumbered like the more recent pages (also the letters also used to be in italics then recently swapped to Blyton’s replies in italics instead.)

Formatting aside – the winning letter is another money-raising one, easier to do if you are wealthy enough to own a pony I bet!

One of the greatest disappointments in my young life was realising that Enid Blyton was not still alive and writing more books. I knew the books were “old” but in my head she could have been writing them aged 20 in 1950, and therefore still going well into the 1990s. It wasn’t only the fact that she was gone and would not write any more books but also that our lives would never intersect in any small way, such as joining her clubs or writing into her magazine like the girls have above. I don’t know why but Rosemary’s letter in particular reminded me of that moment of realisation.