The Marsh of Adventure by Poppy, chapter 3

Posted on July 24, 2013 by worldofblyton

Chapter three:

A terrible shock and a lovely day

The children slept like logs that night and didn’t awake until the first rays of sunlight broke across the sky. Each of them stared at the slanted ceiling for a few moments trying to work out where they could be, but in a flash it all came back and each child sat up in excitement. Of course! They were at Lowfell, in the lovely little inn! And today they were going to climb Lowfell Hill – how fine! Jack was the first to get out of bed and he flung open the curtains and let the wonderful weather flood into the room. Philip rubbed his eyes and Jack shook him. “Wake up lazy bones, we’re off to Lowfell Hill today – to watch the birds!”

Philip laughed at Jack. “Hey, easy. Let me have ten more minutes, it is the holidays. You remind me of my form master at school who always comes into our dormy on a morning to shake me because I never get out of bed when the bell goes! Alright, alright, I’m getting up now!”

The boys pulled on some clothes and then marched into the girls room. “Oh, you’re awake. Mother and Bill must be having a lie in, there’s no sign of them. We’ll just go down to breakfast shall we? And if they are still not up when we want to be setting off for Lowfell Hill, we’ll leave a message with Mrs Jordans,” Philip announced.

Everyone stumbled down the crooked stair case, looking with interest at the paintings hung on the walls. They knew their way around the inn now and headed for the dining room where they expected a huge meal to be served to them. And they were right – bacon, eggs, fried bread, sausages – what a heavenly meal! There were a few guests up, but not many. Just the children, the two old friends who the children knew were leaving today and the business man who was working out some sort of sum on his note pad. He was always up early writing down some kind of sum. The children listened to his muffled groans and sighs as they tucked into their meal.

“Some difficult sum, he must be working out,” Dinah said in a low voice. She showed an alarmed expression as Kiki echoed her in a much louder, cheekier voice. She looked feebly over her shoulder to beg the gentleman’s pardon, but he didn’t seem to have noticed at all. She sighed in relief.

But someone had heard, and that was Mrs Jordans. She came up and tapped Kiki on the beak. “Naughty bird!” she exclaimed with a twinkle in her eye. She turned to the children and smiled at them. “Good morning children!” she said in a merry voice. “I’m afraid I’ve a little bit of bad news to tell you Continue reading →

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Prize Give-Away Monday

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Fiona

Well we’ve reached the magic number of one hundred followers on the blog, so as promised we’re going to give away an Enid Blyton book to one lucky follower. I’ll get to the details in a moment, but first what’s coming up on the blog this week.

On Wednesday we’ll be putting on chapter three of Poppy’s Adventure Series fan fiction, The Marsh of Adventure. I think things are about to start hotting up in the story, as they’re off to the marsh for the first time. You’ll have to come back on Wednesday to see exactly what happens!

I will possibly review the next Adventure Series book, The Ship of Adventure, or if I find myself with lots of time I might review another biography.

As for Stef, she’s still got a load of possibilities, but I think she may do July flowers for us, before August sneaks up!

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So, with that out of the way on to the give-away!

First, the prize. The winner will get one of four Enid Blyton hardbacks that I have set aside (don’t worry I have other copies of the titles, and no room to store duplicates!)

They are: Three Cheers Secret Seven (Brockhampton Press, 1956, first edition), Puzzle for the Secret Seven (Brockhampton Press, 1961, second impression), The Mystery That Never Was (Collins, 1976, second edition) and The Adventure of the Secret Necklace (Lutterworth Press, 1954, first edition.)

Here they are in all their glory:

And now, to the boring bit with all the rules!

1. You must be a follower of the blog through either email or wordpress. You can find the follow by email button at the bottom of the right hand column on the home page and at the top left if you’re a WordPress user.

2. You must live in the United Kingdom as unfortunately we simply cannot afford the postage to the rest of the word.

3. You must comment on this post and tell us which of the four books you would like to win. Please make sure the name on your comment matches the name you use when you followed us so we can match them up!

4. One entry per follower (if you follow us by email and by wordpress it still only counts once.)

5. Once we declare a winner, that person has a further seven days (until Sunday the 4th of August) to get in touch to claim the prize, emailing us at our blog email address would be best.

Phew! The winner will be picked at random on Sunday the 28th of July and we will announced it on Monday the 29th. That means you’ve got a week to decide which book you want!

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And finally, a plea from Stef and I! We’re very short of contributors at the moment (must be all the sunshine!), so if you think you’ve got an interesting story or a favourite book to review drop us a line! We’ve got some suggestions on the blog here, so do check it out!

 Good luck with the give-away and have a great week!

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A review of Humpty Dumpty and Belinda

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Fiona

I’ve been promising this review for years, well, OK since April, and I’ve finally beaten my writer’s block and finished it, hooray!

Humpty Dumpty and Belinda is one of two Collins Colour Camera Books where the story is written by Enid Blyton. (The other is Father Christmas and Belinda.) There are actually other Collins Colour Camera books about Belinda, but those are not written by Blyton.

As Tony Summerfield kindly explained:

It would seem that Belinda and Father Christmas by Hugh and Sally Gee was published in America by Chanticleer Press in 1948. Obviously Enid Blyton saw this book and fancied writing her own version of the story and it was published by Collins in 1951 as Father Christmas and Belinda. This would not be the first time that Enid saw illustrations from another book and wrote her own story to fit the original illustrations as she did exactly that with Let’s Pretend.

It seems that Hugh and Sally Gee did write other books about Belinda [such as] Belinda and the Magic Journey, but Enid just rewrote the two of them.

As some of you may remember Humpty Dumpty and Belinda is the book I bought in Leakey’s bookstore in Inverness, while I was on holiday in April.

It’s a slightly unusual book, in that it has 14 full-page colour photographs illustrating the story as well as 21 line drawings by Sally Gee.

One of the colour plates featuring Belinda, Tod and Humpty meeting the king.

One of the colour plates featuring Belinda, Tod and Humpty meeting the king.

The title page explains the story was created by Hugh Gee (Daddy), and Sally Gee (Mummy) for Jane (in the book as Jane.)

The story starts with Jane discovering that Humpty Dumpty (a toy made by her Daddy in his workshop) has fallen off the wall, and has broken into many little bits. She goes and looks at a story-book featuring Humpty, alongside her dolls Belinda and Tod. When Jane goes to bed Belinda and Tod go to see poor Humpty and use some of Daddy’s glue to put him back together. They stick everything in place, but when they’re done they realise he’s not quite right. He’s got an arm where a leg should be, and a leg for an arm and his mouth and one of his eyes is upside down. This means he talks a bit like Yoda – everything backwards comes out a bit, and he walks rather awkwardly too. Using Jane’s storybook as a doorway, the three toys walk into the King’s castle. The King is in his counting house, counting out his money just as he is in the nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence. The King says all his men and horses can’t fix Humpty, but he does have a spell for magic glue.

Here is a really magic glue
That makes all broken things quite new.
Go find the things that here you read:-
A pocket full of rye you’ll need,
Some water from a magic well,
A tinkle from a silver bell,
A crooked sixpence, almost round,
A sheep’s tail that’s been lost and found,
A pie from off a pieman’s tray,
A bit of wool, not white or grey;
Mix all these things together well
And you will have a magic spell,
To mend all broken things – a glue
To make them whole again for you.

All of these things come from well-known nursery rhymes. A pocket full of rye is from Sing a Song of Sixpence, the magic well is from Jack and Jill, the silver bell from Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, the crooked sixpence is from There Was a Crooked Man, the sheep’s tail is from Little Bo Peep, the Pieman from Simple Simon and the wool is from Baa Baa Black Sheep.

In order to gather all these items Tod and Belinda must leave the castle and head out into nursery-rhyme world. Before that, they meet some more characters in the castle – the Queen  who’s eating bread and honey while complaining about all the blackbird pies she’s served and the maid who’s hanging out the washing and trying to protect her nose from a blackbird.

Out in nursery-rhyme land they meet the characters of all the nursery rhymes above, and must persuade, or in some cases trick, them into giving up an item for the magic glue. When they get back with all their ingredients in a bucket, Humpty is less than pleased that he will have to be broken-up before he can be fixed. He runs away, but ends up tripping and smashing himself anyway. The magic glue is just as magic as its name and once it is brushed on each broken piece a thick mist rises up. It clears away after a loud bang to reveal a completely repaired Humpty.

The three toys return to the workshop through the book again, and Belinda and Tod sneak off to bed where they whisper their story to a sleeping Jane.

DSCN0186

One of Sally Gee’s illustrations featuring the queen.

– – – – – – – – – –

This is such a charming story, which I think is even lovelier thanks to all the ‘cameos’ from all the iconic nursery rhyme characters.

The colour photos are lovely too, the ones of nursery rhyme land remind me of the work of Walter Wick – he does all the images for the Scholastic I Spy Picture Riddle books. These books feature beautiful double-page photographs, and a list of objects to find described in riddles written by Jean Marzollo. There are different types of images in the books, but Wick often creates miniature sets (using proper miniature items as well as things like thread spools and toy items). I’ve added a couple of images below to give you an idea of his work.

Walter Wick fairytale castle scene
Walter Wick banquet scene

I like Sally Gee’s line drawings and they closely resemble what’s seen in the colour pictures.

I’m really glad I bought this book when I saw it, I genuinely enjoyed reading it. Yes, I am twenty six and I enjoyed a nursery rhyme story probably aimed at five year olds. Am I ashamed? No. But I recommend you track down a copy and spend a lovely half hour pretending you’re five again too.

 

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The Adventure Series: My first impressions

Posted on July 19, 2013 by pippastef

Sometime ago now, I wrote about my eBay of Adventure, in which I brought the entire Adventure series without having read them before, and spent a fairly substantial amount of money on early editions.

Well now, I’ve read them all. In approximately a month I have read all eight of the Adventure books, and LOVED every second of it.

In this blog, I shall attempt to tell you why I enjoyed them, which were my favourite, and my favourite character. I shall also point out links I noticed to Blyton’s Famous Five.

I think I didn’t read these books when I was younger because I was worried that I would like them more than I liked the Famous Five and I didn’t want to like any book or characters more than I liked them, but that doesn’t make me regret not waiting until now to read the Adventure books.

I was speaking to a good friend of mine about reading the Adventure Series as an adult over reading them as a child. She wished that she had read these books as a child, whereas I said;

“I’m glad I didn’t read them as a child, I think I have a greater appreciation of them as a adult.”

And it’s true. And odd. In fact its a very odd concept for most Enid Blyton fans. Usually  when we (the fans on the Enid Blyton Society Forums) read a book as an adult, the most common phrase I hear is that they wish they hadn’t had waited so long before reading that particular book.

Whereas I am more than happy to read her books as an adult, because I feel I can appreciate the language, imagery and storyline more. In fact the Adventure Series has so much to enjoy that as a child I wouldn’t have taken it all in.

Nowadays I still find new things to consider in the books I’ve read all my life (namely the Famous Five and the Malory Towers books).

The Adventure series is certainly a series for the older end of her spectrum of fans; there are more references to the war for one, or at least some sort of conflict. This idea is very clear in Valley of Adventure where there has been a war (the first edition for Valley was published in 1947 – two years after the Second World War) which is what makes the plot for Valley a fairly believable story because missing arts and treasures were still being looked for.

You can see the differences between the Adventure Series and the Famous Five and the Secret Seven for example. These three series seem to work through three different ages, and follow one another.

The Secret Seven is for younger children, there is danger but they are never far from home, they are never really in huge danger although they manage to get into some sticky situations.

As I see it the next series in the progression is the Famous Five; older characters – who do age a little in the novels, and get to leave Kirrin, have more varied adventures and get into a reasonable amount of danger. People get kidnapped, papers go missing, and there are some really unpleasant villains about. However with the Famous Five we do not get to see any effects of the war or anything too heavy about their adventures. Mostly they include hidden tunnels and missing treasure or stolen secrets.

The Adventure Series is the shorter of the three series but the children deal with some very dangerous men, getting themselves into tricky situations and always finding themselves at the end other end of some very dodgy characters.

We get to see characters who are a little older in age, there is more sharing of the tasks, and even though Lucy-Ann still is the “girly girl” she is sometimes very much the centre of the good ideas and sensible suggestions on how to get out of trouble.  The leadership of the four adventurers is more shared between Jack and Philip, they are quite balanced and equally matched. There is a suggestion that Jack older than Philip, but unlike the Famous Five and the boys’ struggle for leading, Jack and Philip tend to take in turns in being in control and leading  the adventure.

The feeling of the adventure series is one of full of excitement, there is always something happening and they are highly charged books, longer as well, so you get more detail and more to sink your teeth into.

The Adventure Series is one of Blyton’s best and this sentiment is echoed by many of Enid Blyton’s fans. I am glad that I finally managed to read this series and convince myself that however good they were that nothing would replace the Famous Five in my life. Although I have to say, that there is now a very strong contender for the my favourite series as the Adventure series is certainly one of Blyton’s best.

I think if I had to pick a favourite book it would be possibly Circus of Adventure because it is such a different type of adventure and there are lots of interesting factors; the change in country, the fact that the children become so involved with the circus and the way they outwit their enemy. I feel its certainly different to any of the Famous Five stories containing circuses because of the children’s involvement with the animals and travelling with the circus folk.

The Circus of Adventure Dustjacket

For me, it was harder to pick a favourite character out of the four children, Kiki the parrot (such a change from a dog!) and the adults- Mrs Mannering a.k.a Aunt Allie and Bill Smugs a.k.a. Bill Cunningham. I do like ALL the characters but I find myself favouring Jack mostly because he seems to have a lot more to do than the others at times, and especially in Circus of Adventure, given the nature of the book, he does have a lot of time as the main Character. I’m not so much of a Kiki fan, she’s funny yes, but she just doesn’t have the same appeal to me.

On the other hand I do find Mrs Mannering and Bill Cunningham pushing close to being favourite characters as well. Its nice to have two very different Blyton adults, and actually a little romance in the air. Its a nice change to have two adults who are happy to be with the children during the holidays instead of packing them off without fail to some relative or on their own. The children still manage to have adventures but its nice that the adults are close at hand.

Overall the Adventure series lives up to its name. It is adventurous, the tales are more daring and there is a realism to them. All in all, a really good read, and I read through them as quickly as I could because I was eager to know more about their adventures and characters.  I’m still not sorry that I didn’t read them in my childhood because I think I appreciate them much more as stories now. So if, like me, you have not read these fabulous books, then you really should find yourself a copy and get reading!

Up next: Stef’s first review – The Island of Adventure

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By the Sea – A poem by Enid Blyton

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Fiona

As we didn’t have a contributor post for today, here is one of Blyton’s poems. It’s rather apt as we were at the beach yesterday, and Stef did a fair bit of paddling.

The waves lift up their heads to see
How far off is the shore,
Then over they curl and run to me
With a thundery splash and roar!
They tickle my feet and they cover my toes
With a thousand bubbles of foam,
And I say “I won’t let you wet my clothes,
Go home, you waves, go home!”
So back they run to the sea in fright,
With a chattering, gurgling noise,
They’re gone in a moment out of sight,
Like mischievous girls and boys!
But then in a trice they are back once more,
They’re much, much bigger than ever before,
Oh, don’t knock me over, please!

I’m running away, I’m running away,
And the waves are chasing me fast,
I’m jumping up on a rock, hurray,
I’m safe – I’m SAFE, at last!

Specially written for the Twelfth Holiday Book, published 1957 by Sampson Low.

Foam on the sea
More waves
The waves at Broughty Ferry beach.
Stef on the beach
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Melting Monday

Posted on July 15, 2013 by pippastef

Blimey it’s a teeny bit hot isn’t it? We’re heading right for a Blyton summer if we’re not too careful! I shall feel like the Famous Five on their train down to Cornwall tomorrow I’m sure, as I’m taking the six hour train journey to go and visit Fiona in Scotland!

Last week, we reached 22,000 views on the blog, for which we are very grateful. Its lovely to know that we’re reaching so many people!

In that same theme, we are just ONE FOLLOWER AWAY from 100 followers on the blog! Don’t forget to click “Follow” when you visit us and you could be in for a smashing prize!

Unfortunately I can’t offer you any more wonderful statistics after last week’s record breaking number of views.

This week is going to be one of those strange ones, because we have no Wednesday contributor this week, and we want to keep you waiting for the next installment of Poppy’s Marsh of Adventure. We shall be putting forward a poem by Enid Blyton about “The Sea” for our Wednesday post instead.

As for what’s coming from Fiona and myself, well, that’s a good question! Fiona isn’t sure what she will favour us will, perhaps another review of an Enid Blyton biography, or a stand alone review? Well you and I, dear readers, shall have to keep guessing until she posts!

As for me, well I’ve got a lot of half written blogs. I may find time this week to finish a Old Thatch blog I had been working on, or start anew and review the last book in the Malory Towers series.

I think the heat as rendered us a little higgledy piggledy this week, because apart from the Wednesday post you have a LOT of surprises!

In the meantime I shall leave you with some pictures that I took of some of the flowers in my garden after getting my camera back this week.

Enjoy!

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Making Blyton’s Food: Barley sugar

Posted on July 14, 2013 by pippastef

It’s been a while since I gave you a recipe, from my ever expanding Blyton cook book, and unfortunately I can’t offer you a recipe for simply smashing ices or cooling ginger beer. However this recipe for barley sugar is great as a home made sweet – possibly better for the winter month and presents. Surprisingly easy to make and soon you too can be sucking on a home made sweet as good as Joanna’s!

And don’t worry, peppermints are on my list of cooking- to-dos!

This recipe is  taken and adapted from the Radiation New World Cookery Book. A rather old book which is certainly my mother’s, possibly even my grandmother’s. It’s held together with parcel tape but has some smashing recipes in. The sweets section is very interesting, and even comes with little instructions on how to do all the tricky techniques. For around a fiver you can purchase your own copy from Amazon.

You will need:

1 lb of loaf of granulated sugar – I used loose granulated sugar, and that is fine. Whatever you do, it has to be GRANULATED sugar because the mixture has to be brought to the right temperature and it can only get there with granulated sugar.
3/4 of a pint of water
Pinch of cream of tartar or 1 tablespoonful of glucose – I used the glucose, which worked fine. It is just something to bind the mixture together really.
A few drops of lemon juice
A few drops of vanilla essence – I actually used vanilla extract

Method: 

  • Soak the sugar and water in a pan for 1 hour (Catherine and I only soaked the sugar for 10 minutes which seemed to work just as well.)
  • Then stir over a low flame until the sugar has dissolved (without bringing it to boiling point!)
  • Add the glucose (or cream of tartar if that’s your choice) and bring sugar to boiling point.
  • Using a [sugar] thermometer, boil until the temperature reaches 245Farenheit (F).
  • Add lemon juice and boil to 312F.
  • Remove the saucepan from the heat at once.
  • Add a few drops of vanilla essence (or extract) and allow to stand  until the all the bubbles have disappeared.
  • Pour into an greased tin or onto a greased slab.
  • While the barley sugar is cooling, mark it into squares or cut into strips with a greased knife  and twist with damp hands.
  • When quite cool, pack into airtight jars or tins.

I would suggest having clear counters and an afternoon to give this a go. It does take a while for the sugar to dissolve and then for the mixture to cool enough to cut and twist (if you’re adventurous like that). However, once it has hardened it makes a very nice sweet, perfect for sharing!

So give it a go and let us know how you get on! And don’t forget to suggest any recipes for us to try!

I’ll leave you with the pictures I took of making the sweets!

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The Mountain of Adventure

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Fiona

I’ve just realised I haven’t done an Adventure Series review since mid-May, oops! So now I bring you The Mountain of Adventure, the fifth in the series and originally published in 1949.

Cloth board cover

Cloth board cover

First edition dustjacket

First edition dustjacket

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE LOCATION

This time the Mannering/Trents are off to the mountains of Wales, to stay in a farmhouse with Mr and Mrs Evans. Bill says the farm is called “Doth-goth-oo-elli-othel-in,” but who knows if that’s even close to the real name!

The farm house

The farm house

THE CHARACTERS

There are some truly nasty bad people in this adventure, namely Mieir and Erlick (both names just conjure up nasty images, don’t they?). Mieir is described as ‘hawk-like’, while Erlick has an ‘ape-like face.

We see a fair bit of the Evans, or indeed the Effans as they pronounce it. Mrs Evans simply calls her husband Effans! Mrs Evans is the usual farmer’s wife, plump and red faced, bustling around and feeding everyone up, while Mr Evans is a jolly sort who finds Kiki utterly hilarious. There’s also the Trefor, the shepherd for the farm and his brother David who is rather useless. He doesn’t speak much English, he can’t read a simple map and he’s afraid of things in the night. Later in the book we meet Sam who, like Jo-Jo, gets lambasted by the PC brigade for being an offensive stereotype. Sam uses the N-word to refer to himself and perhaps comes across as not very clever, but he’s a kind person and brave too, he’s a paratrooper who escapes from the baddies of the book.

The pack

The pack

THE STORY

The plan is for everyone to go camping for a few days, but Mrs Mannering hurts her handand Bill stays with her so he can take her to the doctors, this means the children go off on the donkeys with David. As I said, he’s rather useless and they quickly find themselves lost. They make camp and that night see a pack of wolves roaming the valley.  David is terrified and runs off, taking all but one of the donkeys with him. The wolves turn out to be Alsations, and it’s only thanks to Philips skill with animals that the pack is friendly to them. Lucy-Ann spots Sam hiding, and he tells her there are bad men in the mountain, he is then caught by the Alsations and Philip is too.

The other children find their way into the mountain after seeing a helicopter landing on top of it and inside they find a bizarre world. They must find their way from a cave which seems to contain nothing but a black pool, through miles of passageways, caves, galleries, through a throne room, past a pit which exudes strange lights and smoke and a laboratory full of frightening glass, fires and wires.

The children end up getting caught, and are taken to meet the so-called King of the Mountain. He’s a rather mad old scientist who thinks he can create anti-gravity wings. Mieir and Erlick are working with him, organising groups of ex-paratroopers, like Sam, to test out the wings from the the helicopter.

Philip in the wings

Philip in the wings

They plan to use Philip next, as he’s nice and light. Bravely, Philip accepts his fate but when the helicopter takes him up the pilot shouts back “don’t forget Bill Smugs!”

With Bill on the case of course things end well, but it’s not easy and for a while it looks like it might not work out happily.

PHILIP’S PETS

Philip adopts a baby goat from the Evan’s farm, who Mrs Evans says is called Snowy. He’s a boisterous little thing, who likes to head-butt the children, and he’s very sure footed. Philip also finds a slow-worm which he calls Sally Slither. Unsurprisingly, Dinah much prefers Snowy to Sally!

Snowy

Snowy

MY REVIEW

I’m not sure what my favourite part of this book is. Perhaps the way Philip sets the Alsations on their master, which is a nice bit of justice for the way they’ve been treated. I quite like how sinister this book is too. It’s not explicitly stated but it’s obvious the other testers of the wings have jumped to their deaths, and that Philip could well be the next body sniffed out by the Alsations. Bill turning up at just the right moment is marvellous too, it’s been a long, long time since the first time I read this but it’s still so exciting to hear him yell out the name Bil Smugs.

Bill has come along this time, ostensibly to keep the children out of trouble. He clearly cares about Mrs Mannering though, as he stays with her while the children go off camping. As Philip says “Will Bill go if Mother’s hurt? He thinks the world of her.”

I know a lot of people hate the stereotypical Welshness of the book, but I never picked up on that as a child. I didn’t know any Welsh people, I’d probably heard a Welsh accent on TV but that’s it. There’s a lot of look-yous and whateffers, sometimes even both together, but I quite like it!

There are a few events and places here that remind me of other books. The most similar would have to be The Secret Mountain, which also has a group of children find a way inside a mountain, finding a strange community and getting trapped there.

The moment they hide in the tunnel from the dogs is a little like when the Five plus Pongo and Nobby hide in the underground caves in Five Go Off in a Caravan. 

Next review – The Ship of Adventure

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The Marsh of Adventure by Poppy, chapter 2

Posted on July 10, 2013 by worldofblyton

Chapter two:

Lowfell at last

On the car purred, through the night which was as dark as pitch. The car ate up the miles but not very quickly it seemed. The children talked for a while, all four of them squashed up in the back. Then Mrs Cunningham threw them all rugs and they all snuggled down. “Try to get some sleep now” she told them. “We’ll have a long day tomorrow.” Lucy-Ann had been asleep long before then and the others listened to her contented breathing and soon they too were asleep dreaming of peculiar men trying to kidnap Bill. If only they the real reason why they were off to Lowfell, they would be surprised! But even Mrs Cunningham did not know this, she was just glad to be getting away for a lovely holiday. She and Bill talked in low voices for a while so as not to wake the children, until Bill suggested she got some sleep. She rested her head thankfully and soon Bill and Kiki were the only ones left awake. Kiki came and rested on Bill’s shoulder, and Bill, quite fond of the parrot, began to talk softly to her, Kiki adding the odd word. It would have been humorous to see burly Bill talking so solemnly to a parrot- don’t you think?

But no one ever did see this happen because Bill’s plan went smoothly. As the first rays of sunlight crept into the car, a sign for Lowfell appeared at the roadside and the children opened their eyes. Mrs Cunningham was already awake and handed them some chocolate to eat until they got to the inn where they were to stay; they would get a good breakfast there for sure. The children munched happily until a strange smell began to linger their noses. It is hard to explain what the smell was like, but it certainly was curious and the children asked Bill what it was.

“It’s the marsh of course. They always have a peculiar sort of smell to them I should think.”

“A marsh? There’s a marsh here?” Jack asked at once with gleaming eyes.

“Yes, didn’t I tell you? I think there is a story to it, which I don’t know but perhaps someone at Lowfell knows. You can ask.” Bill replied his eyes not leaving the road.

Continue reading →

Posted in Fan fiction | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Monday

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Fiona

We’re trying to get back to our usual routine here, so it’s back to my turn to write the Monday post.

We had a couple of exciting moments behind-the-scenes on the blog this week. We reached 21,000 views and we smashed our most views-per-day stat twice! Our previous best was 213 in a single day, so we were excited when we hit 251 on July 1st.

Our stats on July 1st

Our stats on July 1st

We couldn’t believe it then, when the very next day we had even more views! As you can see we reached 300! Actually we hit 301 but I took the screenshot at 300 because it’s a nice round number.

Three hundred views on July 2nd

Three hundred views on July 2nd

Ok, enough of the numbers and onto what we’ll be posting this week.

On Wednesday we will have the second chapter of Poppy’s fanfiction; The Marsh of Adventure.

Stef’s going to share her barley sugar recipe with us (if you make some don’t let Timmy have any, he just crunches them up and it’s such a waste!)

And I’m going to… write something, I promise! I have no idea what just yet.

Have a great week!

P.S. Well done Andy Murray, first British men’s singles winner of Wimbledon in 77 years! (He’s also the first Scot to win since 1896!)

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Gillian Baverstock Remembers Enid Blyton – a review

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Fiona

I’ve already reviewed one book by Gillian Baverstock about her mother, Tell Me About Enid Blyton, but I borrowed this one from Stef recently, as I planned to review as many biographies as I could get my hands on. It’s part of the Telling Tales series by Mammoth. I can’t see much information about the series after a quick Google but I’ve found there’s a book about Jacqueline Wilson in it.

The book itself is a slim paperback from 2000. In a way it is similar to Tell Me About Enid, in that it is written from the same viewpoint, using similar easy-to-understand language. I would say this book is aimed at a slightly older child, though, as the stories told go into slightly more detail, and some of the direct quotes from Enid contain a few more difficult words.

Front cover of "Gillian Baverstock Remembers Enid Blyton."

Front cover of “Gillian Baverstock Remembers Enid Blyton.”

Both books cover Enid’s father leaving when she was 12 but this one talks about it in a bit more detail, it also covers her difficult relationship with her mother slightly more. Gillian talks a little about her mother’s declining health in this book, and it’s quite sad where she mentions how Enid said she’d rather lose her physical abilities rather than her mental ones.

There are plenty of interesting details in the book, there were things I’d either not known or had forgotten about. I was interested to read about her Irish grandmother who told her about banshees, and how Enid considered some of her ‘gifts’ to come from the Irish side of her family. The reference to banshees made me think of The Mystery of Banshee Towers, actually.

My mother was sure that the talent for music that came out in the next three generations of the Blyton family, as well as her own gift for story-telling, was inherited from her Irish ancestors. (page 2)

The book is split into headings with short sections for things like animals, teaching, music, school, reading, etc. There are some pictures, but not as many as in Tell Me About. The pictures are all small black and white ones, but there are plenty that most people probably won’t have seen before.

Back cover

Back cover

What’s interesting is this book is really two books in one. Half of it is Gillian telling us her mother’s story and the other half is by Sheila Ray, the author of The Blyton Phenomenon which is a look at the various changing attitudes about Blyton and her works (a book I don’t have but would like to read). Ray’s part of the book is a brief look at some of Blyton’s main works, introducing us to the first book in each. She also discusses some issues like Blyton’s apparent racism, sexism and classism, and thankfully she explains how Blyton’s attitudes were a product of the times, as well as pointing out some ways she goes against them – like the the tomboyish George. Ray also covers the main genres she wrote in and her first forays into writing. It’s a good addition, and there are some interesting points raised, like the character development in the Barney Mysteries and the Adventure Series compared to the Famous Five etc.

One of the less commonly seen pictures of Enid.

One of the less commonly seen pictures of Enid.

Overall, this is an interesting book that I’m sure children will enjoy. It tells us enough about Enid, her life and her books without ever becoming dull or overly complicated.

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Julian’s News, chapter 7

Posted on July 5, 2013 by pippastef

So, part 7 of Julian’s News hits the blog, hot from the keyboard.

If you want to refresh your memory or catch up check out the links below:

Prequel – The way you make me feel
Part One: Telling Dick
Part Two: Back at Kirrin
Part Three: The first day
Part Four: George
Part Five: George again
Part Six: A walk and some trouble

And I’m sure you’ll forgive me but this one is a little longer than usual, but I couldn’t just cut you off in the middle of the action could I? 😉

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the next piece!

THE RESCUE

George had sat and sulked in the spot her cousins had left her in for a long while, until she decided to walk along the beach with Timmy.

She muttered to Timmy as she walked along a stretch of the beach that was covered in masses of seaweed and big rocks. She was as sure footed as Timmy, and managed the rocks easily.

“We don’t need them do we Timmy? We were just fine on our own before they arrived,” George muttered as she encountered a large stretch of seaweed-covered rocks. She began to work her way over them without a second thought.

Timmy trotted soberly alongside her, staying near to her because he knew that his mistress was upset. Occasionally Timmy wandered over to an interesting looking rock and had a sniff around, while George struggled on over the seaweed.

Unfortunately for George, she couldn’t see what was below the seaweed covered beach. She was looking around to see where Timmy had gotten to and not watching her feet.

Suddenly she felt herself falling and slipping through a hole in the rocks. As she fell her foot bashed against a jagged piece of rock and was hurt badly. Eventually, she landed with a thump on a fairly even piece of rock, her heart beating fast and blood singing in her ears.

Poor George felt suddenly very sick and afraid. She tried to stand, but found that the foot she had struck wouldn’t hold her weight. She sat back down on the floor, calling out to Timmy.

“Tim! Timmy! Good Boy,” George called when she saw his face through the hole a few feet above her head, but she couldn’t reach it, not on a hurt ankle. “Timmy, find Julian. Seek Timmy, seek. Find Julian,” she heard herself say. She heard his reassuring bark and then there was light in the hole again.

George lent back on the back on the rock around her and took some deep breaths to calm herself. Before she blacked out she wondered why she had sent Timmy to Julian.

The brothers and sister were following Timmy at a run, back to where he had left George. When Julian saw Timmy standing by a hole in the seaweed he put his hand out to stop the others.

“Go carefully,” he warned them.

“I don’t think I want to try that, Ju. I’ll just stay here,” Anne said, as she stood by a big rock. Julian nodded at her.

“You and me then Dick,” he said.

“Be careful,” Anne called.

Dick nodded and the boys crept forward together, unsure at how many holes there were underneath their feet. Timmy barked at them encouragingly.

“I suppose that Old George has managed to fall down that hole,” Dick said as they moved closer.

“I think you’re right. She must have sent Timmy to find us. I hope she’s not hurt,” Julian said as they reached the hole and stood beside Timmy. Both boys knelt down carefully on the seaweed and pulled their torches from their pockets.

The strong beams of the torches shone down into the hole and they managed to pick out George six feet or so below them. She didn’t seem to be moving.

“Blow,” Julian said, clicking his torch off and looking at Dick. “Do you think we could get her out of there on our own?”

“There’s a chance we could. We’d need some thick rope.”

“In that case, you go back to Anne, send her home to tell Aunt Fanny and call the ambulance and possibly the coast guard or any of the fishermen just in case we can’t get George up by ourselves. I don’t want to get caught out by the tide,” Julian instructed.

“Goodness, no, neither do I,” Dick agreed, looking over his shoulder at the sea.

“While you’re telling Anne that, go to George’s boat and get the tarpaulin from the top and the thick rope she keeps in the bottom of the boat for mooring. That should be long enough to let one of us down and we can wrap her in the tarp’ to get her up.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll stay here and keep an eye on her, I don’t want her to be on her own when she wakes up,” Julian told him.

Dick had to suppress a smile; this was the Julian he knew. A man with a plan.

“Righto. Shan’t be long,” Dick said, scrambling to his feet and setting off back to Anne with the plan.

Julian watched them go for a moment and then looked at Timmy who was whining, and pawing at the ground. Timmy could just not understand why George didn’t come up from the hole.

Julian stroked Timmy’s head and said “don’t worry Tim. We’ll get her out.”

In no time at all, Dick was back with a couple of lengths of rope and the tarpaulin cover from George’s boat.

“We’ll fasten the rope to that rock over there,” Julian said, taking one of the lengths off his brother and motioning to a big craggy rock just in front of them. “I’ve had a look, it’s fixed deeply into the sand and should hold the rope well.”

Dick nodded and started to help Julian tie the longer, sturdier piece to the rock.

“I think I should go down,” Julian said when they had finished.

“But I’m lighter than you!” Dick protested.

Julian fixed his brother with a look that said ‘not now’. Dick sniffed indignantly.

“I’m not going to argue with you about this, Dick,” Julian said severely. “We don’t know what is down there, and it would be irresponsible for me to let you go down there with George already hurt.”

“Just as bossy as ever,” Dick muttered as Julian looped the end of the rope to his waist.

“Pass me the rest of the rope and the tarp’ will you Dick?” Julian asked as he tightened the knot around his waist.  He rolled the tarpaulin and lashed it to his back with the other piece of rope.

“Got a clean hanky?” Dick suddenly asked. “Just in case she’s bleeding anywhere?”

“I picked one up this morning,” Julian said, with a hint of a smile. He looked at the hole and then sat down on the edge of it.

“I’ll try and abseil down. Can you hold your torch over the side until I’ve got to the bottom of the hole?”

“Shall do,” Dick said, glancing at the sea again. Was it his imagination or was the sea a lot closer than it had been when he had left Julian? Dick shook his head and looked at his brother.

“Be careful, Ju, and hurry!”

“Will do,” Julian said, half lowering himself into the hole. He took a moment to find the wall with his feet.

“Got it! I shan’t be long if I can help it, Dick,” said Julian, before he disappeared inside the dark hole.

Julian didn’t like the smell of the cave when he got inside. It smelt like rotting seaweed. He pressed on however and less than a minute later, he was safely on the rocky floor. Dick holding his torch into the hole had been a great help.

“I’m down, Dick. I’m going to untie the rope from my waist now, so don’t worry when it goes slack!” Julian called.

“Hurry up then Ju!” Dick called back, his torch flooding the cave with light. When Julian was clear of the rope he moved to George’s side. He clicked on his own torch and stood it, beam up, next to him. He took her pulse, glad that his health and safety training hadn’t deserted him. He was relieved when he felt her strong pulse.

“George!” He called, taking her head between his hands gently. “George, wake up!”

Very slowly, George’s eyelids fluttered open and she blinked groggily.

“Hello Julian,” George said, her sulk forgotten in the moment. She almost seemed to have forgotten where she was.

She looked around and then frowned.

“I was hoping it had all been a bad dream,” she muttered when her eyes grew accustomed to the torch light.

“’Fraid not, old thing,” Julian said, untying the tarpaulin from his back. “Now I need you tell me where you’re hurt, if you are.”

“My foot and ankle,” George told him, realising that she had never been so glad to see Julian. “I think I hit it against some rock as I fell.”

“Which foot?”

“My right.”

“I’m going to have a look at it, George. I’ll try not to hurt it,” Julian said. His voice sounded grimmer than he meant it to, but he was trying to keep himself calm and make sure that he did things correctly.

He gently pulled George’s shoe from her foot and examined the foot. George took a sharp breath of pain.

“Sorry, sorry,” Julian said, gently feeling the foot. It felt very swollen. “I’m no doctor, but I would say you’ve got quite a bad sprain at least George, old thing. Now is there pain anywhere else before I try and get you out of here?”

“Well I feel a bit bruised,” George told him. “But I nothing hurts as much as my foot.”

Julian nodded. “Good, although I don’t want to move you too much if I can help it,” he said. “Do you think if I helped you, you could balance while I got you wrapped in the tarpaulin and attached to the rope?”

“I think so,” George said, with a brave nod. Julian noticed how her face was very white.

Julian smiled at her.

“We’d better get a move on then.”

How they ever managed to get George wrapped in the tarpaulin and the rope knotted around her in a makeshift seat, they never knew. Julian said that he was running purely on adrenaline.

“Dick! George is already to come up, can you pull her up?” Julian called to his brother.

“I think so! Hold on tightly George!” Dick called down.

After a few seconds George began to ascend slowly and in little jerks, but soon she reached the top and felt herself being helped out of the hole by a couple of strong men who had just arrived with Anne. Timmy rushed at George as they set her down on a rock, and licked her with delight while he whined his welcome. George managed to put her arms around Timmy to hug him.

While the Doctor, who had come as part of the party, was seeing to George, the fishermen let the rope back down for Julian. He emerged tired and smelling strongly of rotten seaweed.

“Hello all,” he said, sitting down on the side of the hole and grinning up at them.

“You stink of seaweed,” Dick told him.

“I’m not surprised. That cave is full of it,” Julian said, chuckling a piece at his brother as Anne hurried over and flung her arms around both her brothers.

“How’s George?” Julian asked when Anne let go.

“I don’t know, the Doctor won’t let me near her, and I’ve got a flask of warm soup for her,” Anne said. She pulled the knapsack that she had on, off her back and undid it. She handed Julian one of the two flasks in there.

“Share that between you, it should warm you up,” Anne said.

“You’re a peach Anne,” Dick said with a warm smile. His sister blushed as one of the fishermen came over to them.

“Are you two fit to walk? We can carry you if you like?” he asked. “We’re carrying Master George. The Doctor reckons that her ankle is pretty bashed up.”

“No, I’m alright thank you. Are you Dick?”

“Perfectly thank you,” Dick agreed. The fisherman nodded and headed back to the others.

“Poor George,” Anne said as Julian and Dick got to their feet.

“Let’s hope that it’s nothing more serious than a sprain,” Julian said grimly as he brushed his trousers down. “Lead the way home, Anne. I’m coming over tired all of a sudden.”

“Well for goodness sake, watch where you put your feet. We don’t need you going down a hole like George,” Dick warned him.

Julian had to laugh.

Continued in chapter 8

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Secret Seven Win Through – A review by Ben

Posted on July 3, 2013 by worldofblyton
First Edition Cover of Secret Seven Win Through, Illustrated by Bruno Kay.

First Edition Cover of Secret Seven Win Through, Illustrated by Bruno Kay.

It is the first day of the Easter holidays and Peter and Janet decide to organise a meeting for the Secret Seven. Janet writes notes informing the children of the get-together at half-past ten the next morning which Peter delivers. A day later, Peter and Janet’s mum allows the brother and sister to make some real lemonade from lemons and sugar, as well as giving the pair jam tarts and a tin of biscuits.

Excited, Peter and Janet take down their niceties to the shed at the bottom of their garden where the meeting would take place. However, both are left in shock when they find the door and windows of the shed wide open, whilst boxes and cushions and sacks are all dumped on the grounds in untidy heaps! With Janet in tears the two children soon see the gardener who tells them that their dad had asked him to clean out the shed. By this time all of the stunned children including George, Jack, Barbara, Pam and Colin have arrived. It is at this moment that it dawned on the children they would have to find another meeting place away from their beloved home.

A list of the suggestions of where the new meeting place could be! By Bruno Kay

A list of the suggestions of where the new meeting place could be! By Bruno Kay

In disbelief, the seven decide to huddle up in the summer house of Peter and Janet’s garden. The summer house is not very spacious but the seven make the most of it, and in their determination begin to think about finding another hideout for the summer. Peter, the leader of the group decides that all the seven should go out in the countryside and find a suitable location for meetings, before coming back to the summer house at six o’clock that evening with their ideas. Six o’clock soon comes and the seven come up with a list of exciting places to meet. Colin mention a tree at the bottom of his garden but it isn’t secret enough, Barbara mentions an old hut in a field but it has a hole that exposed it the rain, Pam didn’t manage to come up with any idea, and George says he could get permission off his father to use a caravan but Peter feels it is too luxurious to use. Despite these exciting ideas, it is Peter and Janet’s idea of a secret cave in a quarry near Peter and Janet’s garden that wins the most votes.

Unable to contain the excitement, Peter and Janet lead the rest of the seven children to the cave. Off they walk through their garden, through their dad’s farmland, and in to the quarry until they reach a sandy hill. It is here that Scamper runs through a gap in some thick bushes and disappears. The others follow and to their joy arrive at the cave. In the cave, the entrance is lit-up by stems that hang down over the entrance, while the inside is spacious and comfortable with a lovely sandy floor. There are also rocky shelves around the cave which could be used for the children to put their things on. The next day, the seven come back to the cave with cushions to sit on, a box for a table, while books, two bottles of juice, two bottles of water, a tin of boiled sweets, a packet of oatmeal biscuits, two bars of chocolate, ginger buns and crab paste all sit proudly on the rocky ledges of the cave.

Heading for the Cave by Bruno Kay.

Heading for the Cave by Bruno Kay.

Unsurprisingly, the children love their cave, and decide to play hide-and-seek in the woods near the quarry. Jack is chosen to shut his eyes and count to one hundred near a tree. Soon, strange happenings are to meet the glaze of Jack’s eye. He has seen a figure slip into the cave! At the time, Jack does not think anything of it, but when he tells the children and they realised he has counted an extra person, the seven begin to worry. In light of this revelation, the seven search around the cave only to find nothing. Thinking it must have been Jack’s imagination, the children and Jack walk back home. However, when Barbara and Pam arrive the next morning, the two girls find a tin on the floor of the cave, that a bar of chocolate and currant buns has disappeared, and three cushions are missing. Soon the other children arrive with Colin also finding that one of his Famous Five books had been stolen. Thinking it was Susie; Jack questions his sister, only to anger her, thus leading to Jack having to tell his mum where the children’s hiding place is.

The children laying their booby-trap by Bruno Kay

The children laying their booby-trap by Bruno Kay

In their refusal to leave the cave, the seven decide to lay a booby-trap for any potential thief visiting the cave. Using string, the seven balance a jug of water on the ledge to the entrance of the cave, and cover cotton with sticky threads of the honey. This means that any impostor who tries to get in the cave will be saturated with water and covered with the spider’s web of cotton and honey. Convinced their trick will work, the seven return to the cave the next morning, only to find that more of their things have been stolen. Shell-shocked, the seven look around their cave to find that the entrance has been untouched, and that there are no other potential hiding spaces in the back of the cave. Forced to leave, Scamper does manage to find a small, dirty notebook with a frayed elastic band round it. Inside the notebook, the seven find to their astonishment a name hastily scribbled within the pages. The name is Albert Tanner, and Albert is to meet a man called Jim on the post office seat at 8.30pm on the 15th, a date which happens to be today.

The notebook containing the clue, Albert Tanner by Bruno Kay.

The notebook containing the clue, Albert Tanner by Bruno Kay.

Sensing growing excitement that this man is their thief, it is agreed that Colin and Jack will meet-up at the post office in an attempt to overhear what the two men say. At 8.30pm Colin, stationed behind a tree near the bench, and Jack up in a tree, finally catch sight of two shadowy figures approaching the bench in the moonlight. Hardly daring to breathe, the two friends listen, only for Colin to sneeze loudly. Startled, Albert immediately lunges at Colin from behind the tree and shocks the poor boy, and terrified, he runs for his life. Brave Jack up in the tree is left to overhear what the two men are saying. Thankfully he hears one crucial piece of information: that Jim has told Albert to look for a mystery item at the scarecrow.

A Scarecrow. Could it be the one they're looking for? By Bruno Kay

A Scarecrow. Could it be the one they’re looking for? By Bruno Kay

The next day, Jack and a bruised Colin tell the others of the night’s drama, and it is decided that the seven will search for Albert, and what they suspect is a stolen item, in an inn up in the common called the Scarecrow. Would this be where the loot was hidden? Or was it in fact hidden in a real scarecrow? Also, will the seven find their own stolen items? Strange happenings indeed, and if you want to find out what happens, make sure you read Secret Seven Win Through!

This book was an immensely enjoyable read. I felt really sorry for the children as they had so much bad luck. First, the seven are forced to move from their shed; second they find their things stolen in a cave, and finally the children are forced to leave their beloved cave! Not to mention poor old Colin getting shook and receiving a blow to the head by Albert which I found immensely upsetting. I really hope the Secret Seven have a lot more luck finding what they suspect is hidden loot and their own items in whatever this scarecrow may be!

All's rigt in the end it would seem! By Bruno Kay.

All’s right in the end it would seem! By Bruno Kay.

Next review: Three Cheers Secret Seven

Posted in Book reviews | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Maybe Monday

Posted on July 1, 2013 by pippastef

Gosh is it Monday already? It would appear so!

So after leaving Fiona to do the last two Monday posts, I’m back (oh no I hear you cry!) but I can promise you some spiffing blogs this week. Our Wednesday Blog is Ben’s next Secret Seven review, which I’m sure you’re all looking forward to!

From me this week, part Seven of Julian’s News which will hopefully answer some of your cliff hanger questions!

Fiona might be treating us to the a blog on the tour we did around Beckenham three weeks ago, if not I’m sure you’ll all enjoy what she provides! 🙂

In other news, we’re five followers away from reaching 100 followers on the blog! Keep spreading the word if you want to win a smashing Blyton book (open to UK residents only).

Our big news of last week was that we reached a massive 20,000 views! So thank you to everyone who has dropped on by and subscribed and commented, it really means a lot to us!

For a spot of fun, see if you can name these birds from my resent travels!

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Beaconsfield, Bekonscot, Blyton Close and a little bit of Bourne End

Posted on June 30, 2013 by pippastef

Gosh, that’s an awful lot of Bs in the title! However Enid Blyton seemed to be all about the Bs. I mean she grew up in Beckenham, and lived with Hugh Pollock there for a couple of years when they married. Then she moved to Bourne End in Buckinghamshire, and then up the road a few miles to Beaconsfield.

Anyway on the 14th of June, Fiona and I deviated from what we had scheduled as our plans fell through. We decided that it was about time we ventured a little further into leafy Buckinghamshire, to Beaconsfield, on an excursion to see Blyton Close and then Bekonscot with the model of Green Hedges they have there.

To start with, we had the fun task of finding these places. I managed to find a post code for Blyton Close and Bekonscot. I know, how dreadful, not being a proper Find-Outer, Adventurer or Famous Fiver and looked it up on the map. If I’m honest, I didn’t want to burden Fiona with map reading, so decided that the sat nav would be our best bet to get us to Blyton Close.

So ready for an adventure off we trundled, and I don’t know about Fiona, but I wasn’t sure what to expect.

The sign post

It didn’t take us long from Reading to get to Blyton Close, even though I missed the turning for it the first time, and we ended up looping around the back of the cul-de-sac, back towards the centre of Beaconsfield. The second time I was more prepared and pulled in only to find that there was nowhere to park. So, leaving the motor running, we rushed out and snapped a few pictures of the close, and the sign.

It’s a real shame that Green Hedges isn’t there anymore, as I’m sure by the pictures I’ve seen it would have fitted right into the surroundings of Beaconsfield. All that’s left of the Blyton legacy is this road sign and the replica of Green Hedges in Bekonscot’s model village.

After a quick glance around the close to make sure that we hadn’t missed anything, we drove off, back the way we had come for the two-minute drive to Bekonscot. Luckily if you’re planning to visit the church opposite operates free parking for Bekonscot visitors always something to bear in mind!

Bekonscot is a very charming model village, full of ponds and fish, and model trains that run around the tracks. It’s got lots of little village scenes, including a model of the church down the road. There are such delights as moving cable cars, a house that “catches fire,” a circus (a reference to Circus of Adventure if ever I saw one!) and a tiny zoo.

Green Hedges miniature and the “gardens” at Bekonscot, Buckinghamshire.

It is a lovely place to visit, and I’m glad we did, although the highlight for me was seeing the mock-up of Green Hedges and looking closely at what had been put in the “garden” for Green Hedges which included a miniature Enid complete with typewriter and dog, and a swimming pool, and a pond with miniature Famous Five figures searching for treasure with a treasure map.

For any Blyton fan, I’m sure this is the jewel in the crown of Bekonscot. I’m afraid that Fiona and I are divided on this one, where as I enjoyed seeing the representation of Green Hedges, I definitely wasn’t as enamoured with the rest of the miniatures as Fiona was, who “thought it was pretty great, really impressive […but then I really love tiny versions of things.]”

I on the other hand was definitely getting bored by the end of the winding pathways around the models. I think if I had been when I was younger or we had had children with us, I would have maybe been able to enjoy it more for myself. Its not something I would do again on my own, unlike walking at Bourne End.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that I went, but I shan’t be hurrying back charming though it was.

So after we visited the gift shop (a rather well chosen old railway carriage, sunk into the concrete) and purchased a little book that contained Enid Blyton’s description of Bekonscot, we headed back to the car, only to make one more stop on that sunny day.

The beautiful blue skies of Bourne End.

As Bourne End was on our way home, we decided that as the weather was nice that we could go and sit by the river for a short while. We took the detour and wandered down to the river and parked ourselves on a bench (that became a weekend favourite) while Fiona, hit by the muse to write, scribbled down prose like a champion while I wandered about taking photographs of the birds on the river, dragon flies and some pretty neat flowers.

Anyway, after the sun started going down, we headed back to the car, and back home to get ready for our trip to Beckenham the next morning!

But what a Blyton day to have! Even the weather seemed to celebrate the importance of a Blyton inspired day as the sun beat down. You really could have been in the middle of anyone of her novels (with the exception of the winter books).

So anyway, we were in Blyton Mecca in a way on the 14th June, and lucky with the weather to boot.

If you haven’t seen Bekonscot, it is worth going to see (despite what I think!) because it is impressive, and Bourne End is not too far away!

I shall leave you with some pictures of the day, and hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Train carriage gift shop
The welcome notice
The train station at Bekonscot
The whole of Bekonscot from the viewing platform.
The circus at Bekonscot
The harbour
The river walk
Further down the river.
My dragonfly
The River Thames at Bourne End
Fiona writing away!
Fiona’s sign picture
Me by the sign at Blyton Close.
The plaque to go with the model
Green Hedges model
A mini Enid writing on her typewriter.
The “Famous Five” searching for treasure.
Posted in Locations, Personal Experiences | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Series Synopsis: The Famous Five short stories, part 2

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Fiona

Continuing with the final four short stories from Five Have a Puzzling Time and Other Stories.

Five Have a Puzzling Time and Other Stories, Red Fox, 1997

Five Have a Puzzling Time and Other Stories, Red Fox, 1997

  • Five and a Half-term Adventure – 1956, Enid Blyton’s Magazine Annual 3
  • Well Done, Famous Five! – 1956, Australian Weeties Strip Book
  • When Timmy Chased the Cat! – 1957, Enid Blyton’s Magazine Annual 4
  • Happy Christmas, Five! – 1962, Princess Gift Book for Girls

WELL DONE, FAMOUS FIVE

During a lazy picnic the Five notice horses in the distance. Through George’s field-glasses Dick watches as a very valuable horse takes fright, throws off his rider and gallops off. Knowing where the horse ended up, Dick goes off to find it while the others head to the riding party to tell them.

It’s nice to see Dick being the hero of the story, even if he is just finding a horse and his commentary while watching the horse is funny too. This is another very short story but about a third of it is chatter between the Five so it doesn’t feel too rushed, though the resolution comes about quite quickly. One odd point is that Anne talks about George’s mother as “Aunt Fan.” I have no idea if that was in the original or whether it’s slipped into the reprint somehow.

This was originally published by Herald Gravure, in a strip-book form. I assume it would have been illustrated inside though the illustrator is uncredited. The cover art looked quite Eileen Soper-ish, so it may be her work outside at least.

Weeties Strip Book, 1956

Australian Weeties Strip Book, 1956

FIVE AND A HALF-TERM ADVENTURE

The Five are at Kirrin for a few days in November and go out for a walk, up to Windy Hill. Julian’s forgotten to wind up his watch though, so they find themselves far from home when the sun starts to go down. They take the train back to Kirrin, and Timmy gets in a bit of trouble for jumping up at a couple with a baby. When they get home they hear about a tiny dog stolen from a dog show taking place in the town they got the train from. Putting two and two together, they call the police.

This is an unusual tale as the Five don’t investigate or apprehend anyone. They leave it to the police to handle. All the same, it’s a clever little story and Anne is the one to figure it out which is nice. The start is lovely too, we get a fairly lengthy description of their walk, picking blackberries and nuts and having a picnic.

This originally had lovely illustrations by Eileen Soper.

Illustration by Eileen Soper from Enid Blyton's Magazine Annual 3

Illustration by Eileen Soper from Enid Blyton’s Magazine Annual 3

HAPPY CHRISTMAS, FIVE!

This story starts on Christmas Eve, at Kirrin Cottage where the Five, Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin are wrapping up presents. That night Uncle Quentin sends Timmy to sleep outside as he’s been barking, but George sneaks him into her room forgetting to lock the door afterwards. A thief breaks in to Kirrin Cottage, Timmy wakes everyone up barking and is promptly sent back outside where he doesn’t apprehend the thief for fear of getting into trouble again. Having seen where the thief went, however, he is able to redeem himself later.

Uncle Quentin is in fine form in this story, declaring Christmas a lot of ‘nonsense’ and generally being very Scrooge-like. It’s quite unlike Timmy not to bark at a thief even if he might get into trouble, but as he saves Christmas in the end I suppose we can let him off!

This appeared in a Princess Gift Book originally, and the illustrator was uncredited.

Princess Gift Book for Girls, 1962

Princess Gift Book for Girls, 1962

WHEN TIMMY CHASED THE CAT!

Walking to the cinema one afternoon the Five pass a large house, and a cat sat on one of its gate posts. Timmy chases the cat into the garden, where a rather deaf woman shouts at him. She says she’s just popped over to feed the cat, and the owners of the house are away. The Five hear voices near-by but think little of it. After the film, George realises Timmy has lost a badge from his collar, so they head back via the house to look for it. They find the badge quickly, but hear voices again, and singing! They suspect it’s a radio on, and go to investigate. I won’t tell you what they find, though!

Not much of a mystery here, but another chance for the Five to do a good turn for someone.

Eileen Soper illustration from Enid Blyton's Magazine Annual

Eileen Soper illustration from Enid Blyton’s Magazine Annual 4

And that’s all the short stories! All in all they’re nice additions to the main series, an extra chance to spend some time with our favourite Five, even if some of the plots could be better.

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Confessions of a Blyton Addict by Francis

Posted on June 26, 2013 by worldofblyton
The pub sign for the White Horse in Beckenham. Taken from their website.

The pub sign for the White Horse in Beckenham. Taken from their website.

We were sitting at a table at the White Horse pub in Beckenham taking a well-earned break from exploring Enid’s various childhood homes when I noticed the book.

Stef was looking at a very familiar object – a book whose iconic cover could only suggest the name Enid Blyton and The Island of Adventure. I felt a Gollum-like urge to pick it up and peruse the pages I knew so well. Stuttering a request to do so I picked it up and was immediately lost in the world of Blyton’s four intrepid children and their voluble companion, Kiki. After a while I reluctantly returned the volume to Stef realising with a start that it caused me some pain to do so. I was faced with the realisation that I was addicted to Enid, more specifically to the ‘Adventure’ series – in fact I loved them!

The book the sparked the blog: The illustrated boards on the first edition, by Stuart Tresilian

The book the sparked the blog: The illustrated boards on the first edition, by Stuart Tresilian

Why should this be? What quirk of nature had made me so susceptible to these books? My mind went back 57 years to the year 1956 when a very young timid Francis was coping with the vicissitudes of being at Plymton Junior School. One day a girl I liked was reading this strange, exotically illustrated volume and I asked her what it was called. “The Mountain of adventure” she replied “and it’s the best thing I have ever read”. I looked in awe at the precious book and asked her where she had obtained such a treasure. “At the school library” she said. “You put your name down on the list and when it is returned and you are the next name on the list you may keep it for a week”.

Of course I immediately put my name down, finding that there were three names ahead of me (the most for any book – more ‘worthy’ volumes could be had straight away). The month I waited for my turn seemed the longest and slowest period of time I could ever remember. When the great day arrived I clutched the book to my chest and ran all the way home. After bolting down my tea (drawing criticism from my father) I spent the whole evening in my room reading the book. I fell in love with the children and parrot and thrilled to their exciting and dangerous adventures in the Welsh mountains. I think I read the book three times before reluctantly returning it to the school library. I have never felt again the sick excitement and rapidly beating heart that I experienced over this book. At least not with any other author’s works. I had become addicted for life. In future I would always return to Enid and the ‘Adventure’ books – after all they were my first and dearest love!

The book that started the love affair: Mountain of Adventure, Illustrated boards by Stuart Tresillian.

The book that started the love affair: Mountain of Adventure, Illustrated boards by Stuart Tresillian.

This is very well you might say but how does this relate to my current collecting habits? Well, like many other children in the 1950s, I could not afford to buy or own books. All the ones my sister and I read were from libraries – either the school, public or occasionally the Boots Lending Library (they had lots of Blyton books as they charged children a small sum and only stocked books that they actually wanted). This created a subconscious demand that could only be relieved in later years when I had my own money and the books started appearing in second-hand bookshops.

If you could look around our smallest bedroom (luckily you can’t!), you will see piles of hardback books from the golden age. Maybe five copies of ‘The Mountain of Adventure’, with four copies of ‘The Sea of Adventure’ (I love puffins), continuing to only one copy of ‘The Castle of Adventure’, ‘The Ship of Adventure’ and ‘ The River of Adventure’. The latter three books don’t have the same emotional resonance for me as I did not read them as a child. The same process continues with the ‘Famous Five’ books of which I have many copies of most of my favourites.

A cartoon representation of Francis' spare room. (Taken from the Cave of Books)

A cartoon representation of Francis’ spare room. (Taken from the Cave of Books)

You will see from all this that I am not a well-balanced individual. Other Blyton books are notable for their absence – you will not find the ‘Mystery’ books, the schoolgirl stories or any of the other excellent series. I am taking therapy, however, meeting and talking to other members of the Forum, sharing their enthusiasms and making mental note of their recommendations. Please continue this process, everyone, I am attempting to become a person with more catholic tastes and interests and become more like you!

Editor’s Note: Therapy can be found on the Enid Blyton Society forum , so useful! 😉

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It’s Monday Again

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Fiona

As Stef has been off gallivanting (without me!) this weekend I’m doing the Monday post for this week.

We have a new contributor this week, someone you might recognise from the comments. Francis has sent us his Confessions of a Blyton Addict (I see a bit of a series starting there!).

I will most likely be posting part two of my look at the Famous Five short stories, and hopefully Stef will have time to write about some of the Blyton-y things we did last weekend.

We’ve made it to 19,000 views this week, that’s not very far from 20,000 which I think is a massive milestone! We have 93 followers on the blog, so we need 7 more to launch our very first competition! If you’re in the UK and you follow us you could win a Blyton book. We’ll let you know more when we get to 100 followers.

I was about to finish this post without a picture but then I remembered a nifty site I’d been on… Don’t you think it would be great to have coins with an Enid Blyton theme?

Here’s a few I made.

You can make your own here.

Have a great week!

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Bourne End and Old Thatch, June 2013

Posted on June 23, 2013 by Fiona

I spent last weekend with Stef, around London and Berkshire. We spent the majority of our time doing Blyton-related activities, including a day at Bourne End on the Sunday. I’d been to Bourne end twice before – once in 2012 after the Enid Blyton day in May, and on the Friday evening of last weekend. Stef and I had gone round Old Thatch gardens in 2012 and I was eager to back last weekend as in May last year, after a horrendous winter, the gardens were a little behind in terms of growth and blooms. The garden was still wonderful, of course, but I wanted to see it in full bloom.

We had a lazy morning on Sunday, and after bacon sandwiches for breakfast we drove to Bourne End. First we took a wander through the small wooded area opposite Old Thatch, feeling like intrepid explorers as we did battle with the nettles.

The woods opposite Old Thatch

The woods opposite Old Thatch

We then walked down to the river bank and along the river-path. Just like the last time I visited I imagined the Five Find-Outers walking along the path ahead of us. Unfortunately the weather was not great and it began to rain before we’d reached the railway/footpath bridge. We sheltered under the bridge for a little while, me scribbling away at a bit of fanfiction in my notebook before heading back up to the Spade Oak. We had (a rather expensive) lunch there watching the rain pour outside and then we went into Old Thatch.

The river path

The river path

The rain had thankfully stopped by then and we were welcomed into the gardens by Jacky Hawthorne. She even recognised us from our previous visit! We chatted to Jacky for a little while, and gave her one of our blog business cards. I told her I would be writing about our trip (in fact I believe I promised a glowing review!) so let’s get to it!

Old Thatch, as the name suggests, is an old thatch-roofed house. Enid Blyton lived there from 1929 to 1938, with her husband Hugh Alexander Pollock. Both Gillian and Imogen were  born while the family lived there. The house had a fair bit of history before Enid Blyton moved in, though. Already over a hundred years old, it had been a beer house, a pub and an inn where travellers could take a room. Reportedly Dick Turpin [the infamous highway robber] had stayed there on numerous occasions, putting Black Bess, his horse, in the stables. There are also tales of it being haunted by a ghostly rider, and of treasure hidden somewhere on the grounds. If you’re ever at Old Thatch you can buy a lovely little booklet Old Thatch with Enid Blyton, about the house and garden. It focusses mostly on Enid Blyton, but it also covers other aspects of the house’s history. I can also recommend  Enid Blyton at Old Thatch, by Tess Livingstone, also available to buy at Old Thatch.

"Old Thatch with Enid Blyton" and "Enid Blyton at Old Thatch"

“Old Thatch with Enid Blyton” and “Enid Blyton at Old Thatch”

Phew! On to the gardens, now (I apologise in advance for the photo captions, where I don’t know the plant’s name I have given them obvious descriptions.)

The first part of the garden you see is the Entrance Garden. It is a riot of colour, completely wild-looking and utterly beautiful. I couldn’t tell you what many of the flowers are called, but my favourites were the purple ones with the star-shaped blooms. The fox gloves were also lovely, in purples, pinks and cream – I love looking at the ‘fairy footsteps’ inside the bell shaped flowers. There were hundreds of bees buzzing around enjoying the flowers too.

the entrance garden and Old Thatch
Fox-glove (digitalis)
flowers in entrance garden
a bee enjoying the flowers
Old Thatch
Rain on the leaves
The Entrance Garden in May 2012

The next garden is the Formal Garden, and it runs along the side of the house down to the ‘front door’. (I say ‘front door’ as when Blyton lived there, it had two ‘front doors’, the one by the formal garden was at the back of the house, while the one at the front led into the dining room.) The formal garden leads down to the Lavender Terrace, a round, stone-patio area from which you can see the Water Garden, down the rose pergola and up the Formal Garden.

The Formal Garden looking towards the Water Garden

The Formal Garden looking towards the Water Garden

From here you have a choice of routes, both times we have roughly followed the numbers on the little map-guide, which takes you along the rose pergola (called the Rose & Clematis Walk). We walked along the side of the pergola, stopping to take lots more photographs of the roses and a multitude of other flowers. I particularly liked what I’ve been referring to as pink thistles. 

The rose pergola
The rose and clematis walk
Pink thistles
A white flower I don’t know the name of!
Roses
On the other side of the pergola

The next garden we visited was Mr Aplin’s a wide, open garden with a large lawn, several places to sit and lots of lovely flowers and  plants in neat flower beds. Mr Aplin’s leads to Lane Garden, which has a bench which is perfectly curved to compliment the round patio. Behind the Lane Garden is the old stream bed.

Somewhere nice to sit in Mr Aplin's garden (a bowling green in Blyton's day)

Somewhere nice to sit in Mr Aplin’s garden (a bowling green in Blyton’s day)

From there we retraced our steps back to the rose pergola, and we went through what I think was called the Illusion Garden where things are not quite as they seem.

Not what it may seem.

Not what it may seem.

That brought us round to the Circle Garden, which aptly, is circular, and then on to one of my favourite parts of the garden, the Water Garden. I could sit by the fountain all day if I had the chance. We took a lot of pictures of the fountain between us, and I made friends with a dragonfly who was very content to sit on my finger while Stef took photos of it.

The fountain
Flowers by the fountain
Jaggy-looking leaves

From the Water Garden we walked into the Pencil Garden. At one end are three massive pencils, and down the middle is a wavy bed of (I think) begonias, in colours which match the pencils. On the sign it says only children can understand the significance of the garden. Being a Blyton Fan, and thus not having ever properly grown-up I think I have an idea what the garden means, but I won’t tell you what that is!

The Pencil Garden

The Pencil Garden

After the mysterious Pencil Garden we moved on to another of my favourite parts – the Cottage Garden. This is another slightly wild area with narrow paths, and the other front door to the house. It also has a gorgeous overgrown well and the pond made by Blyton herself. If you’re so inclined you can have tea and cakes here, but we didn’t stop as we weren’t finished exploring yet!

Flower by the pond
The well
The pond

We went back to the Lavender Terrace and had planned to walk down the middle of the rose pergola (taking photos all the way, of course). Unfortunately a coach-load of Japanese tourists had just arrived and they got rather in our way! We waited a little while, not feeling particularly rushed, and we had a luck break when the tourists all wandered off in different directions leaving us the pergola all to ourselves.

Stef in the rose pergola
A tourist in the rose pergola
The lavender terrace looking towards the formal garden

Finally, we returned to the Circular Garden (all the Water Garden benches were full), and we did a bit more fan fiction writing and enjoyed the sun which was finally beginning to emerge from the clouds.

Eventually we thought we’d better get going, so we headed back out to say bye to Jacky. We bought a few booklets and postcards, and then ended up having a lovely chat with Jacky for at least three-quarters of an hour. We left well after the garden was supposed to close!

After ducking through the old lychgate we wandered back down to the river and sat for hours, talking and watched the world go by. We saw lot of birds on the river as well as people in various kinds of boats, some powered by paddles!

The house across the river
The River Thames

All in all it was a lovely day, and the rain didn’t spoil our time at all.

I’m not sure what it is that makes me love Old Thatch so much. Obviously I visit for the Blyton connection. You can just imagine her sitting outside tapping away at her typewriter, and it’s lovely to see the features that were there in her time at Old Thatch (the pond, the pergola and the lion’s head door knocker.) However, I think I’d still enjoy them without that. They’re incredibly peaceful and despite not being someone who believes in anything even remotely spiritual, both visits to Old Thatch have left me feeling better inside. It’s hard to explain, but after just sitting relaxing in the garden I’ve had a feeling of inner peace.

If you’re ever in the Bourne End area, you must, must go see the gardens. They are open until August the 29th this year on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 2 till 5.30, and you can see the details on the Old Thatch website. [Gardens are now closed as of 2015]

A map of the gardens

A map of the gardens

I’d like to thank Jacky for her warm welcome and her interest in the blog. I’ll be emailing her the link to this post, so perhaps she’ll be able to tell us the names of some of the flowers! Thanks also go to Stef for letting me stay with her all weekend and driving me mad around!

I apologise for the number of photos in this blog, I took at least 200 at Old Thatch, so these are genuinely just a small proportion of them! I’m just going to stick a few more at the end of the post as they didn’t fit into the story but I wanted to include them anyway.

Branch with leaves
The front door around the back.
Poppies
Posted in Personal Experiences | Tagged , | 10 Comments

TV Series Comparison: Five on a Treasure Island

Posted on June 21, 2013 by pippastef

Author’s note: I’m sorry not to be able to bring you a blog from our fabulous Blyton weekend as promised on Monday, but I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to write it, and certainly not well. So here’s one I prepared earlier. The Famous Five. On TV. About time, I hear you say!

All together now:

“We are the Famous Five…”

Enjoy!

———————————————————————————————————–

A while ago I wrote a blog telling you all that I planned to review the Famous Five TV series from the 1970s and 1990s and compare the episodes to the original books by Enid Blyton. Needless to say I think I’ve kept you waiting long enough!

The 1970's Promo shoot on the Left and the 1990's Title screen on the Right.

The 1970s promo shoot on the left and the 1990s title screen on the right.

In that case: Let’s DO this!

As mentioned in the last blog there is no 70s episode for Five on a Treasure Island or Five have a Mystery to Solve as the copyright was still held by the Children’s Film Foundation (CFF) after their weekly episodes for the cinemas. In both those cases I will be comparing the CFF programmes to the 90s series episodes and the books.

As there is no Five on a Treasure Island in the 70s series the cousins’ first meeting is at the start of “Five on Kirrin Island” the first episode of the series which is based on book 6 “Five on Kirrin Island Again”

For this blog I shall compare some key points from the book to the same points in the 1990s episode and the CFF film, but shall touch on the first meeting of the cousins from the 1970s series to see how they all compare.

Beginning

The first edition dustjacket

In the book we start at the dining table of Julian, Dick and Anne’s parents (for the sake of this post, known as Mr and Mrs Kirrin) with Julian asking his parents whether they are going to Polseath for their holidays once more. As we know they are unable to go to Polseath because the place they usually stay at is full up.

When we look at the beginnings of all filmed versions of Five on a Treasure Island, we can see that none of them start with the dining table scene. In the CFF version, filmed in 1957 (with Blyton’s own input), we see George on her own walking down a street – one can only assume that its Kirrin Village high street – where she first discovers Timmy. We receive no word about her cousins arriving until much later on. They arrive without their parents and appear to have come by train or bus.

Continue reading →

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