Sunday, 9 August 2009

A Blyton adventure

Just a quick post as piles of washing await after our very sunny weekend in Bournemouth. I had a lovely time, eating ice cream, engineering a draw at crazy golf (to preserve my pride and prevent the boyfriend from becoming grumpy) and swimming in the sea. I even did quite a bit of reading which I hope I'll blog about in due course.

However, the highlight of the trip was on the way down, when we stopped at Corfe Castle and then Lullworth Cove. The former is Enid Blyton's inspiration for the castle on Kirrin Island in Five on a Treasure Island and the latter is the inspiration for the bay which the five sail to the island from. It was all exactly how one might imagine it, as far as Blyton ever goes into any detail. I spent the whole of Friday desperate to reread Five on a treasure island, which unfortunately is in storage, and desperate to get myself a copy of Stoney's biography of Blyton, which I read a while ago but now want to own!

Unfortunately I only have pictures of my boyfriend at these wonderful locations, so you'll have to google for an image...

13 comments:

  1. Enid Blyton brings back such happy reading memories for me. I will have to track down a copy of that biography too I think...

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  2. I bought a copy on Amazon just now, only £6.99!

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  3. Oh how wonderful! I LOVED the Famous Five books when I was younger, although I always had to eat them with a pile of sandwiches next to me - all those descriptions of picnics and high teas made me very hungry indeed!

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  4. I too love the descriptions of food in Blyton, especially the picnics and the midnight feasts! This is the second Blyton blog post I've read in the last few days and it makes me eager to re-read my favourites as a child.

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  5. http://anothercookiecrumbles.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/doing-the-impossible1-my-top-five-enid-blyton-books/

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  6. Sounds like another lovely weekend away. I'm thinking that what you call crazy golf is our mini-putt, I love the different terms! I've just tried our library system's catalogue to place a hold on our lone Enid Blyton compilation but I can't get through. We had a huge storm rip through last night and the power went out six times...while I was watching Ballet Shoes. Off to google pics of Corfe Castle and the cove, welcome back!

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  7. Mini putt?! We also have mini-golf. That is more straightforward, crazy golf has all kinds of funny things to hit your ball through. Lots of fun though.

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  8. Like others say, this brings back memories! I adored Enid Blyton and read her books all the way to tweenage - starting from Noddy and ending with Mallory Towers.

    What's sad is that original Blyton Noddy books are no longer available to buy (except second-hand). My daughter has the newer versions with computer-generated drawings and new story lines. I suppress a shudder every time I have to read it to her. I regret giving away my childhood collection of Noddy books.

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  9. I am so envious - it's one of those things I have to see, someday soon! I've always wanted an island for my own, and I could go there and claim it, and then have my own Famous Five adventure, and maybe... just maybe... discover ingots! :)

    A girl can dream, can't she!!

    @Green Road: I can't believe they've gotten rid of the all the original Noddys - It actually annoys me to see that children today have to read what's actually worse than second best. Might be worthwhile trying to find the originals second hand.

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  10. Swati - I felt the same when I discovered that the original Andy Pandy's had been replaced by computer generated images...

    ACC - you must go there, I can't believe I'd never heard about it before!

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  11. Oh lovely! I adore Enid Blyton and Corfe Castle. My grandmother was born and raised in Corfe Castle village and my great grandfather was the blacksmith there so I visited quite a lot as a child. Glad you had a lovely weekend!

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  12. Lucky you Rachel. I thought the village was v pretty and v Blyton-esque too. Really hope my Enid Blyton book arrives soon...

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