Website Additions

[Anita Bensoussane]

...what a lovely gift the chincherinchee flowers were. (I keep wanting to break into that song from Mary Poppins!).

So did I!

Same here!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Another chatty, entertaining page with a riddle, a code puzzle, a Brer Rabbit story and a photo of some of Enid's pigeons. I had fun deciphering the code message, though it took a while!

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... &perid=625" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Kate Mary]

I solved the riddle-me-ree with no trouble but the Christmas at Old Thatch puzzle is worthy of a Bletchley Park code breaker, (what is a double code?) Well done for managing to do it Anita.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Cheers, Kate. It's a double code because two different rules have been applied, rather than just one.

[Courtenay]

I cracked it as well, but I agree it isn't easy!!

Really enjoyed the letters as always. I had to laugh at Bobs' account of pulling Dion around by his collar and them falling in the pond — I wonder if that really happened?!

[Anita Bensoussane]

We've seen the Christmas card drawn by Enid before, showing all the animals, but it's lovely and the rhyme is good too.

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... &perid=626" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Kate Mary]

That is a lovely Christmas story this week and I would have loved to read the poem The Shepherd King, it is uncollected but hasn't made it into the Cave. Perhaps it can be published in the Winter 2021 Journal? Or added to the Cave? Please Tony?...

[Anita Bensoussane]

A newsy page once again. Does anyone know if Enid Blyton herself drew the picture of Old Thatch at the top? The photo of the baby wart-hog is cute - another London Zoo photo, I expect.

It's interesting to hear of the floods and of Enid's neighbours setting off in a boat to do the shopping. Enid Blyton doubts Old Thatch will be flooded because it's "on higher ground", but we know that it was at times.

I like the rhythmic poem 'The Rain is Raining', which is very apt as we've had a lot of rain here lately, and the myth about Proserpina has been a favourite of mine ever since I read another Blytonian re-telling of it in Tales of Long Ago as a small child.

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... perid=4556" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Anita Bensoussane]

Enid Blyton makes light of her dining-room and garage being flooded but it must have been very unpleasant. Apparently she had planks put in the dining-room, with ten-inch blocks of wood nailed beneath them to raise them above the level of the water. I expect Dick Hughes had to prepare the planks! It sounds quite bizarre, with Bobs and Patabang falling into the water repeatedly and even Enid taking an impromptu dip while carrying the breakfast tray (according to Bobs, anyway!)

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... &perid=628" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Courtenay]

Bobs does make it sound like fun! As for "Ash School, near Sevenoaks", I live about 8 miles north of Sevenoaks myself and there is indeed a village called Ash a few miles from here. It doesn't have a school now, but I assume it did in Enid's day and that's the one she's referring to. (There is a school in neighbouring New Ash Green, which was built in the 1960s, so perhaps that replaced the school that Enid was talking about.)

[Kate Mary]

Back in 2014 we went through the letters for 1930 although we started on 5th February and caught up with the earlier ones a bit later. It's good to read them again but it would he nice to have another year, 1936 or 1941 perhaps, which match up with 2021. Please??

[Anita Bensoussane]

I'm going to carry on following the 1930 letters into February anyway as I probably swallowed the January ones all at a gulp last time - which makes me sound like Bobs!

This time, Enid talks about the Christmas presents she and her pets received and we have a photo of the rather pretty pigeon-cote thatched with heather:

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... &perid=652" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Kate Mary]

It's always a pleasure to re-read these letters, nice poem too.

[Anita Bensoussane]

The poem 'A Tail-Wagger Talks to his Mistress' is delightful. Bobs tells us in his letter that he's proud of his silver medal from the Tail-Waggers' Club, which he was awarded for his "splendid recruiting effort"!

It's also very interesting to learn about Steptoe (Enid mischievously calls him "Tiptoe"!), who comes to clear out the pond and stream and knows all about birds and fish, even having a tame kingfisher. He obviously impressed Enid as she comments that, although he has only one eye following an injury in the war, "with that one he sees more than most people see with two".

Enid includes a photo of the pond with Dick Hughes' cottage in the background, though I believe that that part of the Old Thatch garden has since been sold and the cottage no longer exists.

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/bly ... &perid=653" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Kate Mary]

I love those grainy old photos that accompany Enid's letters through 1930. At first I misread hookey stick for hockey stick, that conjured up a wonderful image of Mr Tiptoe!