Trippers

[pete9012S]

Why did Enid Blyton seem to dislike them so much? When were they very first mentioned in print by her?

(was it perhaps in The Secret Island,way back in 1938-where trippers are mentioned no less than thirty two times!)

There is actually a chapter entitled The Trippers Come to the Island...in it we read:

Peggy was first out of the water and went to get the breakfast - but when she looked round their little beach, she stood still in disgust!
“Look here, boys!”she cried. “Look, Nora! How those trippers have spoilt our beach!”
They all ran out of the cold water, and, rubbing themselves down with their two towels, they stared round at their little beach, which was always such a beautiful place, clean and shining with its silvery sand.
But now, what a difference! Orange-peel lay everywhere. Banana skins, brown, slippery, and soaked with rain, lay where they had been thrown. A tin that had once had canned pears in, and two cardboard cartons that had been full of cream, rolled about on the sand, empty. A newspaper, pulled into many pieces by the wind, blew here and there. An empty cigarette packet joined the mess.
The children felt really angry. The little beach was theirs and they loved it. They had been careful to keep it clean, tidy, and lovely, and had always put everything away after a meal. Now some horrid trippers had come there just for one meal and had left it looking like a rubbish-heap!
“And they were grown-up people, too!”said Jack, in disgust. “They ought to have known better. Why couldn’t they take their rubbish away with them?”
“People that leave rubbish about in beautiful places like this are just rubbishy people themselves!”cried Peggy fiercely, almost in tears. “Nice people never do it. I’d like to put those people into a big dust-bin with all their horrid rubbish on top of them - and wouldn’t I bang on the lid, too!”
The others laughed. It sounded so funny. But they were all angry about their beach being spoilt.
“I’ll clear up the mess and burn it,”said Mike.

The Famous Five books also seem absolutely littered (no pun intended)with negative references to this very poorly thought of under class.

Even in the very last Famous Five book from 1963,Five Are Together Again we find...

‘When shall we go?’ asked George. ‘It’s ages since I’ve visited my island - and will you believe it, last time I rowed over, trippers had been there and left their beastly mess everywhere! Paper bags, broken glass, lettuce leaves, orange peel, ugh!’
‘Why DO people do that?’ asked Anne. ‘They’d hate to have to sit in the midst of other people’s mess - so why in the world can’t they clear up their own?’
‘Oh, they’re probably just like that in their own homes,’ said Dick. ‘All mess and litter - and yet it takes so little time to clear up a picnic mess, and leave the place decent for the next comers.’
‘What did you do with all the mess left on Kirrin Island?’ asked Julian.
‘I buried it deep in the sand at the back of one of the beaches,’ said George. ‘Where the tide can’t turn it all up again. And with every dig of my spade I said “Blow you, you awful trippers without manners, blow you - and next time you go anywhere, may you find someone else’s litter to make you feel sick. Blow you!”’
George looked and sounded so very fierce that everyone burst out laughing. Timmy sat there with his tongue lolling out, looking as if he were laughing too, and Mischief made a funny little noise rather like a giggle.

Did Enid Blyton ever resolve her long standing agitated stance towards this maligned group of people? From the above,written twenty five years after The Secret Island was published,It would seem not!

She reminds me a little of the Lake District writer Alfred Wainwright,who wrote regarding one of his lake District walks;

Alfred Wainwright himself declared 'Surely, of its kind, this is the most delightful walk in the country. And not only ... In any case, it never gets busy until about 11 in the morning... lazy lot these trippers.....

Are there any other examples of people who intensely dislike the 'tripper'?

Are they being unfairly castigated or do you share Enid's inbuilt suspicion and dislike of this gramophone playing,cigarette smoking,rubbish tossing rabble??


Trippers: Decent Folk or dangerous sub species?

[Loony the Dog]

Smuggler Ben also includes a 'dislike against trippers.' Ben not letting the children come to his cove and beach.

[Katharine]

I'm not sure if the word "Trippers" was used, but in Arthur Ransome's book Coot Club there are a group of people who hire a motor cruiser and seem to have little or no regard for the correct way to behave on the water ways. Blaring music is definitely mentioned as being one of their faults.

Personally I've never understood why any person, "Tripper" or otherwise should think it acceptable to leave rubbish in a public space.

[Julie2owlsdene]

I've got a jigsaw of that picture that Pete has posted.

I guess all locals have a certain dislike for Trippers or Holiday makers etc, even though they know that the visitor brings money into their town, village, country whatever. It's the same down here in Cornwall, many of the locals stay away from the beaches in the summer as they're over run with people enjoying their holiday. Down here we call the holiday makers 'emmits'. But what the locals forget is that when they go away somewhere on holiday, they too will be looked upon as a 'tripper' wherever they choose to go.

What I disagree with, is that dogs are banned from places in the summer because of the holiday makers, and are accepted in the winter when the tourists have gone home! My dog is good during the summer and winter!

[Katharine]

Sadly Julie, a significant number of dog owners aren't as considerate as you are. I think I've related before that twice I have been picnicing on our local beach only to have it spoilt by dogs. The first time the dog put it's nose into the cool bag where the rest of our food was, the second time the dog and then it's owner ran straight across our picnic blanket. On that occasion, although the owner apologised, she also hinted it was my fault for having a picnic at the time when dogs were regularly exercised.

Our local beach has restrictions on dogs during the holiday season on the main tourist beach, but dogs are allowed on other sections all year round, which I think seems a reasonable compromise.

The other problem with irresponsible dog owners is the mess. Last year I spent a day at Cromer, but will never go back again. The beach was lovely, but it was getting there that was the problem. The pathways were covered - in some cases literally wall to wall - in dog's mess. We managed to tip toe our way through it, but I was thankful I no longer have a child in a pushchair, as it would have been impossible to reach the beach with clean wheels.

Of course it's not just dogs that cause inconvenience, I hate to see people spitting, dropping cigarette ends, empty crisp packets etc. I also hate unruly children, ie ones that kick balls too close to other people.

As for the locals who complain about 'emmits' and then go on holiday themselves, I guess it's a typical case of NIMBYism. I often wonder how many of the people who moan about the noise of low flying aircraft or that houses are to be torn down to make way for a new runway actually travel by air themselves?

[Anita Bensoussane]

As for the locals who complain about 'emmits' and then go on holiday themselves, I guess it's a typical case of NIMBYism.

I once read a comment (at the bottom of an online newspaper article) from someone who was complaining that Britain was becoming overrun with immigrants. His solution was to emigrate to Spain!

[Julie2owlsdene]

Yes, our beaches, some of them, have summer restriction, Katharine, you can take your dog on them after 7pm when the immits are not sun-bathing!
But as you say, some dog owners spoil it for us the majority. But I guess the other side of the arguement down here is that we pay a high rate of water bill to keep the beaches and the sea clean, and yet we're restricted into using it if you want to take your dog on there. The holiday makers don't pay for the beach clean ups etc, and get to use it!

[Loony the Dog]

I suppose the people who 'pay' for the beach do have equal rights with the trippers as the people who pay for the beach can do exactly the same to where the tripper's live.

[Dick Kirrin]

What many councils do is making the locals pay by some sort of tax and the trippers by, say, charging for the parking. So in the end, all have to pay up.

Things are always difficult when serval groups of people want to use the same thing (whatever it is) for different purposes.
Over here, the woods are the classical example. Hunters of course want their game to be disturbed by no one else but them, Joggers want to move through the woods - fast, hikers want to move at a slower pace. Mountain bikers like me want to cycle in the woods whereas riders want to use them for their horses. Dog owners will want to exercise their dogs, of course.
Every decent person knows that and will behave accordingly. Meaning showing respect for others. The problem is there is no hard and fast rule for what is decent and what is not, so everyone defines their own.
And of course there are those who simply don't care about anyone but themselves - and these I like as much as EB liked trippers...

[Ming]

I once read a comment (at the bottom of an online newspaper article) from someone who was complaining that Britain was becoming overrun with immigrants. His solution was to emigrate to Spain!

Emigrating to Canada and Japan would probably be a better idea!

[Anita Bensoussane]

What I meant was that he didn't like immigrants, but he himself would be an immigrant in the eyes of the Spanish!

[pete9012S]

Yes,the expression 'lowering the tone' comes to mind.

One dictionary says;

lower the tone
if something lowers the tone of a place, it makes it less suitable for people of a high social class, and if something lowers the tone of a conversation or a piece of writing, it makes it less polite or of a lower quality

But I'm not sure where the phrase originates from?

[Ming]

What I meant was that he didn't like immigrants, but he himself would be an immigrant in the eyes of the Spanish!

Thanks for the clarification, Anita.

I think Pete's 'lowering the tone' idea is probably the right one regarding Enid's view of trippers.

[Dick Kirrin]

I suppose that there is some lowering the tone in her attitude, too.
A day trip was probably the best many people of the working and (lower) middle class could permit themselves, a 'real' holiday, meaning taking a few days off and going somewhere nice, was out of budget for most people back then.

Interestingly however, quite a lot of these people, i.e. the ones she wrote about in a disapproving manner, were the ones who liked reading her books.

[joanne_chan]

I suppose what EB meant by 'trippers' were people with no direct stake in an area who just come to have their bit of fun and then go, leaving their debris for others to deal with. It's a stereotype for sure but somehow I think all of us here would find that kind of behaviour really quite appalling.