Articles About Dorset

If it doesn't fit into any of the above categories, post it here!
User avatar
Chrissie777
Posts: 9446
Joined: 17 Mar 2012, 16:54
Favourite book/series: Famous Five, Adventure Series, Valley of Adventure
Favourite character: George Kirrin, Jack Trent
Location: Worcester, MA, USA

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by Chrissie777 »

Rob Houghton wrote:I don't think its been mentioned how long the article is...but the Famous Five article in 'Country Life Magazine' is four pages. :-)
There's one as well? :shock:
Chrissie

Society Member

"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake."
Alfred Hitchcock
User avatar
Rob Houghton
Posts: 16029
Joined: 26 Feb 2005, 22:38
Favourite book/series: Rubadub Mystery, Famous Five and The Find-Outers
Favourite character: Snubby, Uncle Robert, George, Fatty
Location: Kings Norton, Birmingham

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by Rob Houghton »

Yes - I think because of the 75th FF anniversary.

http://www.countrylife.co.uk/publicatio ... il-19-2017

Image
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



Society Member
User avatar
Chrissie777
Posts: 9446
Joined: 17 Mar 2012, 16:54
Favourite book/series: Famous Five, Adventure Series, Valley of Adventure
Favourite character: George Kirrin, Jack Trent
Location: Worcester, MA, USA

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by Chrissie777 »

Rob Houghton wrote:Yes - I think because of the 75th FF anniversary.
I tried to find the article online, but was not successful. :cry:
Chrissie

Society Member

"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake."
Alfred Hitchcock
User avatar
Courtenay
Posts: 19275
Joined: 07 Feb 2014, 01:22
Favourite book/series: The Adventure Series, Galliano's Circus
Favourite character: Lotta
Location: Both Aussie and British; living in Cheshire

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by Courtenay »

It's probably not available online — otherwise people wouldn't buy the print edition. 8)
Society Member

It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
User avatar
Chrissie777
Posts: 9446
Joined: 17 Mar 2012, 16:54
Favourite book/series: Famous Five, Adventure Series, Valley of Adventure
Favourite character: George Kirrin, Jack Trent
Location: Worcester, MA, USA

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by Chrissie777 »

You must be right! :cry:
Chrissie

Society Member

"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake."
Alfred Hitchcock
Tony Summerfield
Posts: 6386
Joined: 26 Dec 2004, 12:20

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by Tony Summerfield »

7 Blyton/Famous Five pages, with mentions on other pages as well.
User avatar
Rob Houghton
Posts: 16029
Joined: 26 Feb 2005, 22:38
Favourite book/series: Rubadub Mystery, Famous Five and The Find-Outers
Favourite character: Snubby, Uncle Robert, George, Fatty
Location: Kings Norton, Birmingham

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by Rob Houghton »

Thanks Tony! :-D Sounds well worth buying then - so I'm pleased I did!
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



Society Member
User avatar
Chrissie777
Posts: 9446
Joined: 17 Mar 2012, 16:54
Favourite book/series: Famous Five, Adventure Series, Valley of Adventure
Favourite character: George Kirrin, Jack Trent
Location: Worcester, MA, USA

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by Chrissie777 »

Tony Summerfield wrote:7 Blyton/Famous Five pages, with mentions on other pages as well.
Thank you, Tony! 8)
Chrissie

Society Member

"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake."
Alfred Hitchcock
User avatar
Courtenay
Posts: 19275
Joined: 07 Feb 2014, 01:22
Favourite book/series: The Adventure Series, Galliano's Circus
Favourite character: Lotta
Location: Both Aussie and British; living in Cheshire

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by Courtenay »

Right, I've just ordered the April 19 Country Life as well! :lol: I don't think it's available from the same site I used before, but I did a search online for it and found it being sold on another UK magazine site.

I'm glad to know the Dorset magazine has 7 Blyton-related pages as well as mentions elsewhere — sounds like value for money! :D
Society Member

It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
User avatar
Chrissie777
Posts: 9446
Joined: 17 Mar 2012, 16:54
Favourite book/series: Famous Five, Adventure Series, Valley of Adventure
Favourite character: George Kirrin, Jack Trent
Location: Worcester, MA, USA

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by Chrissie777 »

Courtenay wrote:I'm glad to know the Dorset magazine has 7 Blyton-related pages as well as mentions elsewhere — sounds like value for money! :D
Yes, 7 pages sounds wonderful!
I'm looking forward to get it after our trip! :D
Chrissie

Society Member

"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake."
Alfred Hitchcock
User avatar
IceMaiden
Posts: 2290
Joined: 07 Jan 2016, 18:49
Favourite book/series: Too many to mention! All of them!
Favourite character: George
Location: North Wales

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by IceMaiden »

The cover on the Dorset magazine is very appealing. I've just ordered a copy and I'm just hoping I've unchecked all the subscription and special offer boxes properly :lol: :mrgreen:
Society Member

I'm just an old fashioned girl with an old fashioned mind
Not sophisticated, I'm the sweet and simple kind
I want an old fashioned house, with an old fashioned fence
And A̶n̶ ̶o̶l̶d̶ ̶f̶a̶s̶h̶i̶o̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶m̶i̶l̶l̶i̶o̶n̶a̶i̶r̶e̶
Image
User avatar
Courtenay
Posts: 19275
Joined: 07 Feb 2014, 01:22
Favourite book/series: The Adventure Series, Galliano's Circus
Favourite character: Lotta
Location: Both Aussie and British; living in Cheshire

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by Courtenay »

Well, my copy of Country Life for April 19 arrived today — oddly enough, before the Dorset magazine, even though I ordered that one first! I've now read the article on "why all children should read the Famous Five", and I must say it's worth reading and very well done overall. Not much there that committed Blyton fans won't already know, but it's good to see an upmarket magazine (admittedly one aimed at country property buyers and owners rather than literature buffs, but oh well...) featuring a very positive four-page article on the merits of Enid and her best-known characters. The article itself is titled "It's been an awfully big adventure" by Flora Watkins.

The only comment in the whole article I would completely disagree with is the reference to the recent "Enid Blyton for Grown Ups" series as "wickedly funny parodies". In my experience they aren't even mildly amusing, let alone "wickedly funny"! :roll: Other than that, there are a number of more agreeable insights and observations, like this:
[The books'] enduring appeal is down to "the amount of freedom the children have and the fact that they're completely in the roles of heroes, independent from the adults for most of the story," believes Alex Antscherl, editorial director for Enid Blyton at Hachette Children's Group.
The stories are also delightfully escapist and not only in the amount of control the children wield. Blyton's winning formula might be summed up as "Five go off completely unsupervised, outwit some thoroughly dangerous men and consume Type-2-diabetes-inducing amounts of fruit cake, scones and ices with no ill effects."
There's a lot of emphasis in this article on the Five's seemingly endless consumption of good food, but Watkins does remark how "delicious" this would have been for a child living under WW2 rationing to read about. I wonder it didn't send the early readers insane with longing! :lol:

Due notice is also given to criticisms of Blyton from the 1950s onwards, including the BBC's ban on her works on the grounds of her being a "tenacious second-rater". The article does refer to "the children's privileged lives", "outdated stereotypes — washing-up is always delegated to the girls" and "snobbery" towards working-class people (the only example given, bizarrely, is the Stick family) as well as foreigners, Americans and gypsies. Mercifully, though, there are no accusations at all of outright sexism or racism — Miss Antscherl from Hachette is quoted as pointing out, very sensibly, that "Blyton was very much a woman of her time... it would be silly to pretend that these are supposed to be contemporary stories." Nice to see at least one editor concluding that! :P

I'm not sure about the article's indication that now that "recent tinkering with the language to bring it up to date" has been dropped, the "new, contemporary illustrations" are "as far as the updating goes. George will definitely not be identifying as recreationally transgender and Dick and Aunt Fanny will not be renamed..." As we're all aware, the supposedly "classic" texts that have been reinstated still contain some edits and modernisations. I'm not sure how far those go (I only buy older editions), but at least it does sound from this like the current editors are more sympathetic than some previous ones. 8)

Finally, there's a side column at the end that mentions some of the places in Dorset associated with Enid and the Famous Five — including, predictably: "Corfe Castle, with its jackdaws and tumbledown towers, was the inspiration for George's ruined Kirrin Castle." :roll: Do we know who actually started spreading that furphy that has now become accepted gospel truth?? Mind you, if it helps to bring the Blyton-enthusiast tourists in... :wink:

On that note, there's also a little picture of a brochure headed "The Isle of Purbeck in Dorset Enid Blyton Trail", so that sounds like there is such a thing being produced officially now. Maybe the Dorset magazine will have more to say on that when it arrives? :D I'm really looking forward to it now.
Society Member

It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
User avatar
number 6
Posts: 4342
Joined: 11 Jun 2010, 17:12
Favourite book/series: Famous Five
Favourite character: George/Jo
Location: Robin Hood Country

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by number 6 »

Courtenay wrote:there's also a little picture of a brochure headed "The Isle of Purbeck in Dorset Enid Blyton Trail", so that sounds like there is such a thing being produced officially now. Maybe the Dorset magazine will have more to say on that when it arrives?
Just wondering whether the brochure 'The isle of Purbeck in Dorset:- Enid Blyton trail' is a revamp of the leaflet that's been circulating around Dorset for the last few years. This one has a map inside, with some of the locations that Enid visited. I think the majority of formites have seen this leaflet before. :D

Image
Last edited by number 6 on 06 May 2017, 18:15, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Courtenay
Posts: 19275
Joined: 07 Feb 2014, 01:22
Favourite book/series: The Adventure Series, Galliano's Circus
Favourite character: Lotta
Location: Both Aussie and British; living in Cheshire

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by Courtenay »

Don't know, Number 6 — I haven't seen either brochure myself! :wink:
Society Member

It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
User avatar
Chrissie777
Posts: 9446
Joined: 17 Mar 2012, 16:54
Favourite book/series: Famous Five, Adventure Series, Valley of Adventure
Favourite character: George Kirrin, Jack Trent
Location: Worcester, MA, USA

Re: Articles in Dorset

Post by Chrissie777 »

number 6 wrote:Just wondering whether the brochure 'The isle of Purbeck in Dorset:- Enid Blyton trail' is a revamp of the leaflet that's been circulating around Dorset for the last few years. This one has a map inside, with some of the locations that Enid visited. I think the majority of formites have seen this leaflet before. :D
It used to be on the Internet. We printed it out before we went to Dorset 9 years ago.
Chrissie

Society Member

"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake."
Alfred Hitchcock
Post Reply