E. Nesbit - The Railway Children, etc.

[Stephen]

I've downloaded 'The Railway Children' and 'The Enchanted Castle' on my new Kindle (which I'm still getting to grips with). I very vaguely remember the series of The Enchanted Castle from my childhood, and the fact that it absolutely terrified me with its walking statues and room full of clapping wooden dolls!

On the subject of Kindles, I got this as a birthday present and yet I'm still not entirely settled with the fact that I'm holding a flat screen machine as opposed to a bound sheaf of pages. The potential for long and rewarding reading is there certainly, but at the moment I'm still in the Luddite stages!

[corkontheocean]

I remember the Railway Children being a favourite of mine as a child, I must have read it a fair number of times, but somewhere along the way I lost the book and unfortunately forgot all about it. Recently though I was lucky enough to get it for my Kindle and read it for the first time in many years - and I'm pleased to say I still love it! The odd thing is I've never watched the films, maybe I should give them a try one day?

[honesty]

Yes, I remeber the Railway Children very well.
Roberta, Peter and Phyllis, oh and Mother were the main characters weren't they? I have the 100th anniversary edition and I occasionally read it from time to time...

[Julie2owlsdene]

We're off in October to where it was filmed - the version with Jenny Agutter as Bobbie that is. There was a later version of Jenny Agutter as the mother.

[number 6]

@Julie2owlsdene.... We parked at Keighley & took the Steam Train up to Haworth. I bought a leaflet at Haworth Railway Station that shown the filming locations & detailed "The Railway Children" walk. The route is 6mile long. There is a shorter loop of 2.5 miles if you're not feeling too energetic! You can download the route via the Keighley & Worth Railway website. The Bronte Parsonage is worth a visit, but is a bit pricey. Anyway, I'll not tell you too much or I might spoil the adventure! Enjoy.

[Katharine]

I don't know if it's available on BBC I-player, but there was a documentary on last night about railway preservation societies. I only caught part of it, but there was a section which featured the railway where the 1970s Railway Children film was made. It looked a really interesting programme, with lots of home movie clips of the film being made, as well as how the engines were salvaged and transported to their new homes.

[Julie2owlsdene]

@Julie2owlsdene.... We parked at Keighley & took the Steam Train up to Haworth. I bought a leaflet at Haworth Railway Station that shown the filming locations & detailed "The Railway Children" walk. The route is 6mile long. There is a shorter loop of 2.5 miles if you're not feeling too energetic! You can download the route via the Keighley & Worth Railway website. The Bronte Parsonage is worth a visit, but is a bit pricey. Anyway, I'll not tell you too much or I might spoil the adventure! Enjoy.

Thanks, number 6. We love Haworth, and the Parsonage I enjoyed immensley. We were there in May, hence we want to go back in October. I loved the moors too, and that's what we're hoping to explore, as well as go on the steam train etc.

[number 6]

Yes, I'd like to explore the moors as well. Only had time to pop up to the ruined outbuilding where "Wuthering Heights" was set, before we had to head off home. It was still worth the effort, though!
You'll have to take a few photos when you next visit & post them on the forum.

[burlingtonbertram]

I got a copy of Nesbit's the Enchanted Castle this summer which finally 'laid to rest' a ghost for me.

There was a BBC adaptation of this back in 1979 (when I was 8 or 9) and I was absolutely petrified of it. I found the statues that came to life creepy. Worst of all though were the Ugly-wuglies; the dummies made of household objects that also came to life. I found their expressionless, mask-like faces terrifying.

I could never remember what the series was but it left me with a dislike of blank faces that lasted for quite a long time. There was an episode of ITV's Sapphire & Steel sometime between 79 and 82 with a man, trapped in photographs, with a wholly smooth, blank face. I found that utterly repellent.

Now that I have read The Enchanted Castle I find the statues charming and the Ugly-Wuglies funny. Nothing to worry about at all. Thank you for terrifying me though, BBC and ITV.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I love that book and I too remember being scared by the Ugly-Wuglies when watching the TV adaptation - though I enjoyed being scared! I'd very much like to see the TV serial again one of these days but I don't think it has ever had a UK release.

[rosy_posy]

I'd love to see a tv serial of The Enchanted Castle. I wonder if you can get it on dvd. It's my favourite of E. Nesbit's books and the Ugly-Wuglies seriously freaked me the first time I read it (possibly because I have a fear of masks anyway).

[burlingtonbertram]

According to the all-wise (allegedly) Wikipedia:-

The Enchanted Castle was adapted into a TV-miniseries by the BBC in 1979. It has not been released on DVD or VHS in the UK, however, a DVD was released in Australia on 03/07/2013.

[rosy_posy]

Ah, sadness. Holding out hopes for it to be released here too...

[Anita Bensoussane]

Did anyone see the short but interesting BBC programme about E. Nesbit this evening (focussing particularly on her book Five Children and It)? Like Samantha Bond and Jacqueline Wilson, I love E. Nesbit's writing style. Jacqueline Wilson talked of the "down to earth", "immediate" quality of Nesbit's writing, and Samantha Bond spoke of Nesbit's passion for poetry. The realism of E. Nesbit's characters and the vibrancy of her imagination left a huge impression on me as a child, and she presented magical happenings with great perception, reflection and humour.

The BBC programme (The Secret Life of Children's Books: 1) is available on iplayer for about four weeks:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... ren-and-it" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Daisy]

I watched it Anita and was interested to hear about her life and writings. It was nice to see excerpts from the TV adaptation of Five Children and It which I enjoyed when it was first shown on TV.