Jumbo Spencer - Helen Cresswell

[pete9012S]

Jumbo Spencer dreams of being a great reformer and a leader of men; so, during the summer vacation, he and his friends set out to improve their village.

Anyone remember the book and tv series? It was a bit like The Put 'Em Rights.
It was broadcast on tv in 1976 and I found it again recently on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4aq1jMRdFk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[number 6]

Good gracious, Pete! That's definitely a blast from the past. Yes, I can vaguely remember watching a few episodes of the TV series, but I'd totally forgotten about it. My memory of it is rather sketchy, even after watching the vid on the link. Think I was only 10 or 11 at the time, so maybe it didn't catch my attention much or I thought I was too old to be watching it! I can't remember ever reading the book. Nonetheless, a great little bit of TV history you've trawled up!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Gosh - Jumbo Spencer (the TV series) does ring faint bells but I too had forgotten all about it over the years! I never came across the book and had no idea it was a Helen Cresswell story. Thanks for unearthing it, Pete!

[Tony Summerfield]

Jumbo Spencer (October 28th 1963) (Brockhampton)
Jumbo Back to Nature (December 1965) (Brockhampton)
Jumbo Afloat (August 1966) (Brockhampton)
Jumbo and the Big Dig (June 1968) (Brockhampton)

As you can see from my anorak files there were four Jumbo Spencer books. According to my files I have two of them and Jumbo Back to Nature is a signed copy - but I have absolutely no idea where it is!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

You'll have to have a "Big Dig" for it!

[pete9012S]

Thanks for the info Tony - I thought you might have some of the Jumbo books.

Your other book may turn up when you are not looking for it in an unlikely place...
My wife's hot water bottle burst this morning and could we find her spare one anywhere - nope - we gave up and later she found it purely by chance at the bottom of our clothes washing basket!

[Tony Summerfield]

Now you have got me going - I thought it would be with my Helen Cresswell books so I went to look and they have all disappeared!! The only one left is Bagthorpes Battered.

When I went to look I found another book, Pirate Waters by Kenneth Ireland (Hodder & Stoughton, 1956). I bought it fourteen years ago today for £1 at a book fair as I liked the wrapper. I shall read it now as it is about five boys spending their Easter holidays on the Norfolk Broads and according to the front flap, 'adventures fell thick and fast from the moment they weighed anchor'.

Our weekly serial has whetted my appetite for this.

[pete9012S]

Pirate Waters by Kenneth Ireland - yes the cover looks great. I thought I would just pop on ebay and buy it, but it seems to have shot up in price since you paid a pound for it Tony!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from ... d&_sacat=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Daisy]

Now you have got me going - I thought it would be with my Helen Cresswell books so I went to look and they have all disappeared!! The only one left is Bagthorpes Battered.

When I went to look I found another book, Pirate Waters by Kenneth Ireland (Hodder & Stoughton, 1956). I bought it fourteen years ago today for £1 at a book fair as I liked the wrapper. I shall read it now as it is about five boys spending their Easter holidays on the Norfolk Broads and according to the front flap, 'adventures fell thick and fast from the moment they weighed anchor'.

Our weekly serial has whetted my appetite for this.

if the scenes are a bit different it's because it's another part of the Broads!

[Tony Summerfield]

Pirate Waters by Kenneth Ireland - yes the cover looks great. I thought I would just pop on ebay and buy it, but it seems to have shot up in price since you paid a pound for it Tony!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from ... d&_sacat=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ow!! I think I might have to wear white gloves to read it. I find it absolutely staggering that books from really obscure authors can command such high prices. I bought loads of books like this because I liked the wrappers, they were cheap and nobody else was the slightest bit interested in them - furthermore I bought it from a proper dealer!

Never mind Pete, the book might be awful, sorry I mentioned it - I shall go back into hibernation!

I ought to add that after the enthusiasm from you and Eddie I have just bought a copy of the Jean Ure book. I splashed out on it as it cost me £2.90, but that did include free postage - I got it from MusicMagpie, easily the best prices on eBay and always free postage, the DVDs that I buy from them are cheaper than ones in the charity shops in Salisbury.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Pirate Waters has an attractive-looking cover. White-gloved fingers crossed that the story lives up to it! It's shocking that the book is so expensive nowadays even without a dustwrapper. What a pity we can't travel through time (as I imagine might happen in Jean Ure's A Twist in Time ) and go back to an earlier era and cheaper prices!

[pete9012S]

Pirate Waters will be a pleasurable task to try and procure at a reasonable rate Tony - after all I only need one more Betty Maxey to complete my paperback set and I need a new challenge!

I would never have heard of the book without you mentioning it.
Hope you enjoy the Jean Ure book too.
I thought the ending was particularly well done for a modern (ish) book.

[Eddie Muir]

I ought to add that after the enthusiasm from you and Eddie I have just bought a copy of the Jean Ure book. I splashed out on it as it cost me £2.90, but that did include free postage - I got it from MusicMagpie, easily the best prices on eBay and always free postage, the DVDs that I buy from them are cheaper than ones in the charity shops in Salisbury.

It’s great to hear that you’ve bought a copy of A Twist in Time by Jean Ure, Tony. I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading it.

[Tony Summerfield]

Thanks Eddie, I am sure I will. Jean Ure is a prolific author and has written over 170 books, many for younger children but still over 100 novels. She started in 1960 and is still writing today so her career has lasted a lot longer than Enid's!

I am sure everyone knows about the site FantasticFiction, but if anyone doesn't I recommend it and use it all the time myself. Here is Jean Ure's entry.

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/u/jean-ure/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It is not perfect and does contain mistakes, but I don't know of any better websites for this sort of thing.

It is also right up to the present day with authors who have only just arrived on the scene. I am curently reading Wundersmith having gone straight to it after Nevermoor which was Waterstone's Children's book of the year last year.

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/t/jessica-townsend/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks, Tony. Jean Ure is not only prolific but remarkably versatile, looking at the range of genres. I'm amazed that I never seem to come across her books anywhere!