Probably Blyton - double-decker cave

Looking for a book or a story? Post details here and hopefully someone will be able to help.
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ghughesarch
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Probably Blyton - double-decker cave

Post by ghughesarch »

As a child of about 9 or 10 I read little but Blyton, so I assume the book I'm looking for must be one of Enid's. I know it wasn't Famous Five, or "Adventure" series, or Secret Seven (I think), but it was a similar sort of adventure. What particularly sticks in my mind was a sort of two-level cave, the lower one wet and slimy and easily accessible, the upper one dry and sandy and reached through a hole hidden at the back of the lower cave, and where the children made their base. Unfortunately I can't remember any other details of the plot! so if anyone recognises the story from this single element, I'd be very grateful.
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Probably Blyton - double-decker cave

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I can't remember all the details of the caves in various books, but here are some possibilities:

The Secret of Spiggy Holes

Smuggler Ben

Holiday House
.

You can find out more by clicking on our "Cave of Books" button and putting each title into the search box. I don't think the children make any of the caves "their base" in the books I've mentioned - though in Smuggler Ben they play in the caves.

Hope someone else is able to be a bit more precise!

Edit: Also just remembered The Adventurous Four Again!
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

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Re: Probably Blyton - double-decker cave

Post by Fiona1986 »

I also thought of Spiggy Holes and Adventurous Four Again.
"It's the ash! It's falling!" yelled Julian, almost startling Dick out of his wits...
"Listen to its terrible groans and creaks!" yelled Julian, almost beside himself with impatience.


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Re: Probably Blyton - double-decker cave

Post by Daisy »

The Secret Seven used a cave as their headquarters in one story... and there was an upper cave, but it wasn't by the sea.
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ghughesarch
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Re: Probably Blyton - double-decker cave

Post by ghughesarch »

Somewhat to my surprise (as I thought I remembered all the Secret Seven stories pretty well) it sounds as if it might well be The Secret Seven Win Through. I'll pop into a bookshop at the weekend and check.
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Re: Probably Blyton - double-decker cave

Post by IceMaiden »

I know you've said its not a Famous Five but Five Run Away Together has the children living in a cave that is reached through a hole hidden at the back in the roof of the cave and it's sandy and dry. Valley of Adventure has a cave that is wet and slimy to access due to being behind a waterfall, but the inside is dry as the greenery hanging down acts as a screen to keep water out.
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Re: Probably Blyton - double-decker cave

Post by pete9012S »

More info about The Secret Seven's Cave:

Image

CHAPTER FOUR
In the Cave
THE Secret Seven crowded together to see the cave. There was no proper path to it, and they
had to squeeze through close-growing bushes of bright-yellow broom to get to it. The bushes grew
almost up to the cave entrance.
'No wonder Janet and I never spotted this cave before,' said Peter. 'We've been in this old sand
quarry heaps of times, but never found the cave. It was only because old Scamper disappeared and
we went to look for him that we found it. We were standing here, calling him, when he suddenly
appeared under the trailing leaves that hide the cave! Didn't you, Scamper?'
'Woof!' said Scamper, and ran into the cave and back, as if to say, 'Do come on, it's a fine
place!'
The trailing stems that hung down over the entrance certainly hid it very well. Peter pulled the
greenery aside. 'It's like a curtain,' he said. 'Look— now you can see into the cave properly.'
Everyone bent their heads and looked in. It certainly was a fine cave!
'Nice and big—and with a lovely sandy floor!' said Jack. 'I don't see why you said it's not
comfortable, Peter. Sand is lovely to sit on.'
'Oh well—I had to say something against it, as it was Janet's suggestion and mine,' said Peter.
By now they were all in the cave. Pam flung herself down on the sand. It was very soft indeed.
'Lovely!' she said. 'I'd like to sleep here in this sand. I could burrow my body down into it and
make a lovely bed. It's a simply wonderful meeting-place, I think.'
'Nobody would EVER find it!' said George, looking round. 'It's a bit dark, that's the only thing
—it's that green curtain over the entrance that makes it so dark.'
Janet obligingly held the curtain back, and the sun streamed into the cave.
'Fine!' said Colin. 'We can have the curtain back when we're just playing about—and draw it
when we're having a secret meeting. Couldn't be better. A cave with a ready-made curtain!'
'And look—the cave has a rock roof, all uneven,
high here and low there,' said Barbara. 'And there are rocky shelves round the walls—we can
use those to put our things on—we'll bring all kinds of things here! I expect we'll have to use this cave
all the Easter hols, so we'll make it a kind of home as well as a meeting-place. Shall we?'
Everyone thought this was a very good idea. 'We'll bring the shed cushions here,' said Janet. 'And a
box for a table.'
'And keep food here, and lemonade or orangeade,' said Jack. 'Won't it be fun?'
Everyone was sorry to leave the exciting cave. It really was a nice one,
spacious, though the roof was not very high, and it was only in places
that the Seven could stand upright—clean, with its floor of soft sand—
and reaching back into a very nice, mysterious darkness, quite out of
reach of the sunshine.
Peter held back the curtain of greenery till everyone had gone out. Then
he let it drop into place and arranged it so that hardly a bit of the
entrance showed. Nobody at all would ever guess there was a big cave
behind it, going right into the hill beyond!
Image
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Re: Probably Blyton - double-decker cave

Post by Dinah Cunningham »

And this is in which book? It sounds interesting...
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Re: Probably Blyton - double-decker cave

Post by Daisy »

It is "The Secret Seven win Through", Dinah. I hope you can find it, ghughesarch, and it turns out to be the one you remember.
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Re: Probably Blyton - double-decker cave

Post by Moonraker »

The title was at the top of the page! :D
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Re: Probably Blyton - double-decker cave

Post by pete9012S »

The Secret Seven's cave in the sandy quarry reminds me of the cave/passage the Famous Five found a few years earlier also in a steep sandy quarry in their sixth adventure entitled
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Re: Probably Blyton - double-decker cave

Post by Dinah Cunningham »

I was not the one who searched it, but I found the quotation interesting... Thanks for the answer, I wasn't sure about the title.
Bill: "I don't know what to say. You're only kids — but you're the finest company of friends anyone could have. You know the meaning of loyalty already, and even if you're scared you don't give up. I'm proud to have you for my friends."
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