Real-life inspiration for novel settings.

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Chrissie777
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Re: Real-life inspiration for novel settings.

Post by Chrissie777 »

sixret wrote:You're right, Chrissie. The only series that I could not really say its location is Secret series. Hope someone will let us know.
Sixret, I always thought that the first two books of the Secret series take place in Cornwall (just a feeling).
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Re: Real-life inspiration for novel settings.

Post by Chrissie777 »

Daisy wrote:And Austria, the Middle East and the Greek islands!
Yes, you are right, Daisy. 8)
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Re: Real-life inspiration for novel settings.

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

In Chapter 2 of The Island of Adventure we learn that Jack and Lucy-Ann live with their Uncle Geoffrey in Lippinton (a made-up town). The house is described as "ordinary, a house in a row in a small-sized town." The fictional town in The Six Bad Boys has a similar-sounding name - Lappington.

In The Sea of Adventure the four children and Mrs. Mannering appear to live just outside London. They take a taxi to Euston Station from their house and Enid Blyton writes, "They bundled in with all their luggage. Now to London - to meet Dr. Walker..."

Of course, locations like Lippinton and the place near London where Mrs. Mannering lives are of little consequence and I doubt Enid put a lot of thought into them.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

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Re: Real-life inspiration for novel settings.

Post by Liam »

Daisy wrote:Good point Liam... I'd forgotten that mention of London. I wonder which 'aerodrome' Bill's plane was at the start of Valley of Adventure too. If that was Croydon, then the Mannerings were also on the London area.
Thanks Daisy. It does not say which aerodrome, but assuming Enid was thinking of a real place, and linking it to London with Anita's observation, maybe it can be pinned down from the 45 minutes it took to get there.
Valley 2:19 wrote: "The plane's not ready," said Bill. "Got to have something done to her today. Anyway, my leave doesn't start till tomorrow. You get everything packed and ready, and come to the aerodrome tomorrow night. Be there at eleven o'clock sharp. I'll order a car to call for you and take you there."
Valley 2:44 wrote: But when supper-time came they felt more cheerful. The car was coming at a quarter-past ten to take them to the aerodrome. Then into the plane they would get with Bill and off they would go into the darkness. Somehow it seemed far more thrilling to fly through the dark night than through the sunshiny day.
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Re: Real-life inspiration for novel settings.

Post by timv »

My thoughts on home locations:

Like the other contributors, I've always assumed that the Mannerings lived somewhere around London on the basis of the reference to Paddington in 'Sea of Adventure', plus the approximate distance to the airport (presumably Croydon) in 'Valley'. It must be somewhere with fairly widely spaced houses and largeish gardens, ie suburban, from the way that Philip can get out via the garden to warn Bill as he comes up the road without being spotted by a mystery watcher. Bill, thinking he is one of the criminals looking out for him, can then spot and quietly overpower him without the watcher overhearing (at the start of 'Sea'). Jack and Lucy-Ann's home town is clearly one of Enid's many made-up names and could be anywhere.

I assume that the Arnolds live somewhere near London once the parents get back to the UK, probably moving from an initial flat to a later house. I suspect that 'Spiggy Holes' is partly based on NE Devon around Beer, from its real-life well-known smuggler active 100 years before the book was written like Spiggy (Jack Rattenbury) and the real life smugglers' caves, the 'Seaton Holes' or 'Beer Holes' - plus the nearby seaside town of 'Longrigg' (Lyme Regis?). Enid visited nearby Budleigh Salterton in 1937.
The Secret Seven 's home town is somewhere on a major railway line with a track to Swindon which is mentioned as a passing goods train's destination (I am not sure in which book) so possibly around Reading or Maidenhead - not far from Enid's home. The 'House At The Corner' family's local magazine reveals the local town's name as 'River's End' (based on Bourne End?). The second Willow Tree Farm book says that runaway horses end up at Christmas Common, a real place in the Chiltern Hills NW of Henley and Maidenhead so not too far from Bourne End again, so the farm is near that. 'Shadow' is set on a sheep-farm somewhere in the North - possibly Cumbria if the 'Cogill Mountain' name comes from the real life 'Howgill Fells'.
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Re: Real-life inspiration for novel settings.

Post by Chrissie777 »

Tim, as always your post is very fascinating to read. Can't wait for your book to be published! 8) 8) 8)
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Re: Real-life inspiration for novel settings.

Post by Courtenay »

I agree, Tim, that's really interesting! I must admit I never paid much attention to occasional place names in Enid's books when I was little... growing up in Australia, I just carried the vague impression that all these places were "somewhere in England" and had no idea which ones were made up and which ones were real places or clearly based on a real location. Which didn't spoil my enjoyment of the books, of course, but it's fascinating as an adult (especially now I live in England) to gain a better idea of which real-life locations were included in Enid's books or may have been her inspiration.
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Chrissie777
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Re: Real-life inspiration for novel settings.

Post by Chrissie777 »

Same here, I didn't have much of an idea about the British landscape or coastline as a child.
I grew up in Germany and read EB's Famous Five/Adventure series from the fall of 1965 on when the translators still overdid it with giving every place and name in a foreign language book a German name. :roll:
So Timmy was called Timotheus, Kirrin Bay became Felsenbucht, Kirrin Island Felseninsel, Kirrin Castle Felsenburg and Kirrin Cottage Felsenhaus. Felsen = Rock.
The Name Henry John Kirrin was turned into Heinrich Johann Kirchner in the German translation which is related to church (Kirche = church).
Of course I grew attached to the German names, because I read the books dozens of times in my childhood, but later realized that they had different names in the English original which I actually like more. 8)
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Re: Real-life inspiration for novel settings.

Post by Stephen »

Yesterday, I walked to a place that I actually lived nearer to for the first thirty odd years of my life but had never visited before - Taplow Court! I didn't like to intrude in the main grounds as it's currently an international Buddhist centre (I seem to remember from the local papers that Sandie Shaw was heavily involved in the place as she used to live nearby). But there was public access to the Anglo-Saxon burial mound outside, and even though I hadn't been specifically thinking of Enid Blyton beforehand, the house actually reminded me of Rockingdown Manor from the back. A large old house in slightly overgrown surroundings looking perhaps a bit more shabby than it had done in its heyday.

There's a river nearby, Enid has mentioned Taplow before in other books, and of course she used to live just down the road. So I wonder...?

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