The Enid Blyton Society

Saw this acticle on MSN news today and it reminded me of the above article for the most recent journal.

Youth killed in cave roof collapse
Police at the scene at the Hermitage Caves after a teenage boy was killed
A teenage boy has been killed and a woman seriously injured after a cave roof collapsed during a camping trip.

Rest of article:
http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/article.aspx? ... d=15770102" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This news item reminded me also of the recent article in the journal. According to our Midland News there were notices to the effect that the caves were dangerous and also,they had, in the recent past, been boarded up, however the boards had been removed - maybe they were handy fuel for a camp-fire - and local youngsters were in the habit of using the venue as a gathering point. It is very sad and maybe we are all a bit guilty of the "it couldn't happen to me" syndrome. I imagine that for a time this accident will serve as a warning to others, but like most things it will then slip into the background and be forgotten (except by the relatives of the victims of course). I don't know that I have ever read in fiction of anyone seeing and then ignoring warning signs. Our heroes and heroines seem to stumble upon previously little or unknown caves, tunnels etc. where no such danger is known to exist.

There is a danger in wallowing in the cosy, everything ends well climate of Blyton. Things do not end well. Villains often succeed. This incident, brought to our minds by Fiona, is a real tragedy, the thought of a young life snuffed out in the prime of life, fills me with dread. My thoughts are with his family. Secret passages and tunnels might seem alluring, but they represent a fast-track out of this life. I longed to explore a slate mine in our recent trip to Wales. I was gutted that the mine entrance was gated and locked. Maybe I should have been relieved.

Sorry about that roof collapse that killed that teenager. Very tragic indeed. It reminded me of
Edgar Stick falling through the roof cave literally on top of The Five on Kirrin Island in Five Run
Away Together. That fall could have injured or killed some of the kids in real life. However in
Five Go To Billycock Hill, there are warning signs against insecure tunnels!!!

Yes but I think the Five ignore the warnings if I remember rightly. This is a tragedy indeed. A couple of years ago I attempted to gain entry to Tilly Whim caves in Purbeck while out on a coastal walk. I eventually thought better of it as I had no torch or even a mobile phone on me. As Nigel said perhaps I should have been glad that it was a bit difficult to reach the entry.

In The Ragamuffin Mystery the children also enter tunnels marked "Danger." They assume that the notices warning of danger have been put up by the villains to keep people from poking and prying into their activities.

Anita

Thanks to those who have pointed out that sometimes danger signs were ignored in the stories. I have spent a happy few moments mentally trying to "update" the books to add safety features to the scripts! Can you imagine the Five packing for one of their holidays and having to include a safety helmet or life-saving jackets?(Including one for Timmy of course - George would insist on that!) I tried to picture them on their bikes with these added bulky items but failed! A trailer would be needed, I'm sure, but without Mr Luffy to pull it that wouldn't be very practicable either. What other safety items should modern adventurers take with them? Bill didn't even mention life jackets when he first took Philip, Jack, Dinah and Lucy-Ann to sea. Ropes were occasionally produced from around the waist when the need arose - how uncomfortable - but I can't think of anything else.

This news is a tragedy indeed. I must admit I felt no eagerness to go in a tunnel or cave reading the books. I am not really adventurous; much more practical! Regarding Nigel's comment, I think you are spot on, Nigel. Blyton writes on a mostly imaginary world, and the perfectness of that word is what endears them to me, but on no account must one believe it is, or was true. Thankfully I didn't believe it.

I was reminded of this thread when re-reading this month's "Monthly Blyton" extracts ("Author of Adventure" section.) The following words from Enid Blyton to her readers leave me feeling somewhat uneasy:

Busy Bees, of course, never destroy nests, disturb the birds or take their eggs — and I want to tell our readers what one boy did last year; he is a member of the Sir Francis Drake Hive. There were children in his district who were thoughtless, and regarded it as fun to destroy nests and rob the birds of their eggs — so Michael formed a band of Vigilantes — children who set themselves to guard the countryside and warn off any boys and girls who came to beat the hedges with sticks. Maybe some of you can do the same, and make yourselves a badge with V on it. I am always glad to hear of children with good ideas like these.

— Enid Blyton's Magazine Vol. 1 No. 4, Apr 29th 1953

Far from being a "good idea," it sounds dangerous to me to encourage children to confront thugs who are going around the countryside armed with sticks, intent on causing damage and destruction. I can't help thinking it could possibly even lead to gang warfare if word spread and large numbers of children joined in (on both sides), some of them merely because they wanted the thrill of being part of a conflict. I'm all for children raising awareness of the issue in other ways, eg. by organising events and activities at which people can have fun and learn about nature, making and distributing leaflets, etc, but this way strikes me as extreme. I was wondering what others think?

Anita

I wonder if Enid was getting wrapped up inside her imaginative world, where goodies reigned supreme, and all the baddies were in prison. Imagine a group of rosy-cheeked, pompous Kirrin types hiding behind a bush, near to hedges full of birds' nests. Enter a group of dirty, smelly working class boys.

"I say, you scrotes!" said Julian, "Stand fast! We are not going to allow your sort to damage birds' nests, so be off with you, back to the council estate from which you came!"

"Sorry, young sir," replied a scruffy yob, "Whatever could have come over us to want to do this. Thank you, sir, for showing us the way."

"Get away quickly," whispered one of the gang, "I told you it would have been better to go queer-bashing up on Hampstead Heath!"

Not to be recommended these days, certainly. The trouble today is that the working classes don't know their station in life...

Look Out Secret Seven has a scene like that but Jack and George, not being Julian or Fatty, come off second-best when they confront the nest raiders. Help arrives before the thugs take their SS badges fortunately, so they manage to avoid a row with Peter.

This was my favourite article from Journal 38, although there were many others that I enjoyed.

I was pleased to see the article had quite a bit to say about the Lone Pine series, as I have been reading some of those books recently, thanks to the excellent work that Girls Gone By is doing in reproducing them. He points out that Saville is rather more realistic in his depiction of how dangerous caves can be. Indeed, in The Neglected Mountain, which I just read earlier this week, Peter falls and breaks her ankle in a cave, and the Lone Piners afterwards vow not to go into the cave in the Stiperstones again! But their adventures in the cave are still very exciting. Still, as the article's author himself pointed out, children might be rather less inclined to explore caves and passages, without supervision at any rate, after reading a Lone Pine book! (Although there might be a few other high-risk activities that they would be tempted to do, like walking into the "lion's den", one of the scarier habits the Lone Piners tend to have!).

Daisy wrote:Thanks to those who have pointed out that sometimes danger signs were ignored in the stories. I have spent a happy few moments mentally trying to "update" the books to add safety features to the scripts! Can you imagine the Five packing for one of their holidays and having to include a safety helmet or life-saving jackets?(Including one for Timmy of course - George would insist on that!) I tried to picture them on their bikes with these added bulky items but failed! A trailer would be needed, I'm sure, but without Mr Luffy to pull it that wouldn't be very practicable either. What other safety items should modern adventurers take with them? Bill didn't even mention life jackets when he first took Philip, Jack, Dinah and Lucy-Ann to sea. Ropes were occasionally produced from around the waist when the need arose - how uncomfortable - but I can't think of anything else.

Well, some answers to these questions will give the Famous Five's survival guide - unfortunately the guest speaker didn't show up last EB-day