Journal 31

What did you think of the latest Journal?
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Moonraker
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Journal 31

Post by Moonraker »

Another amazing edition! I am so proud to be a member of this society.

Many congratulations on achieving yet another fine compilation, Tony. Enormous congratulations to all contributors on some wonderful articles.

I especially enjoyed John Lester's Five Go Off to Camp. One of my favourite Five books. It did seem, however, that you rushed the ending a bit, John. A feat in which Enid was a perfectionist! I felt that there was another paragraph or two in this excellent article.

Anita's musings on our friend the Saucepan-Man were a treat. If I have a soul-mate in the Society, then it is you, Anita! :twisted:

The piece de resistance must go to Tony for the article, Where is Kirrin?. Maybe this will go part of the way in bringing to a conclusion the arguments on where such and such a place is! I had previously read that Kirrin Island may have been based on an island in the Channel Islands, but didn't know that the same island contained a castle. This obviously was Kirrin - island and castle - as Enid said, "So I did [put the island and castle into a book] as you know!" Sorry Corfe Castle!

I have always been of the opinion that places stayed in Enid's mind, then subconsciously they were brought out in her descriptions of castles, islands, etc.

Great to be part of the Enid Blyton Society. Thanks to all concerned.
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Post by Lucky Star »

Aaargh.. I'm still on holiday so have to wait until Saturday 25th to get home and read it. It really sounds like I have a treat in store. :D
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Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I thought Tony's "Where is Kirrin?" piece was very thoughtfully-written. I'd love to see those notes for the Secret Seven series! There are still links between Blyton and Corfe, since Enid Blyton knew the area well and the Children's Film Foundation version of Five On a Treasure Island was filmed there. But a Society holiday to Jersey is definitely in order - government-funded of course, since we're dealing with an important part of our literary heritage!

George's letter on page 29 was very apt! :)

I also found Terry Gustafson's article amusing. I recall that, in the final issue of Green Hedges Magazine some years ago, he wrote that he was going to reveal which Enid Blyton character stole his heart, but he didn't have the chance because the magazine folded when the Editor, Michael Rouse, became ill. It seems that, in his article for Journal 31, Terry has finally had the opportunity to get his thoughts into print!

In David Cook's write-up of The River of Adventure , I was particularly interested in the comments on Croydon Airport. For years, I've kept meaning to find out more about that. I also enjoyed John Lester's analysis of Five Go Off to Camp and the article about Bob the Little Jockey.

Anita
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Post by booklover »

Hi everyone :)

Thank you Tony for another wonderful Journal including many great articles!

Moonraker and Anita have described the various articles so I won't individualise here other than to say thank you for providing the solution to the longstanding Kirrin Island puzzle! (Now I just need a map of the Channel Islands!)

And thank you for the fascinating article about the run-in between the former Australian Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, and Enid. What a kerfuffle! That article looked like a personal acknowledgment of the growing contingent of Society members living here in Australia!

By the way, Tony may have solved the Kirrin Island mystery, but the letter from Enid seems to raise even more puzzles:

- If Inspector Jenks was "real", who was he?
- who is the "rascal of a boy" that Fatty is based on?
- which aunt owned the Kiki-like parrot?

Will we ever know? :shock:
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Post by Anita Bensoussane »

[Booklover:]
"- If Inspector Jenks was "real", who was he?
- who is the "rascal of a boy" that Fatty is based on?
- which aunt owned the Kiki-like parrot?"

In her autobiography, The Story of My Life, Enid Blyton says that she based Inspector Jenks on a real Inspector who advised her on police procedure as she wrote the books. She adds: "He has each Mystery book as it comes out, and he reads them all, and enjoys them." Blyton doesn't name him but provides a photograph of him in which he looks round-faced and jovial. Barbara Stoney informs us in her biography of Enid Blyton that his name was Stephen Jennings.

Kiki too is mentioned in The Story of My Life. She was based on a parrot called Kiki who belonged to Enid Blyton's old aunt (the name of the aunt isn't given.) The parrot was a good talker and loved to play tricks and imitate sounds.

I too would love to know the identity of that "rascal of a boy" who was the inspiration for the character of Fatty. Perhaps he was one of Enid Blyton's pupils in her days as a teacher? Since Jenks sounds like Jennings, and Kiki kept her real name, did Enid ever teach anyone with a name that sounded anything like Frederick Algernon Trotteville?

Anita
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Post by Islander »

Firstly, humble apologies to Tony for being totally useless when it comes to e-mails! I really need to have my lobotomy reversed one of these days.....

I am in Jersey so will provide several links to possible locations with regard to Kirrin. Unfortuantely I am away from the island until Monday so will not be able to run through the list of possibles until then! Will need to take a couple of pictures as well!

As Tony mentioned in the Journal (another class issue it has to be said) there is not really one place that fits the criteria of Kirrin Village/Bay/Island. I will try and post and let you decide.

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Post by Matthew Roberts »

Another excellent issue, Tony. Your article on Kirrin is definitely the pick of a very good bunch. It gave me to ponder why I had always taken as fact that Corfe Castle was Kirrin Castle. I wonder what Viv has to say about this. ;)

Also thoroughly enjoyed the contributions from Anita Bensoussane and Terry Gustofson. Anita has maintained a high standard ever since her first article for the Journal, and I just love Terry's digressional, observational style.
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Post by Anita Bensoussane »

[Islander:] "I am in Jersey so will provide several links to possible locations with regard to Kirrin. Unfortuantely I am away from the island until Monday so will not be able to run through the list of possibles until then! Will need to take a couple of pictures as well!"

Ooh - sounds exciting! :D

Good to see Matthew (Matt) back on the Forum!

Anita
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Post by Moonraker »

Yes, welcome back, Matt!

Viv's probably holed-up inside Corfe Castle, planning her strategy to counter-attack this Channel Islands propaganda. :twisted:

Unless of course, she's looking at gift shops in Jersey....
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Post by HeatherS »

Can I add my admiration to that already expressed? As usual it was a spectacular journal. My husband and I were on our way out for a picnic when the postman arrived. Unfortunately for him, most of our picnic was spent with me devouring the journal and telling him about the exciting bits. I don't think his definition of "exciting" really equates to mine :D. Incidentally, I discovered that the Journal goes perfectly with chardonnay, spicy capsicum dip and chicken pasta salad!
Anita Bensoussane wrote:In her autobiography, The Story of My Life, Enid Blyton says that she based Inspector Jenks on a real Inspector who advised her on police procedure as she wrote the books.
It's almost laughable that she had expert advice! The "police procedures" in the Mystery books seem totally unrealistic to me. Local bobbies floundering around in dark sheds in search of non-existent treasure, locking up children in rooms and calling for backup to deal with pigs, dogs and men wanting their aunties all seems a little far-fetched in real life! I wonder what the dear Inspector really thought of all this when he read the books.
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Post by Anita Bensoussane »

[Heather:] "My husband and I were on our way out for a picnic when the postman arrived. Unfortunately for him, most of our picnic was spent with me devouring the journal and telling him about the exciting bits."

Crumbs! You were so delighted to receive the Journal that you took the postman on a picnic with you?! :wink: :lol:


[Heather:] "It's almost laughable that she had expert advice! The "police procedures" in the Mystery books seem totally unrealistic to me. Local bobbies floundering around in dark sheds in search of non-existent treasure, locking up children in rooms and calling for backup to deal with pigs, dogs and men wanting their aunties all seems a little far-fetched in real life! I wonder what the dear Inspector really thought of all this when he read the books."

Barbara Stoney writes that "His [Stephen Jennings'] only criticism of the stories was that he felt she had rather 'overdone' her portrayal of the other, entirely fictitious, policeman involved - the rather pompous and stupid Mr. Goon - all too often outwitted and sneered at by the 'Five Findouters': Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip and Bets."

Anita
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Post by Viv of Ginger Pop »

moonraker wrote: Viv's probably holed-up inside Corfe Castle, planning her strategy to counter-attack this Channel Islands propaganda. :twisted:
You bet!

Before I make my case, have a look at Tony's suggestion, St Aubin's Fort.
http://www.jeron.je/thatwasjersey/castl ... 013big.jpg

Then have a look at some of the other fortifications around Jersey
http://user.itl.net/~gedi/

The conundrum of Kirrin; Corfe or Jersey?

What excitement - we have a new clue for the real whereabouts of Kirrin. And evidence doesn't come any better than a real letter from Enid herself. Does this new evidence in any way diminish my claims that it was Corfe Castle that inspired Kirrin Castle, when Enid herself says that the castle and island are somewhere off Jersey? Strange as it may seem, I think not, and I set out my case below.

My Evidence

The evidence I worked on for my 2002 book The Dorset Days of Enid Blyton was the best available, given there was no evidence from Enid at the time.

My first port of call was to talk to her family. Gillian sent me a set of notes that she had made for a BBC Pebble Mill production called Tracks, where she described real locations, and included Corfe as Kirrin.

Next I read Norman Wright's The Famous Five: Everything you ever wanted to know. This acknowledged expert threw his weight in favour of Corfe.

Thirdly I thought about what Enid knew, and what may have influenced her. She and Gillian had visited Corfe at Easter 1941 and Five on a Treasure Island came out sometime between July and October 1942. That visit to Corfe had been very close to the time that she wrote the book, and if we knew the date of Easter 1941 and the date that the book came out, we could narrow down how soon it was. A book took an average of 10 months from leaving the author to publication, but this book may have taken even longer since a new publisher had to be found with paper to spare

Evidence about the Island

Kirrin Island has a castle on it, is surrounded by rocks with a large wreck stranded upon them, has a useful cave under it, and is of such a size that assorted children and a dog can hide themselves from various baddies.

If you can imagine Kirrin Island, without thinking first of Eileen Soper's pictures, how big an area would it cover? Would it be as big as St Michaels Mount, Lindisfarne, or Brownsea Island? Or is it very small, perhaps only the size of a football pitch?

From the mainland Kirrin Island is described as small, but as the children approach it for the first time Julian says that it is bigger than he thought. Ann says it feels like an island because wherever you are, you can see to the other side, but this must be impossible because there is a low hill on it.

From what I have seen from pictures of the islands off Jersey, their combined areas look as though they would fit comfortably inside a modern Tesco supermarket.

Evidence about the Castle

What sort of a castle is Kirrin Castle? Do you regard it as a real castle built for battle, a fortified manor house, a folly, or a small fortification?

Kirrin Castle, once beautiful, proud and strong, is now a ruin. It has an enormous broken arch and slit like windows. It had upstairs accommodation, and is built from white stone.

To me it sounds like a proper Norman castle. Archways were typical of Norman architecture, and slit like windows essential in the age of archery. Corfe Castle is such a Norman castle (complete with broken archway) and is built of pale limestone which shines brightly in sunlight.

I understand that the forts around Jersey are typically Tudor (or later) and built in the age of the canon. These forts were very small, and manned by just a few soldiers at a time. Building in Jersey is usually with granite, often pink but sometimes grey. From the pictures I'm not sure if St Aubin's is made of pink granite or red brick. However the bedrock shows clearly the origin of its French name of Noirmont. These forts were still in use during Napoleonic times, and are still in reasonably good condition. They could be said to be deserted but not in a state of ruination when Enid visited over 80 years ago.

What was Enid describing?

In 1962 Five have a Mystery to Solve came out, placing Kirrin firmly on the mainland. George cycled over to her cousins from Kirrin, and then they all rode off to view Poole Harbour and Whispering/Brownsea Island. Yet in this same year Blyton writes a letter telling a fan that Kirrin is in the Channel Islands. How can I explain this conundrum?

What I think she means is that Jersey inspired the Topography of Kirrin. I can well imagine her in 1924 gazing at all the little islands with their forts on them and thinking to herself "wouldn't it be fun to own a place like that. I must put it into a story sometime".

Perhaps this thought resurfaced 17 years later when she visited Corfe. It may have been only a matter of weeks later, following her Dorset visit, when she wrote Five on a Treasure Island. Her wish fulfilment would also came true, because through the character of George she did get to own an island with a castle on it.

The letter from 1962 was written 38 years after her 1924 honeymoon in Jersey. We know that she took inspiration for stories from all over the place, and shouldn't be surprised to see a jumble of places being used. That she writes tersely of Corfe when writing about the 1957 film is not unusual, especially when the brevity of some of her diary entries is considered.

Personally I think it a stroke of genius for her to take a Norman castle that she knew well (Corfe) and put it on a rocky island (like those off Jersey but bigger) to come up with the familiar landscape of Kirrin, even if neither element were being described exactly.

So where is Kirrin? The definitive answer has to be that the REAL location for Kirrin was inside Enid Blyton's own imagination.

Best wishes

Viv
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Post by Anita Bensoussane »

[Viv:] "So where is Kirrin? The definitive answer has to be that the REAL location for Kirrin was inside Enid Blyton's own imagination."

That's a point well worth making, Viv. Enid Blyton had a strong imagination and was adept at taking elements of real locations and adapting them to fit her purpose. Though I would tend to agree with what Tony says in the final paragraph of his article: "My conclusion is that we have it in Enid's own words that the whole of Kirrin was based on a place in Jersey. Corfe Castle may well have been an influence on Enid's subconscious mind when she was describing aspects of Kirrin Castle, but with the evidence available I do not think that it should be taken as fact that Corfe and Kirrin are one and the same..."

I took a look at those pictures to which you gave a link, Viv, and thought that both Portelet Bay and Elizabeth Castle looked rather promising... :wink:

Anita
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Post by Tony Summerfield »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:I took a look at those pictures to which you gave a link, Viv, and thought that both Portelet Bay and Elizabeth Castle looked rather promising
With Islander's help I looked at quite a number of possible locations before deciding on St. Aubin. Elizabeth Castle was one of these, but I was primarily working from Enid's quotes in the two letters that she wrote and I discounted Elizabeth Castle as it is just off the coast at St. Helier and as the capital of Jersey, even in 1924 it couldn't possibly have been called a village. We have it in Enid's own words that it was all based on a location in Jersey and as with all other descriptions of places Enid's imagination did the rest. I am by no means adamant about St. Aubin - I have never been there, so I think there is still plenty of scope for other suggestions.

Best wishes
Tony
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Post by HeatherS »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:Crumbs! You were so delighted to receive the Journal that you took the postman on a picnic with you?! :wink: :lol:
Oops - didn't realise how that read! I think if I had that would have been the end of my marriage! It's bad enough I took the journal along with me.
Anita Bensoussane wrote:Barbara Stoney writes that "His [Stephen Jennings'] only criticism of the stories was that he felt she had rather 'overdone' her portrayal of the other, entirely fictitious, policeman involved - the rather pompous and stupid Mr. Goon - all too often outwitted and sneered at by the 'Five Findouters': Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip and Bets."
Goodness, do you have that book memorised??! Along with every other EB book ever written.... I could never keep up with you! :D Looks like it's time for me to pick up my Stoney again. I don't even have a vague recollection of that passage.
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