The Enid Blyton Society

Hi everyone,

On November 20 I posted a number of questions that Tony's article on the location of Kirrin Island raised.

booklover wrote: - 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?

Anita very promptly provided a very detailed answer the next day.

For various reasons I've been sidetracked since then, and haven't had a chance to post a reply.

Anyway, Anita, a rather belated thank you for responding to my queries - and solving a few more mysteries!

I've been re-reading the journals and came upon Terry Gustafson's article in which he is talking about the effect various characters had on him as a child. What has just struck me (didn't I read this thoroughly before?) was his comment on Silky's house ..."She possessed a little house of her own, and despite the obvious interruptions to her sleep when bodies came hurtling through the ceiling on their way down the Slippery-Slip......" Now I had never thought the slippery slip visibly passed through anyone else's house but was behind their inner walls. It's interesting to hear how one's early impressions can vary. Does Terry still envisage Silky's room like that I wonder!

Daisy wrote: Now I had never thought the slippery slip visibly passed through anyone else's house but was behind their inner walls. It's interesting to hear how one's early impressions can vary.

Goodness. I too have always thought of the Slippery Slip as being one continuous tunnel through the centre of the tree which bypassed all other dwellings on the way down. It never even occurred to me that it might have to pass through other homes. I suppose it is after all The Magic Faraway Tree. Perhaps normal logistics dont apply to it?

Lucky Star wrote:

Daisy wrote: Now I had never thought the slippery slip visibly passed through anyone else's house but was behind their inner walls. It's interesting to hear how one's early impressions can vary.

Goodness. I too have always thought of the Slippery Slip as being one continuous tunnel through the centre of the tree which bypassed all other dwellings on the way down. It never even occurred to me that it might have to pass through other homes. I suppose it is after all The Magic Faraway Tree. Perhaps normal logistics dont apply to it?

Poor Silky. Let's hope she keeps herself 'decent' at all times!

Trust you, Nigel!!

I personally thought the slippery slip was encased behind the wooden walls somehow, the tree-dweller's rooms not filling the whole inside of the trunk, but only perhaps half of it, with the slippery-slip going down the other part. I'd never imagined it would make it's appearance through everybodys house! Surely if the slippery-slip did go through Silky's house (and other folks houses in the trunk) then there would have been references to being able to climb into it from Silky's, rather than always having to go from moonfaces?

Also, the storyline where the characters are sealed up magically inside the slippery-slip wouldnt have been possible.

This thread is reminding me of an advert I saw on TV, I think it was for Barclay Card but I'm not sure, but that slippery slip went through several rooms and even through a supermarket!

The slippery slip for me were behind the walls, but the folk heard and felt the people using it.

I always assumed the slippery slip was behind the walls of the other houses based on the following:-

In the Magic Faraway Tree, Silky, Moon-Face and Saucepan disappear. The children visit the Angry Pixie to see if he knows where they are and hear a knocking sound coming from inside the tree and realise their friends have been trapped inside the slippery slip by two people from the land of tempers. A flock of friendly woodpeckers make a hole at the back of The Angry Pixie's house so that they can escape.

I always wondered where Dame Washalot gets her water from. Probably there's some kind of ingenious plumbing system inside the trunk of the tree, as Silky spends a lot of time washing her hair and I think she and Moonface also boil kettles of water so they presumably have access to taps - unless the Faraway Tree folk have to fetch water from a pool or stream and carry it up each day. But if there is plumbing there must surely be a drainage system as well, so why is it necessary for Dame Washalot to pour her filthy washing-water down the outside of the tree? Perhaps she's just mischievous!

I often wondered about the source of Dame Washalot's water too! She was always emptying it away but we never heard of her filling her wash tub!

I always thought the water was rain water, collected in washing tubs as the rain dripped from the leaves!

That just made me wonder if there were toilets in the tree??

Good job folk didnt empty their chamber-pots down the tree as well!

Robert Houghton wrote:I always thought the water was rain water, collected in washing tubs as the rain dripped from the leaves!

I can't imagine looking forward to a RAINY day to do one's washing!

Robert Houghton wrote:That just made me wonder if there were toilets in the tree??

Good job folk didnt empty their chamber-pots down the tree as well!

I just knew someone was going to mention that!