The Enid Blyton Society

Thanks. I'll do both.

This is exciting. It reminds of the night before going to the seaside whren I was a kid!

It's THE DAY!!!

Sure is!

And making all those potted meat sandwiches and hard boiled eggs has made me late!

Phew! What a day! A full review will appear here soon!

There has been much discussion on the Yahoo! Group of the Society Day as well. If anyone is unaware of this Group (there are many of us who post on both), you could do worse than check it out.

Anita Bensoussane wrote:It's on Saturday 12th May 2007 at Loddon Hall in Twyford, England. I suppose that's a bit too far for you to come, Ming! Tickets are available from Tony - I've already bought tickets for myself and my daughter. The price at the moment in British sterling is £8 for adults and £4 for children under 16. From 1st January the price will be £10 for adults and £6 for children under 16.

Who else is planning on coming to the Day?

Anita

oh no! i missed it! that will teach me to hear
whats going on!

I've been reading the forum and the Journal about the Enid Blyton Day and it looks a great day to go to. To be surrounded by Blyton fans, a truely Blyton Wonderland.

I always associate Enid with Dorset, as she loved the county, went there on holiday, played gold at Studland etc. Has the Enid Blyton Day ever been held in Dorset?

Julie2owlsdene wrote: I always associate Enid with Dorset, as she loved the county, went there on holiday, played gold at Studland etc. Has the Enid Blyton Day ever been held in Dorset?

The location of the venue for the actual day needs to be fairly central, I think. Having said that, Berkshire isn't the most central location in England! It would be interesting to do a break-down of Society members' locations.

As for Dorset, much of Enid's inspiration certainly came from her love of Dorset, especially the Isle of Purbeck. However, inspiration is the key word, here. I feel it is a mistake to think of Enid's locations as being definite places in Dorset - unlike Hardy, for example, where Casterbridge is definitely Dorchester. For example, Corfe Castle itself may well have been in Enid's mind when she wrote Five on a Treasure Island, but she wasn't writing about Corfe. There is evidence in Enid's own handwriting, that Kirrin Island was based on an island in the Channel Isles.

There are, of course, exceptions. Finniston Farm is a real farm in Dorset, just the name has been changed. The old chapel, the old Norman door and the old oven in the bedroom wall are all real.

Thanks to Viv, there are many Blyton related activities held in the Corfe area. She tirelessly works to promote Enid Blyton (as well as Ginger Pop!) all year round. She truly is a femme formidable, or as Ming puts it - scary!

Location, location, location!! Why Twyford? It is a question I have been asked before, Julie, and perhaps a few words explaining the reasons would be a good idea.

The Enid Blyton Day was originally started by Norman Wright in 1993 and two years later we formed the Society. It was originally held in Rickmansworth for three reasons - it was a good spacious venue, it was close to where Norman lived at the time (in Watford) and perhaps most importantly of all it was close to London. We had to move the venue as they quite literally priced us out of the market. On our last visit they wanted £1200 and that year we made a thumping great loss!

One of our patrons suggested Loddon Hall as a good sizeable venue and Norman and I went to look at it and immediately agreed. Two of the most important considerations were that it was just off the M4 and that Twyford had a good rail link to London and via Reading to various other parts of the country. Many of those attending come by train and it was vital that they should be able to get there and get home in a single day.

Although it has no direct Blyton relevance, it is reasonably close to 'Blyton country' - Bourne End the location of Old Thatch and Beaconsfield the location of Green Hedges. Nigel has already said all that needs to be said about Dorset, Enid went there on holiday and it doubtless provided inspiration for some of her writing, but there are only two definite locations that she used. Manor Farm at Stourton Caundle which the company bought in 1956 features as Finniston Farm and Brownsea Island features as Whispering Island in Five Have a Mystery to Solve and this book also features the golf course that she owned at Studland. Any other locations are purely speculative and that includes Corfe. In all her writings - books, private letters and letters in magazines, I have only once come across a mention of Corfe Castle and that was in Adventure of the Strange Ruby. She clearly referred to it in a Teachers World article that we published in our very first Journal, but even in that she didn't mention it by name. The only definite connection that Corfe has with the Famous Five is that Corfe Castle was used as Kirrin Castle in the 1957 film, Five on a Treasure Island.

Although for some Dorset would be a very nice location for an Enid Blyton Day, it would be a geographical nightmare for those coming by train from Yorkshire etc. Clearly they would have to stay overnight which might make the whole venture financially impossible. Sadly you can't please everybody with a choice of location, but for now at any rate I think that Twyford is the best that we can do.

Thanks for the info, Tony and Nigel. I just wondered that's all. It must be a nightmare, as you say, trying to find somewhere central for all. It would still be a great day I reckon where ever the venue was. And I agree that Viv does a grand job promoting all things Blyton.

How sad I sometimes think it was to tragically bulldoze Green Hedges. That would have been a fantastic house for all to visit and meet. Where the Great Lady herself once lived.