I'm actually really enjoying reading it.
I'm reading the first edition with dust wrapper-internal illustrations are in black and white,some blue and some red.
Observations so far
I had forgotten that in this book the Five cycle from Julian's house to Kirrin,showing that they can't have lived too far away by book nineteen.
I don't remember as many different titles used for Quentin & Fanny in the other books as are used in this one;Quentin,Uncle Quentin,Mr.Kirrin Fanny,Ma,am Aunt Fanny,Mrs Kirrin.(but maybe I'm wrong)
The lighthouse is I think ten miles by sea,but much longer overland,they even have to stop for lunch on the journey.
I wonder how those distances/topography stack up if we imagined that Kirrin was near Corfe Castle and the Demon's Rocks light house was based on the lighthouse and the Tilly Whim caves..
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Regarding the lighthouse and earthquakes we read;
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=942562" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;In books
The lighthouse became a renowned structure throughout the world and is mentioned in many different pieces of literature. It was even described at length in the Zhufan Zhi (諸蕃志, "Records of Foreign Peoples") by Zhao Rugua (1170-1228), a Chinese customs inspector for the port city of Quanzhou during the Song Dynasty.[4]
Matthew Reilly uses this ancient wonder as the location of a piece of the golden capstone in his novel that states in the cultural section from Book 2 of the Cambridge Latin Course, the Pharos of Alexandria is mentioned, along with the history of Alexandria, as one of the greatest international ports of the ancient world. Also mentioned in Enid Blyton's "Five Go To Demon's Rocks", in a conversation between "Julian" and "Anne" about an earthquake destroying a lighthouse. (Published in 1961.)
Also of interest was this comment at the Kirrin Garage;
I had thought in earlier books that Julian had had dealings with the local garages when trying to rescue a kidnapped George,and maybe also in the short stories?‘Let’s walk down to the garage and see if they have a car or a van to hire out to us,’ said Julian. ‘We’ll have to have a driver too, because someone has to take back the car. Come on, Timmy-dog!’
They all set off to the garage in the village. The rain held off for a while, and the sun came out, making Kirrin Bay sparkle and shine.
‘I wish we could have gone to stay on my island,’ said George. ‘But it really is too damp to camp out. Anyway, a light-house will be nice for a change!’
The man at the garage listened to Julian’s tale of wanting a car to go to the light-house. ‘It’s the old light-house at Demon’s Rocks, not the new one at High Cliffs,’ he said. ‘We’re going to stay there.’
‘Stay at a light-house!’ said the man. ‘This isn’t a joke is it!’
‘No. It happens to belong to one of us,’ said Julian. ‘We have a few things to take there, of course, and we hoped you’d have a car and a driver tomorrow for us. We’d let you know somehow when
we are ready to come back from the light-house, and you can send the same car for us then.’
‘Right,’ said the man. ‘And you’re staying at Kirrin Cottage now, you say? Oh - your uncle is Mr Kirrin? Well, I know Master George here, of course - but I wasn’t certain who you were. Some queer people order cars, you know!’
On top of this,Kirrin is a small place,they are THE FAMOUS FIVE.Surely everyone would have known them.
Plus,the Kirrins have been hiring cars and drivers to take them all over the place many times before...
I also smiled when it was decided that it was 'too expensive' for the children to stay in a local hotel...have they hit on hard times financially too? We read;
It takes till chapter eight for them to break away from Kirrin and start their own adventure,but I must say I'm really enjoying this book so far.‘It sounds thrilling!’ said George, picturing them all marooned by fierce storms, waiting to be rescued from peril and starvation! ‘Get some biscuits, Anne. And bars of chocolate. And lots of ginger-beer. And a big bottle of lemonade. And a...’
‘Wait a minute - do you know who’s paying for all this?’ said Julian. ‘I am. So don’t ruin me completely!’ He took out his wallet. ‘Here’s a pound,’ he said. ‘That’s all I can spare at present! Dick can buy the next lot of food we want!’
In fact as I have brought my 1970's & 1990's series DVD's with me ,I think I will compare them with each other whilst reading the book!