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1. The Enchanted Village
   Story: The Children's Jolly Book Sep 1952

This lovely little booklet was given to me by a very good friend of mine, and it is such a lovely, delightful little booklet. It was written by Enid Blyton and is about the little model village of Bekonscot which is in Beaconsfield where Enid Blyton used to live in a beautiful house called Green Hedges, which was situated on Penn Road.

Enid's daughter, Gillian Baverstock, writes a little piece at the beginning of this booklet, informing us that her mother knew Roland Callingham and greatly admired his work in the creation of this model village of Bekonscot. Gillian writes that her mother appreciated the pleasure that the model village gave to so many children and was delighted to write this little story.

Enid starts to write the story in her usual enchanting way of bringing the reader straight into her story and writes:-

Would you like to come with me and visit a village so small that you will tower above the houses? Would you like to know what it would be like if you visited Fairyland, and felt like a giant, because everything was so tiny, and the people hardly came up to your ankles! Well, I live quite near to a little village like this – it is so close that I can see it from my bedroom window. Shall I take you there? It's a real village called Bekonscot, and it is in the town of Beaconsfield. Are you ready to come with me? Let's go, then.

Enid then writes in the first person and leads John and Mary down the road into this lovely little model village. She walks us down the pathways that are bordered with brilliant flowers, through the village and its lovely countryside, and stops at all the little buildings there are to see. Mary stoops down to look inside the windows of the church and sees a small congregation singing together to the music of a tiny organ.

Enchanted John and Mary, follow Enid through the village, marvelling at the old village houses – their roofs hardly up to the children's waist. They take note of the tiny tiles on the roofs and the little bricks in the walls, and comment all built by hand. What a magical place!

They notice small lakes in the distance and John is fascinated to see the railway, and the tiny people waiting on the platform as a train comes racing into the station. The children and Enid carry on through the village, past the farmhouse with animals and birds in the farmyard, and they even spot a windmill. They discover a castle and a zoo, and exclaim they see three polar bears, one being a baby.

They walk past a little fishing village and see the fishing boats, and the seaside village of Splashynge, with a little level crossing. Mary shouts out in joy that she wants to spend her next summer holiday at Splashynge.

John says, how could they, as they're not small enough, and comments he doesn't know whether it would be more fun to be giants as they are now, or to be small enough so they can enjoy the village and play with the farm animals and ride in the trains.

Then they walk on to see a Manor House, and wish they could spend a day and a night there, as they see the tiny people playing tennis on the lawns.

"It's the dearest little village in the world!" says Mary. "I don't know what I like best in it!"

"Well I know," says John at once. "I like the trains the best. Wouldn't I like to be the engine-driver of one of those trains!"

Enid finishes off this delightful little story by writing:-

Yes – it's an enchanted village, made for fairy folk, and not for us. How lucky we are to be able to visit it, and wander down its tiny narrow streets and cross its little bridges. Goodbye, Bekonscot – we'll come again one day!

The pictures inside this little booklet are all photos of the model village, some with children looking at the little houses, and watching the model boats, probably all wishing they too could shrink themselves down as tiny as the little model people so they could become part of the model village they are admiring so much.

As yet I have to go and see the model village of Bekonscot, and will look forward to the day that I'll be able to go. Since Enid's day of living in Beaconfield, the model village has grown and gone from strength to strength and there is now a model of Green Hedges in the village, and Gillian writes that her mother would be very proud to know that it is there, as she admired the village so much.

The rear photo of this little booklet, is the model of Green Hedges, and its gardens. Even as a model the house looks magnificent, and must be greatly admired by many Enid Blyton fans.