My journal has arrived today. Thank you Tony for another great edition.

Hearing from Pete again is the best Christmas present we on the forum could have. You've been so missed Pete.

Thanks for sharing that story Michael. I have said before, I think, that reading our childhood books again in more stressful times can be very helpful for our own peace of mind. I find picking up a Faraway Tree book and losing myself once again in its pages is a wonderful escape from the strains and...

I was taught the same as Fiona, that it was not necessary to use both a comma and "and" at the end of a list.

Barnard wrote: ↑21 Oct 2023, 08:02 Just because someone co presents a tv game or quiz show doesn’t automatically make him a great author.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that - just that we 'know' him from seeing him on TV.

That's quite all right John. There was never a problem until "Isla" became a popular name some years ago. I blame Isla StClair from the Generation Game! Very few people had come across the name until she appeared on our screens!

Bertie, I don't know if you are a Society member receiving the Journal. There are quite a few Famous Five, Secret Seven, Findouters and Adventure book follow-ons (plus others) written by members of the Society (Isla Cheeseman [aka Daisy] and Rob Houghton to name a couple) available through the main...

I have read two books of his and I do agree with Julie. I found them a bit hard going in places, although the idea of where the scenes are set was a bit different and quite original, I thought!

I miss him from Pointless but the recent repeats brought him back for a while!

6 Adventure books? There are 8 or did you leave two out? Senior moment John! I did read all 8 - the last 2 have never had the appeal to me which the rest did, but that's no excuse! Katharine. I know what you mean. I got "Five go to Smuggler's Top" on a summer holiday which was spent in a ...

I'm reading Banshee Towers as the last of a re-read of the whole series of the Find-Outers which I have read so many times since I first came across them over 75 years ago. I didn't read the last few in the series until I was grown up but I have enjoyed the humour in them right from my first introdu...

I wondered about PMing Mike, thinking if he had an alert that an email had arrived he might see it. Pete said he was going to Snowdonia for a few days just before his latest post on CRF. Like everyone, I hope he is okay.

A very interesting post and Barney's reply is spot on too. It's hard to imagine oneself into a different time from the one in which we were born... I grew up in the era in which Enid was most prolific and just accepted what life was like. We had no domestics... my mother, like the majority of wives,...

When the vet saw Philip's new dog,
He decided to start a new blog,
Called 'A tale of two tails',
When he visited Wales,

My introduction to animal stories were those of Little Grey Rabbit and I had a few of these books by Alison Uttley. Somehow Beatrix Potter escaped me!

That is all very interesting. Anyone keen to have a weekly serial written by ChatGBT? From what I see so far, the chapters would be rather short!