Trippers

[Anita Bensoussane]

What an interesting poem! I've certainly never read it before.

[Rob Houghton]

Nothing to do with Enid Blyton - but this thread reminded me of this Pam Ayres poem - Littering -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0aAL0YsUA0

[Courtenay]

Oh brilliant — I love Pam Ayres!! (That one really deserves an epic tune composed for it, honestly.)

[floragord]

I enjoyed Pam Ayres poem very much - too true, we notice increasingly our country lanes liberally bestrewn with crisp packets, plastic bottles and other nasties that can easily ruin a beautiful square mile, we've all taken to going a-clearing, sadly only to find a fresh crop appear all too soon

[pete9012S]

"All the same, I'm going over tomorrow to have a look," said George, firmly. "If any trippers are visiting my island I'll turn them off."

Trippers are mentioned in five of the Famous Five books.
The first mention quoted above is from the third book, Five Run Away Together.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Trippers come to Kirrin Island in the first book too, Five on a Treasure Island, though they're referred to as "sightseers":

"The children were astonished at the interest that the cast-up wreck caused, and because of that, Kirrin Island became an object of great interest too. Sightseers from the places all around came to see it, and the fishermen managed to find the little inlet and land the people there. George sobbed with rage, and Julian tried to comfort her."

Incidentally, I'm another fan of Pam Ayres' poetry!

[pete9012S]

Thanks Anita - yes sightseers appear in a few books - sometimes even without the usual disdain reserved for Trippers!



A closer look at Eileen Soper's sight-seers..

[Lucky Star]

I would imagine that those sightseers were probably locals coming to see the dramatic local development. It's unlikely that tourists from further away would have made a day trip just to see a fallen tree, unlikely they would even have heard of the incident! But for local Kirrin folk it would have been a major event so probably the entire village would have trooped down to Kirrin Cottage to see for themselves. Thus these locals (some of whom appear elderly) would not attract Enid's opprobrium in the same way as mere "trippers".

[Daisy]

Trippers would bring their picnics with them, I guess! Sightseers, as John suggests will be locals, I think.

[pete9012S]

My eyes aren't what they used to be, but I can't spot any orange peel, banana skins, or even a discarded gramophone record in the vicinity of the uprooted Kirrin tree..

[pete9012S]

..

The second mention of Trippers in the Famous Five books occurs in Five On A Hike Together from 1951.
The ironic point that in this instance, the Five themselves are in fact Trippers seems lost on them, or maybe they failed to notice!

‘We must think a bit. Let’s go and see if we can scrounge a meal in some farm-house somewhere. There seem to be plenty around.’
They asked a little girl if there was a farm-house anywhere near that would give them dinner. She nodded and pointed.
‘See that farm-house up on the hill there? That’s my Gran’s place. She’ll give you dinner, I
expect. She used to give dinner in the summer to trippers, and I expect she would give you some too, if you ask her, though it’s late in the season.’

[Fiona1986]

This summer I went out alone, to play in Cuckoo Wood,
For now that I am eight years old, my Mummy said I could;
And, oh! I found a lovely place, all carpeted with moss,
And through the middle flowed a brook that I could jump across.

I said the Little-Place should be my very, very own,
And almost every day I went and sat there all alone.
I planted buttercups around, and made the ivy grow,
And in the wind it waved about like curtains, to and fro.

The robins used to come and drink from out my little brook;
And once a rabbit lollopped by and came to have a look.
The butterflies were very tame, and ladybirds as well.
And oh! I loved my Little-Place far more than I can tell.

And then, one summer’s day, I found some other people there,
And orange peel and paper bags were scattered everywhere.
My little brook was muddy brown, the buttercups were dead;
And all the birds and butterflies had taken flight and fled.

And when the people went at last, I thought I'd go and see
If I could make my Little-Place just like it used to be.
I buried all the paper bags, and worked with might and main,
To try to make my Little-Place come beautiful again.

And tho' I hung the ivy up, and hurried all I could
To make the Little-Place again, it wasn't any good.
It looked the same, but oh! it had a different feel–
The feel those people left behind, with paper bags and peel.

And then I knew that Little-Place belonged to me no more,
For never would it feel again as it had felt before.
And when I said good-bye and went, the tears ran down my face,
Because I knew I’d never come again to Little-Place.

[pete9012S]

Superb!
Thank you Fiona. Surely this is the earliest littering reference in the whole of Enid's work!?

[floragord]

"The children were astonished at the interest that the cast-up wreck caused, and because of that, Kirrin Island became an object of great interest too. Sightseers from the places all around came to see it, and the fishermen managed to find the little inlet and land the people there. George sobbed with rage, and Julian tried to comfort her."

Incidentally, I'm another fan of Pam Ayres' poetry!

I'm puzzled as to why people coming to look at the wreck would cause anyone to sob with rage, unless it was fury at the hoi polloi coming to gawk at a private event?

Glad to see you are another fan of wonderful Pam Ayres Anita, I used to greatly enjoy her evening show on BBC Radio 2 way back when, sad when she stopped presenting it, those were the days of Charlie Chester and David Jacobs too, so many special programmes broadcast.

[Jack400]

"I'm puzzled as to why people coming to look at the wreck would cause anyone to sob with rage, unless it was fury at the hoi polloi coming to gawk at a private event"
floragord
Because they landed on George's private island/property- think your back garden. And probably left litter, frightened the wildlife (Timmy wasn't allowed to chase the rabbits- the one thing that George and Timmy did not agree on)