Model of Kirrin Island

[Rob Houghton]

That's a beautiful model Robert. Like everyone else I'm a little envious. Although my Kirrin Island would be a bit flatter with slightly more sand, very reminiscent of an island near where I grew up.

The tide's in...there is a lot more sand when it's out!

[walter raleigh]

Ah, fair enough. You'll have to post a pic when the waters have receded a bit then!

[Moonraker]

there are quite a few details that might go unnoticed at first glance - George's rowing boat on the beach....

I missed all of those. In fact, I thought the wreck was George's boat!

[Timmy The Dog]

That is amazing, really detailed and well made. I think you've captured everybody's mental image of Kirrin Island perfectly

[Julie2owlsdene]

Wow, that is fantastic, Robert. You could have made a few and sold them over the years at the Enid Blyton Days.

[Francis]

Superb, Robert - just as I imagined it. I hope it lives for ever.

[Moonraker]

For those who have not seen this, it might be worth a look.

[Rob Houghton]

Really interesting! Thanks for the link.

[walter raleigh]

It's a good little project to while away a rainy afternoon but I do take issue with the claim that

Everyone knows that Kirrin Island was based on Corfe Castle on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset

I for one have never been convinced by the claim that Corfe Castle is the inspiration for Kirrin Castle, let alone Kirrin Island.

[Rob Houghton]

I agree. I used Corfe as my inspiration for the model, but there's no evidence that this was what Enid was inspired by. After all, most castles are positioned on hills, and there are many more castles Enid must have seen that she stored in her imagination. I believe that Kirrin island and castle were completely created inside Enid's imagination...but there's also no evidence that she wasn't inspired by Corfe, either. The website takes it far too literally though!

[sixret]

Yes, it's beautifully done. Impressive.

[Courtenay]

I also doubt that Corfe Castle was "the" inspiration for Kirrin - we know Enid visited there at least once and was very impressed by it, but there were many other castles she also knew, and I suspect Kirrin Castle is an amalgamation of several of them.

Corfe Castle certainly doesn't look a thing like the Kirrin Castle I had in my imagination as a young child - real castles being in short supply in Australia (and detail being in short supply in Betty Maxey's illustrations), I could only picture it as looking like a ruined version of something huge and round-towered like a typical storybook castle!



This sort of thing...

[John Pickup]

I bet we've all got a different version of Kirrin Castle in our minds when we read the stories. Mine is nowhere near as big as the one in Courtenay's photo.

[Francis]

Bodiam Castle would make a great place to live - you could always draw up the drawbridge if someone unpleasant comes along! Thanks for the link, Nigel - it sure beats Blue Peter.

[Courtenay]

Oh, my mental image was never as big as Bodiam Castle in the photo (another place I must visit some day! ) - that was just the best photo I could find of a castle that looked somewhat like my juvenile imagination. Again, I was a 7-year-old who'd only ever seen castles in picture books, mainly the sort with knights and princesses and dragons and the like; I had no idea that real-life castles came in quite a variety of shapes and sizes! You Brits and other Europeans really don't know how lucky you are to have them just about everywhere.