Where exactly was Green Hedges?

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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by redlionweb »

Is there an Enid Blyton Museum anywhere?

I ask because, while I was trying to track down some old maps showing the location of Green Hedges, I was chatting to a lady called Margaret Mathie, clerk of Beaconsfield Town Council, who has lived in, and worked for, the town for many decades. In fact, she tells me that the wife of Enid Blyton's former chauffeur, a Mrs. Beryl Petersen, is still alive and has many stories of Green Hedges to tell. Mrs. Petersen now lives in Waller Road, with her son, Andrew, who apparently often played with Enid's children (he may even be in one of the photos mentioned above, or have his own).

Anyway, Margaret was suggesting that a proper Enid Blyton 'museum' (or something similar but possibly smaller) in Beaconsfield, would be a wonderful idea. We might even be able to get council funding assistance.

I know you can visit Old Thatch but it was Green Hedges and Beaconsfield, after all, which inspired most of the stories and where most of the books were written.

And, on a slight tangent, wouldn't Beaconsfield be a more appropriate place to hold the Enid Blyton Day? There are several suitable venues with ample parking, including the Town Hall itself. Then there are many beautiful (and relevant) walks nearby; Bekonscot model village (the inspiration for Toytown); a very reasonable B&B in Winchmore Hill; Old Thatch is a 10-minute drive away... oh, and some pub I know of that has real fires, an Enid Blyton library (donated by some kindly souls) and which serves very nice food, real ales and wine... :wink:
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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Tony Summerfield »

Robert Houghton wrote:Yes: a bit of proper research, rather than theory after theory, is what we need here! :?
Yes, I'm with you here Rob, it is always better to have facts rather than wildly speculative theories! Since my last post I have spoken to Imogen, and I can now produce a few brief facts.

Green Hedges was owned and run by the company, who looked after all the upkeep and paid all the staff. When Enid died, it was clear to Eric Rogers that neither Gillian or Imogen would want to live at Green Hedges as both were happily settled with their families in homes elsewhere. He therefore decided to sell Green Hedges making a maximum profit for the company. A private buyer was very interested in getting it as a family home, but Eric Rogers was convinced that if he could get planning permission, he could make more out of it by selling to developers. He therefore turned down the offer and hung on in the hope of getting planning permission, which of course as we know was granted. There was absolutely no question of the money being required to pay death duties, it was simply a matter of making a maximum profit out of it. This is why the house remained empty and wasn't put up for auction until May 26th 1971, about two and a half years after Enid's death. Thus when it was sold everybody concerned was aware that it was likely to be bought by developers.
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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Tony Summerfield »

redlionweb wrote:Is there an Enid Blyton Museum anywhere?
The simple answer to this, Bob, is sadly no, there isn't.

As you rightly say, Beaconsfield has a number of attractions to Blyton enthusiasts, both in and around the area and I think it would warrant a day on its own. This could be either before or after the Blyton Day for anyone staying over, but obviously it would be difficult to combine both in one day. There are actually quite a number of practical reasons for our choice of Loddon Hall as a venue and I have already booked it for May 9th next year. However, who knows what the future holds! :D
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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Rob Houghton »

Thanks Tony: that's very interesting. So we can more or less blame Eric Rogers for what happened then. :evil: Money certainly IS 'the root of all evil'!! :evil: :evil:
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

That certainly makes things clearer, Tony. Thanks.

Interesting about the Petersens, Redlionweb.

Anita
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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Lucky Star »

Many thanks for that bit of research Tony. Very interesting indeed and very sad also as it appears that there was no-one to stop Eric Rogers from selling the house after Enid's death. :cry:

May 9th next year? Excellent. Everyone get their holiday requests in at work now. :D Beaconsfield is an interesting idea for a seperate day but i think Lodden Hall suits The Day very well. I'd certainly be up for a trip to Beaconsfield if anyone fancied organising it though. :wink:
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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Kate Mary »

I'm wobbling somewhat off thread here, but I've often wondered what became of Enid's collection of her own books, when Green Hedges was sold. Did Gillian and Imogen inherit them or are they in the possession of the company? I do hope the beastly Eric Rogers didn't get his hands on them!
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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

An interesting point Kate Mary, Enid's books, I would guess the family have them, but as you say, it would be nice to know.

This has been a very interesting thread all round. As Green Hedges does fascinate everyone and many of us wish it was still standing today. Lovely to know the date of the next EB Day, Tony. Duly noted down. :D A separate trip around Beaconsfield sounds good too. I'll also be interested if it could be organized.

8)
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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Kate Mary wrote:I've often wondered what became of Enid's collection of her own books, when Green Hedges was sold. Did Gillian and Imogen inherit them or are they in the possession of the company? I do hope the beastly Eric Rogers didn't get his hands on them!
I know Gillian inherited at least some of them, along with Enid's mahogany bookcase, as one of the photos in the Hello! article shows Gillian and her daughter Sara standing in front of the bookcase at Gillian's house in Ilkley (though a fair number of the books it contains appear to be non-Blyton titles.) The interviewer asked, "What else [besides the statue of the little girl reading] do you have that belonged to your mother?" Gillian answered, "The beautiful mahogany bookcase where she kept all the file copies of her work. That's where I keep her leather-bound copies. I've got the little swivel table that was always beside her when she worked - she used to put her papers down on it as she typed. I have a couple of her dresses, one or two rugs and also an old grandmother clock."

Gillian sold the clock and some other items in an auction in 2006, when she moved house.

I recall reading that, after Enid Blyton's death, most of her books were stored temporarily in a garage. Barbara Stoney had a rummage through them when writing her Biography. Stoney mentions that Enid's copy of Arthur Mee's Letters to Girls contained underlinings and annotations. It would be fascinating to know more about the notes Enid made in that book (and any others.)

Anita
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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Tony Summerfield »

Anita has answered a lot of the book details for me already, but I will put a bit more meat on the bones, having just spoken to Barbara Stoney about it.

Barbara first saw the books about three years after Enid's death, and they were already in a fairly poor condition. They had just been chucked into orange boxes and packing cases and were in Eric Rogers' garage in London. She added that the only books that had been decently stored were Kenneth's medical books!!

In the early 90s I visited the Darrell Waters offices on a number of occasions and went through all the books in their archives with a fine toothcomb. I suspect that these were mostly the same books from the garage as the condition of many was not great, certainly not the pristine first editions from Enid's collection. There were also a fair number of titles missing and in view of what we have subsequently learnt I have to wonder just how many of the books got 'creamed' off whilst they were in Eric Rogers' hands.

I also had a good look at all Gillian's books in Yorkshire. Although she had a number of Enid's own books, very few of these were 'Blyton' titles, though as Anita says, she did have all the leather bound Famous Five books, that Hodders had sent her as Christmas presents each year. Gillian had built up her own collection of Blyton books, but most of these were just reading copies and had not originally come from Enid, so at a guess like everything else, the books belonged to the company.
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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Belly »

All this informaton is wonderful, thanks Anita, Tony etc!

Wanted to ask if we could transcribe/post photos of Hello interview with Gillian on here, sounds very interesting.
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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Rob Houghton »

Tony Summerfield wrote: Barbara first saw the books about three years after Enid's death, and they were already in a fairly poor condition. They had just been chucked into orange boxes and packing cases and were in Eric Rogers' garage in London. She added that the only books that had been decently stored were Kenneth's medical books!!
That's really sad and disappointing :cry:

Then again, we forget that at the time of Enid's death and during the 1970's and 1980's in particular, no one saw Enid's books as being in any way shape or form collectable, and thought she was just a popular author who would fade from memory within a few years. How wrong could anyone be?! :wink: But it's really only within the last ten years or so that Enid's books have begun to be more valuable. 8)
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Very interesting indeed about the books, Tony.
Robert Houghton wrote:Then again, we forget that at the time of Enid's death and during the 1970's and 1980's in particular, no one saw Enid's books as being in any way shape or form collectable, and thought she was just a popular author who would fade from memory within a few years. How wrong could anyone be?! :wink: But it's really only within the last ten years or so that Enid's books have begun to be more valuable.
The same could be said to apply to Green Hedges - that back in the 1960s/early 1970s people couldn't have foreseen that Enid Blyton would go on being popular for decades to come, and that fans would have welcomed the opportunity to visit the house.
Belly wrote:Wanted to ask if we could transcribe/post photos of Hello interview with Gillian on here, sounds very interesting.
Will have a look at it some time and see if it's possible to scan the article and photos. Not in the near future though - just had a hectic day as my son, daughter and I went to my son's school fete this morning where he managed to break his arm playing a "jousting pole" game. Spent six hours at the hospital as a result, where they threatened him with an operation and an overnight stay but, following a second round of X-rays, decided to see how he gets on with his arm in plaster.

Anita
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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Belly »

I was interested to read that children made a 'pilgrimage' to Green Hedges in the 40s & 50s. No doubt I would have joined their number in the 1970s if it had still been there.

Being a fan back then (pre internet and google) meant you had to be very keen to get the facts at your finger tips. I remember firing off so many letters to the publishers asking hundreds of questions! Most were ignored until letters were passed to Gillian Baverstock and opening her first reply to my endless questions gave me more happiness & a thrill than I had ever had in my childhood to that point.

Anita very sorry to hear about your son and hope he heals well. I know how you feel as I was trying out the Singaporean A&E facilities myself yesterday after my youngest daughter had a fall (for the third time since we moved here)!
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Re: Where exactly was Green Hedges?

Post by Moonraker »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:
Belly wrote:Wanted to ask if we could transcribe/post photos of Hello interview with Gillian on here, sounds very interesting.
Will have a look at it some time and see if it's possible to scan the article and photos.
It maybe breaking copyright to publish Hello! photos/interview here. They are quite protective about their content.
Not in the near future though - just had a hectic day as my son, daughter and I went to my son's school fete this morning where he managed to break his arm .....
Poor old lad! I bet he was scared. It sounds like a plate of macaroons, a ginger beer and a good Blyton, to me.
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