Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

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Chrissie777
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Chrissie777 »

Julie2owlsdene wrote:The village I live in is Peterswood, bench and all, with a bit of dust to write the word ' waxworks' with a stick! :lol:
8)
Hello Julie and Nigel,

We stopped in Arundel yesterday in the afternoon to pick up "Mystery of the Burnt Cottage" at Kims Books and I thought it had everything I could have hoped for in a British village.
Maybe not exactly like Peterswood, but the way British villages must have looked some 80+ years ago...
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Moonraker »

Yes, http://www.arundel.org.uk/ Arundel is a beautiful place, Chrissie. Not sure if they'd agree that it is a village though, as it has a large castle and a cathedral! It's cathedral is Roman Catholic, so I'm not sure if that qualifies Arundel to call itself a city.
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Chrissie777 »

Nigel, you must be right. I'm sure it's larger than we thought it is.
We just got this impression when we parked shortly on that same square where Kim's Books is located. It's very quaint and did not have the feel of a large town.
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Green Hedges »

Got an email from a long-time visitor to Flackwell Heath (near Bourne End) recently telling me her view as to the real-life model for Milton House in Mystery of the Secret Room. Is she right? Click this link: http://www.enidblyton.me.uk/styled-20/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and scroll down to POSTSCRIPT to find out.

Thank-you Deirdre Alden, especially for the wonderful photo. Great work. :D
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by pete9012S »

Enid described Milton House as follows. "It stood well back in its own overgrown grounds... It looked a lonely and desolate place. The house itself was high and rambling with two or three absurd little towers".
Superb Duncan.Most enjoyable.I was just thinking about you the other day.Welcome back to the forums.

Regards

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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Eddie Muir »

Great, Duncan! Most enjoyable indeed. :D
'Go down to the side-shows by the river this afternoon. I'll meet you somewhere in disguise. Bet you won't know me!' wrote Fatty.

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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Good to see you posting, Duncan! I love the look of Sedgmoor House, especially the tower. How sad that the building was demolished in the late 1950s.

On the subject of houses, I must have read your 2012 musings on The Mystery of the Secret Room before but I'd forgotten that Green Hedges was called Milton Mount before Enid Blyton moved in.
Green Hedges wrote:Fatty passes from skullery to kitchen...
Was your unconventional spelling of "scullery" intentional? It suits the tense, unnerving atmosphere of the book!
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by timv »

Very interesting - thanks for the update, Duncan. There seem to have been a whole assortment of pseudo-Gothic houses built for the gentry and professional classes with fake towers in Victorian times, which was a bonus for subsequent children's writers. I was myself at a junior school set up in a converted house of this type with two towers that had no obvious purpose, a bit like 'Milton House' , at the time that our English teacher was reading us some of Enid's 'Peterswood' mysteries when I was nine or ten, which made it all easier to imagine.

I'm interested in the whole phenomenon of whether or not Enid ever gave 'directions' to her illustrators on what to put in an illustration, as could have occurred on this occasion with the drawing of Pip up the tree peering in at a window at the 'Secret Room'. I've found several occurrences of apparent close similarities between illustrations and real life sites that Enid knew, mostly in Dorset - both for two or three 'Famous Five' sites (Eileen Soper) and for 'The Island of Adventure' (Stuart Tresilian, eg where he got the layout of 'Craggy Tops' from). Is it coincidence or planning? There does not seem to be any direct evidence of Enid doing this, apart from one statement by Eileen Soper's family that she was irritated by Enid badgering her about details in illustrations. But it would be nice if we could find any indications - and perhaps Joseph Abby could be added to the list for some Peterswood/ Bourne End sites? Mr Goon's 'police house'?
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Green Hedges »

Thanks Anita, Eddie and Pete, good to be in touch again. Anita, the skullery spelling was an unfortunate axident!

As for the briefing of illustrators, it clearly did happen, as Tim suggests. Otherwise how did Grace Lodge come up with her magnificent work for A Story Party at Green Hedges.

I'm just going to repeat the current link here before things go off topic, if that's OK. That is, for insight into the creation and location of Mystery of the Secret Room, click here: http://www.enidblyton.me.uk/styled-20/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Scroll down for the all-new POSTSCRIPT, or stick it out for a,long comprehensive take and then a plot twist right at the end!

Duncan
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Lenoir »

It’s good to read that again and get the update. I feel like reading the book again now.
And the invisible ink reminded me of something - I recently watched a series called “The Wrong Mans” and in episode 5 invisible ink was used! An orange (or lemon) was used to make the ‘ink’, and the two halves could be seen on the table. In the next episode the other guy read it, using a lighter rather than an iron to provide the heat to make the writing appear. A bit risky I think as the paper could have caught alight, but I suppose he was a pro.
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Green Hedges »

Something to while away a sunny Sunday afternoon in October: http://www.enidblyton.me.uk/styled-24/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But best not look at it if you've not read Mystery of the Missing Necklace before. Or if you don't want to know what happened to the real-life equivalent of Goon's police house.

Duncan
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by pete9012S »

Very enjoyable as always Duncan.
Many thanks for sharing it with us.
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by sixret »

Very interesting reading. I can imagine Fatty is sitting on the bench but definitely not in front of Tesco. :wink: :lol:
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Rob Houghton »

Very enjoyable! When we visited Bourne End a few years ago now, we had a cup of tea in Lee's Bakery - I recognise it, though I'd forgotten its name until I saw the photo! :-)
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Amusing musings, Duncan.

Pity Tesco isn't "Tresco", which was the name of Enid Blyton's first school!

We've discussed the "crayons" received by Gillian before, and they turned out to be "crépons":

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... on#p136412" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Funny that Joseph Abbey draws a trailer at the fair with "CIRCUS" written on it. Does Enid Blyton give any indication that the fair includes circus acts?
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