Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

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

Post by Jen-Jen »

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your adventures Viking Star! You are definately quite the find-outer - Fatty would be impressed! :D
"I should think that if it came to pushing, Eunice might send old Fatty flying" - Larry The Mystery of the Missing Man
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Viking Star »

Thanks to all for all the kind comments.

I actually wrote about 30 minutes' worth more yesterday before I left work, but must have accidentally hit a wrong button because it all suddenly disappeared. :(

If I'd known I was going to write so much I would have wriiten it in Word first, for safekeeping. Oh well. :roll:

I'll try again as soon as possible - hopefully later today. I'm at work at the moment so have a few minutes to drop in, but not enough time to write at length!

Thanks once again. :D
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Re: Looking For Fatty

Post by Viking Star »

Green Hedges wrote:Another name that keeps coming up in that book is 'Holland'. It occurs as a person's name, but in fact there is a Holland's Farm right on the east end of Bourne End. It's a bed and breakfast these days and it is where Kate and I stayed when I did my research for Looking For Enid (though in the narrative I state that we were camping on the site of the campsite in The Mystery of the Vanished Prince, because it wouldn't have added anything to have brought Holland's Farm into it: it would have distracted the reader). It may be a coincidence that Enid uses this name, but it would certainly be interesting if Holland Farm crops up in the old map of the area and not just the new 1:25,000 map.
When David Cook and I looked through some historical books relating to Bourne End, we saw reference to "Holland Farm, Upper Bourne End 1905" (it may have been a picture). I believe Upper Bourne End was to the east of Bourne End (it used to be one of the local parishes). Perhaps you stayed at the farm referred to in 1905?

Hope that helps.

Apologies I haven't managed to post the next instalment as I mentioned earlier in the day. :roll:
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Green Hedges »

We're really getting somewhere now. :D

I'm glad that the 'Mrs Trotteville' now in residence was nice to one of our own Find-Outers. But the people of Bourne End are a throwback to politer times: it does still seem to be such a laid-back place. It's prime commuting country, but maybe the lucky family members who don't have to commute can chill out in the village. Enid was incredibly fond of it. Stanley Spencer was so fond of the neighbouring village, Cookham, that he devoted his life to painting wonderful pictures of what he called 'A Village in Heaven'.

Viking Star, you say that Mrs Trotteville (I'm sure she wouldn't mind me calling her that as Fatty's mother was an exemplary human being) knew about Fatty. Presumably that means she read the Mystery books as a child. Was she previously aware of the connection between Peterswood and Bourne End? Presumably not, that's pretty specialist knowledge! What did she think of the idea that Fatty may once have lived in her house, at least in Enid's imagination? Maybe one day there will be a blue plaque on the side of the property. Though really that would be best attached to the shed. 'Fatty's Shed' the plaque would simply say. With no dates to needlessly tie down his timeless occupation of the space. Perhaps it will be a green plaque, so: :mrgreen:

What a great bit of research to discover that there was a lane at the bottom of the garden. I suppose that means that the main lane previously identified is at the south side of the garden. In The Mystery of the Missing Man Enid does talk about the gate into the lane at the very bottom of the garden. Does the layout of the property suggest that the existing south lane is the side rather than the bottom of the garden, or is there ambiguity? I'm just trying to orientate myself. Just trying to see how neatly the present day fact and the fiction of 1956 (Missing Man) can be tied up.

Anyway, we have a road (Abbey Rd.) to the east of the house, with a lovely lane (still in existence) to the south of the house, and lanes (defunct) on the west border and the north border. Fatty can run right around his house! And in so doing he can run rings around Eunice or Goon, entering or exiting his house and shed in complete secrecy. Either in disguise (brilliant), or in person (equally brilliant).

Pic 2 of the White House in Viking Star's earlier post shows there is a front gate (drive). Is the kitchen area on the left hand side of the house as you look at it in the photograph? I ask becuse Enid definitely talks about at least two doors to the house. The kitchen door and the garden door. A path leads from the shed to the kitchen door. That would imply a shed either to the north, or (more likely) to the west and 'the very bottom of the garden'. In chapter five Enid also mentions a front door and a side door to the Trotteville house. Now these could be synonyms for the same two doors, or they could be different entrances to the house. How many doors does the actual house now have, VS? I wonder if it is significant that Enid often says the front gate but usually the garden door. Looking again at that pic 2, one sees the front gate but is there a door on that side of the house? If I remember correctly, the next (or next but one) pic has a main door in it. On what side of the house is that? Does that make sense as the 'garden' door (and possibly the front door) as opposed to the kitchen door (and possibly the side door).

With all this dodging and dooring in mind, here is a summary of what happens in Chapter 16 of Missing Man:

The Trottevelles and Eunice eat their evening meal in the dining room at seven o'clock. Eunice wonders if Fatty will play her at chess later. Fatty has absolutely no intention of wasting his evening in such a way and tells her he is going cross-country running. Eunice insists she will change into a tweed skirt (?) and join him. Fatty takes the opportunity of going to the shed and getting tramped up. He knows that Eunice will be waiting for him in the sitting room dressed in her sporty tweeds, so he lets her see him through the window. "Help!" she cries. "Here's that tramp again. Help! Frederick, where are you? That tramp's here again! Frederick!" (I picture Enid laughing over her typewriter as she put those words into Eunice's mouth.)

Eunice rings for the police, and at first Goon doesn't want to know. He has had enough of wild tramp-chases for the time being. :D But he is told that Fatty is out jogging so at least he knows that the coast is clear and relents. Goon leaves his bicycle just inside the front gate and goes quietly round to the garden door and through it. Eunice, the house-maid and Goon search the garden for AN HOUR before giving it up as a trampless cause. The house-maid invites Goon into the kitchen where he drinks tea, stuffs himself with shortbread and boasts of the numberless arrests he has made. He doesn't hear the quiet footsteps of Fatty returning. Goon is oblivious to Fatty getting out of his tramp clobber in the shed. Eventually Goon realises how late it is and blunders out of the kitchen. He goes to the garden door to retrieve his bike, but it's not there! He KNOWS he left it there, so it must have been stolen. Poor old Goon. He has to walk home. At home he finds the phone ringing. It's Fatty reporting the presence of a bicycle leaning by his kitchen door. He doesn't know whose it is, but wonders if Goon has had one reported as stolen. (Again, I can imagine Enid's shoulders heaving as her fingers go on tirelessly typing.)

Goon shouts down the phone that he knows he left the bike by the front gate and that Fatty must have hidden it until Goon left the Trotteville house, and then put it by the kitchen door. The fat toad (actually, on this occasion Goon is almost lost for words for what to call Fatty, and settles for 'pest'). I'd say that Goon's surmise of the situation re bike movements, was excellent deduction. Anyway, poor Mr Goon has to walk back to the Trotteville house and retrieve his bicycle. That's where the chapter ends. Though I can imagine Goon having to fight very, very hard to resist the temptation to throw a brick through Fatty's bedroom window...

Anyway, the point is - boy does Enid have a geographic sensibility when she's writing this stuff! And it looks as if she may well have in mind the White House that Viking Star has stumbled upon, Pip-style (I'm thinking of The Mystery of the Secret Room when I say that).

Anyway, more later. Though not more later tonight. This is one shed where the gas-light is about to be switched off (or blown out, whatever).

There. Sdark now. Better plod back to the kitchen door. Where I'll find tea and shortie.
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Green Hedges »

Me again.

Viking Star left a tantalising message late on Friday night with some exciting news about a map he was going to post, but by Saturday morning the message wasn't there. (The Mystery of the Strange Message :) )He's probably waiting for a chance to post something more considered and even more tantalising, so that's good. Though it is nice to have the quick responses as well. Adds texture.

Thanks to VS for the info re Holland Farm that he supplied a couple of posts ago re the name 'Holland' cropping up in The Mystery of the Hidden House. As I've said earlier in this thread I do think that Enid (and not just Ern) may well have looked at a local map and perhaps other source of local info when Hidden House was being conceived, hence the special emphasis on geography and the use of more actual placenames in this book than previously in the series.

But it's made me think of something potentially more significant. In a letter to Peter McKellar in 1953, Enid tells him that she gets her child characters' Christian names from her undermind but looks in a telephone directory afterwards for surnames. I think it would be worth looking at the Beaconsfield/Bourne End telephone directory circa 1942 to see what there is re Hilton, Daykins and Trotteville. :D

I don't think we'll find 'Goon' in the phone directory. I think it was his adult surname that came to Enid from her undermind (that's the only name used for him in the first book in the series). As for 'Theophilus', which first appears in the second book, well I make it pretty clear in Looking For Enid where I think that wonderful name comes from :wink:

Beaconsfield and Bourne End are only three miles apart, so might well be in the same telephone directory. I suspect Enid would not have taken the time out of her writing schedule to get an old directory from her Bourne End days (1929-1938). She would have opened the directory that she had handy at Green Hedges, Beaconsfield.

A number of the best known series started about the same time. The Famous Five in 1942, the Find-Outers in 1943, the Adventure series in 1944, for example. It might be an idea to look up all the main character surnames in the relevant Beaconsfield directory. I know there is a place in central London that has these old directories open to the public. At least I vaguely remember researching something a long time ago which meant I needed to see an old telephone directory for Hamilton, Lanarkshire, for 1970, and I was able to do that. All the historic BT directories are on-line now, I suspect. Does anyone have any experience of using them? Do you get to see the pages alphabetically, as Enid would? I expect so if they've input the data with character recognition techniques.

Anybody fancy delving into old telephone directories? I think it might pay dividends, especially in a Find-Outers context since I seem to remember that in some of the books telephone directories are consulted by the characters themselves. For example, the name 'Holland' is looked up in Mystery of the Hidden House. Pip fetches the Hiltons telephone directory, at Fatty's request. They discover:

A.J. Holland
Henry Holland
W. Holland and Co,. Garage Proprietors, Marlow.

I wonder if Enid got that list from her undermind or from the telephone directory. Hmmm... If the latter, I doubt if she would have used the information absolutely directly. Even with the Tapping/Tupping business in Disappearing Cat, she did mange to make a small change to the real name.

OK that's it for now. I hope this post isn't off-topic. Surely not. We're still very much Looking for Fatty (and co.) in Peterswood/Bourne End.

Anyway, I'm off for now. But I'm leaving the shed door open. Anyone is welcome to use the facilities. Plenty biscuits in the tin. A full bottle of lemonade in the cupboard. Oh, and it's an oil lamp not a gas lamp as I said in my last post. Or am I thinking of the oil stove? It's these little details that are important! Though at this stage in the day in the middle of April I don't think you'll need either lamp or stove.

Sspring. With summer just round the corner.
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Viking Star »

Early last week I came across one of the best clues as to the location of the White House!

In The Mystery of the Invisible Thief, Fatty visits Colonel Cross, who lived in “a pleasant little place not far from the river”. When Goon sees Fatty (disguised as a tramp) holding a pair of Colonel Cross’ boots, he demands that Fatty hand them over. Fatty twists away from Goon and runs all the way home. This is the description of Fatty’s departure from Colonel Cross’ house:

He “raced off down the road” and “Fatty turned a corner and hurled himself through a hedge into a field. He tore across it, knowing that Goon couldn’t ride his bicycle there. He would have to go a long way round to cut him off! Across the field, over the style, across another field, down a lane, round a corner – and here was the front gate of his own house! Into the gate and down the path to the shed.”

The only fields anywhere near the river are those bordered by the river to the south, Coldmoorholme Lane to the east, the Marlow Road to the north and The Avenue and The Drive to the west. The only places near both the river and these fields are either those off Coldmoorholme Lane or off The Avenue or The Drive. Coldmoorholme Lane can be ruled out because that is where Pip and Bets lived, and was also the location of ‘The Rodways’ which Pip and Bets had gone to visit. The Drive is unlikely because its northern end isn’t near the river, and its southern end isn’t really that near the fields. That leaves the Avenue as the most likely setting for where Colonel Cross lived.

From there Fatty runs east (ish) and into the field. He then runs north until he gets to a style, over that and north again into the next field. When he exits the field he finds himself in the Marlow Road. He then runs down a lane (the Marlow Road), round a corner (into Abbey Road) and finds himself in front of the gate of his own house!

If you go to the link provided by Green Hedges in the first post in this string, and type: ‘The Avenue Bourne End Buckinghamshire’ you should be able to follow Fatty’s route home (2 Abbey Road) from Colonel Cross’ house.

Incidentally, you can now download Google Earth 4.2, which gives better images.

The location of the White House in Abbey Road is consistent with a number of other references to where Fatty lives, which suggest he doesn’t live on the main road, but also that he doesn’t live far off it. Although there are various references to Pip and Bets going down their lane, or Larry and Daisy going up theirs, this isn’t the case where Fatty is concerned. In the same book the children simply stroll from Fatty’s house down the lane (the Marlow Road) to see Goon (whose Police House is also on the Marlow Road), or in another book Fatty jumps off the bus (apologies – can’t trace the exact reference at the moment), and seems to be home within seconds.

The only references in the books I can find which are not consistent with Abbey Road being where Fatty lived, are those where the other four children go to the railway station to meet Fatty. However although these references are not consistent with Fatty living in Abbey Road, the alternatives also seem pretty unlikely. At the moment my only theory as to why this might be is that following Fatty home was perhaps an ‘artificial’ ruse (used by Enid over and over again), rather than watching subconsciously the images thrown up by her ‘undermind’.

The following image is largely for the benefit of Green Hedges, who first put us onto the trail of Fatty’s house via Google Earth, but who unfortunately can no longer use that tool. It shows Abbey on the left, then comes the roof of the White House (nb. ‘L’ shaped), with the garden to the right of the house. The existing narrow path and the Marlow Road run along the bottom of the picture. I have inked in the existing path and where a path used to run along the bottom of the garden.

Image


The (not very good) image which follows is a picture I took of a map dated 1938. It covers a similar area to the first picture, but more importantly shows (as denoted by = = = = =) where footpaths used to run. In case it’s any help, I have inked in an ‘A’ to indicate the White House (incidentally at the time it was called ‘The Haven’). The ‘100’ indicates a contour line, and is right in the middle of Fatty’s garden.

Image


I’m afraid I must end for the moment, as it’s just gone 3.10am and I still have to pack for a visit to my parents ‘later’ in the morning. I will then be in Newcastlton/Mangerton territory where, as mentioned previously, unfortunately I will not have access to the internet. Back next Tuesday evening!
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Moonraker »

Great Stuff, VS! Thanks so much for this totally fascinating thread. You must have put hours of work into it. You should publish it as a booklet, then we could buy it and re-trace your steps. :D
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Viking Star »

Moonraker wrote:. You should publish it as a booklet, then we could.....re-trace your steps. :D
Many thanks Moonraker, I'm quite chuffed about that - and like the sound of it. There's a lot more to write, and maybe I could even include a DVD with video coverage (although maybe that's a bit ambitious! I'd like to do something for the Journal at least.

I'm on the train to my parents and so far don't feel to bad considering the lack of sleep. but I've got about 4 days to catch up!
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Moonraker »

At least you don't have to buy a ticket! :wink:
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Fascinating - it's great to see images and maps of the area.

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

Post by Green Hedges »

I meant to respond sooner to Viking Star's last post.Haven't got much time now either but here goes...

That's a nice bit of analysis re the Invisible Thief quote. I had highlighted the passage in my Methuen hardback, knowing it could possibly be a useful geographic clue, but I wasn't able to make sense of it in the way that VS has. I really must make a field trip to Bourne End soon. Indeed I will be doing so.

The image of house and garden is very useful. In Mystery of the Missing Man a whole lot of rooms are mentioned. Hall, kitchen, living room. VS, from your single visit to the Haven (interesting name, wonder if Enid used it for a house name in any other story) can you say where the various rooms are? Have you matched up the reality to the references in Missing Man and the other books.

There is a passage in Holly Lane where Fatty is sneaking out of the house at night (to try and retrieve the window cleaning cloth that Larry has left at the house next door to Green Trees on Holly Lane). Fatty and Buster go down the stairs. Fatty whispers to Buster that they're going out of the garden door. Buster leads the way down a side corridor, then they exit the house. They then walk to the back-gate and slip out into the road. This is rather a tricky section. Why go out the garden door if it's the back gate they're headed for? (In Missing Man the garden door is associated with the front gate.) Also, the back-gate should lead to the lane not the road.

At this point it has to be said that, as far as I'm aware, the lanes around Fatty's house are only mentioned in Mystery of the Missing Man. I need to look at the two following books more closely, to check this. But I don't think any of the earlier books mention the lanes.

I want to think that 2 Abbey lane is the location of Fatty's house. But I haven't yet go it clear in my mind how Enid's mind is working. The mental map aspect is certainly there, but it seems to come and go a bit as she zeroes-in on soemthing that suddenly interests her (for the duration of a book). As when she talks about the church as a meeting point in one of the books.

I think Viking Star's analysis of the railway station in the last post may well be correct. Enid seems deliberately to be taking the reader on a wild goose chase away from Fatty's house. The Frenchman (who the other Find-Outers think is Fatty) is taken to Fatty's house instead of to 'Grintriss' in Holly Lane, but in such a way that the reader can't follow properly. Ern (who the other Find-Outers think is Fatty) goes from the station to Goon's house instead of Fatty's house in Mystery of the Hidden House. All in all, Enid seems to be having a bit of a laugh with the location of the fat boy's home in respect to the station!

Another possibility is that Enid was essentially unfamiliar with the way to Fatty's house from the station. What I mean is, when she lived in Bourne End and arrived there on the train from London or anywhere else, she would walk home to Old Thatch via the river. Going along the main street and then turning south into Coldmoorholme Lane would take her much longer (and wouldn't be such a nice walk). So I'm thinking that the way she would normally have approached 'The White House' would have been when coming up Coldmoorholme Lane for a walk. That just might cause her to be more vague about the way to the White House from the station, though the route is simple enough.

That's is for now. Can't stay in Fatty's shed all day when there's other work to be done.

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

Post by Viking Star »

This post is mainly intended to respond to some of Green Hedges' comments. I need to be brief but hopefully the following is of help.

The house at 2 Abbey Road is not built facing onto the road in the way that houses usually are. What appears to be the front door (see my third picture) faces onto the existing narrow lane (and the Marlow Road) rather than Abbey Road. You can see from the same picture (ie the bit that lets you see through to the back garden) that there is a garden gate on this side. There is a path in the garden down this side - see satellite image. Also on this side is what appeared to me to be a living room facing towards the front door (perhaps this could be from where Eunice sees the tramp the second time). One of the books suggests that Fatty's shed is at the back of the garden on this side.

The drive as such is shown in my first photo. However this does lead to the back of house. Also round this side of the house is the kitchen (on the right hand side of the drive) and a one level 'outhouse' type building. It is this side of the house I think of as regards Fatty entering the house round the servants'/kitchen quarters side.

I'm pretty sure there is no mention elsewhere in the FFO series of a house called The Haven. However as I mentioned in an earlier post, the house next door but one is called 'The Hollies'. I wonder if that inspired Enid for 'Holly Lane''? It's my understanding - but I haven't checked yet - that in Enid's time The Hollies would have been the neighbouring house to the Haven. In Abbey Road, apparently in many cases every other house is relatively new because it has been built on what used to be the (big) garden of an older house.

I would re-iterate at this point, as mentioned in an earlier post, that I personally don't feel the same need as GH that all the fictional and reality internal geography needs to totally add up (though nice if it does!).

There are lots of reasons why this might be where Fatty lived. However there are also a number of other reasons that appear to point to the contrary. As Fatty said: "Good detectives think of every possible explanation".

Hope this helps. Phew! That wasn't short as mentioned at the beginning of the post. Probably too much detail for most!
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Moonraker »

Viking Star wrote:
I would re-iterate at this point, as mentioned in an earlier post, that I personally don't feel the same need as GH that all the fictional and reality internal geography needs to totally add up (though nice if it does!).......There are lots of reasons why this might be where Fatty lived.
This thread is totally fascinating, and I am enjoying reading it. However, I think we must keep the reins on our sanity! After all, we are talking about works of fiction. Fatty et al did not actually exist! Enid was obviously very aware of the geography of Bourne End when describing Peterswood, but I think it a bit far-fetched to expect everything to tie up as though the Peterswood mysteries really happened. For example, I doubt that she went inside the houses in Bourne End and viewed the rooms - so why do we expect complete accuracy in the descriptions of them? So with this in mind, I agree with you, VS !
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Re: Looking For Fatty & co. in Peterswood/Bourne End

Post by Green Hedges »

Try this for fact or, if you prefer, pure pie-in-the-sky...

It's 1956 and Enid has spent Monday to Thursday writing Three Cheers Secret Seven. As always with a piddling little Seven she has left herself with a free Friday, and instead of dashing off a Noddy story (as she was briefly tempted to do) she has decided to visit Bourne End, her old stamping ground from the far off days with Hugh.

It's the first of May. She cycles along quiet lanes, admiring the new growth on the wayside bushes and the happy whistling of song birds, before entering the village from the north. When she reaches the Marlow Road she is very close to where she wants to be. The white house with the tranquil name of The Haven. She pushes her bicycle along the drive and leans her bike against the kitchen door, noting the unusual alignment of the house. Smiling to herself, she rings the bell by the door on the other side of the house - she thinks of it as the garden door, as it looks out onto so much pretty border, lawn and hedge - and is soon in conversation with the owner.

"I'm Enid Blyton."
"Are you really?"
"I live in Beaconsfield these days, but I used to live here in Bourne End."
"Yes, I recognise you now. I used to see you pushing a pram along the Marlow Road."
"That would have been Gillian. My lovely baby girl has grown up now. Or it might have been Imo. That darling child has grown up too. Anyway, now it's just me, taking my mind for a trip down Colmoorholme Lane. Though, actually, I don't intend to go exactly there today. I've come here instead. I hope you don't mind my interrupting your morning."
"Oh, no, not at all! I'm so pleased to see you standing in front of me. You are an amazing person and I've always wanted to meet you."
"I've got a secret to tell you. Can I come in?"

Soon Enid and the woman, who has introduced herself as Eunice, are drinking tea in the sitting room. Eunice offers Enid a plate of macaroons.

"I shouldn't. You see I'm slimming," says Enid, with a glint in her eye.
"Nonsense, take one."
"I suppose I can always go for a jog along the river later."
"Of course you can. And you're cycling."
"Oh, so I am. I'd better take two or I'll never get through the day."
Eunice laughs

Enid goes on to talk about the Mystery series. She explains how once she'd finished The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage she was horrified to realise it was all about Old Thatch, Coldmoorholme Lane and her attitude towards her first marriage.
"Dear me," says Eunice. "What did your husband think about that?"
"Oh, it's sufficiently disguised for Hugh not to realise what's going on in a million years. Besides, he won't have read the book. After all it's for children. Anyway, when I wrote my next Mystery I broke up the too-close-to-home Coldmoorholme set-up and moved Fatty..."
"Oh, yes, I know him. He's marvellous!"
"You don't mean you read these books as well? They're for children, Eunice.You really must try and ACT YOUR AGE."
Enid takes another macaroon and they both laugh.

Enid goes on to say that for the subsequent books in the series, Fatty has been living in The White House, which is to say in Eunice's home once removed.
"Here! - I had no idea."
"I'd liked the look of the house from my Bourne End days, glimpsing it from the Marlow Road as I would turn towards the village. And I loved the name of it. That was all. In one off the later books I give the house a large shed, not knowing whether or not there was a shed in your garden or not. Though I expect there is, what with the garden being so large."
"Oh, yes, we have a shed."
"Does it have a tiger-skin rug on the floor?"
"Not when I last looked."
"Well, look through my eyes the next time you venture down to the bottom of your property."
However, it's not the inside of Fatty's shed that's at the top of Enid's mind today. She explains: "When I was last in Bourne End, in the autumn, I came to have a closer look at your house and ended up having a lot of fun in those wonderful lanes that I suddenly realised go all the way around your house."
"Yes, they can be handy."
"Handy! As I walked along them, I had my Fatty, my Theophilus Goon, Mrs Trotteville, at least one tramp and any number of beetles for company."
"Goodness!"
"I have a feeling I am going to use these lanes in my next Find-Outers book, which I will be starting on Monday morning. But what I suddenly became curious about as well was the layout of the house. I know it must seem like an odd request..."
"Would you like to see around the house?"
"Oh, that would be super. Thank-you so much. Some day I will show you around Green Hedges."

After the guided tour of The Haven - the highlight of which, for Eunice, was having a demonstration of how Enid could let herself out of a locked room - the ladies come back into the sitting room for a sit down. Suddenly there's a commotion, "Oh, my word!" cries Enid, staring out of the window. "There's that tramp again. Help! Frederick, where are you? That horrible tramp's here again! Frederick!"

Eunice is startled. Enid reassures her that everything is all right: it's just a story popping up from her subconscious. Her under-mind has the habit of jumping the gun at times. She has a feeling she is going to have great difficulty leaving off from starting her new Find-Outers book until Monday.

At Enid's suggestion, she and Eunice look for tramps in the back garden for an hour. They don't find any. "No wonder," says Enid, pointing to what she refers to as a 'tramp- flap' in the garden fence close to the shed. "The tramps go in and out of your garden at will, laughing at you, Eunice. They flit from lane to lane like will o' the wisps, laughing at decent housewives like us, dear Eunice."

The house-maid invites then into the kitchen where Enid drinks tea, stuffs herself with shortbread and is encouraged to tell of the numberless books she has written in the last year. Eventually Enid realises how late it is and her new friend Eunice shows her to the front door. Her bicycle is not there.

"Oh, you must have left it round the back," says Eunice.
"No," says Enid, gleefully. "IT MUST HAVE BEEN STOLEN! Now let me see..." Enid smiles and goes on. "Poor old Goon. He has to walk home. At home he finds the phone ringing. It's Fatty reporting the presence of a bicycle leaning by his KITCHEN door. He doesn't know whose it is, but wonders if Goon has had one reported as stolen."
"Has he?" asks Eunice, trying to keep up.
"Mr. Goon shouts down the phone that he knows he left the bike by the front gate and that Fatty must have hidden it until Goon left the Trotteville house, and then put it by the kitchen door. The fat boy..."
"Don't you mean 'toad of a boy'?"

But Enid has gone. She's mounted her bike and is cycling pell-mell for Beaconsfield. There is no way that the latest Find-Outers story can wait even until Saturday. Kenneth can play bridge by himself tonight and he can blooming well play golf by himself all Saturday and Sunday. Eyes down for a working weekend...

That's it from the shed. I think I've done not too bad considering all I had to go on was an EB diary of doubtful provenance, the entry in which for May 1st, 1956, reads:
'Went to Bourne End. Delicious tea at Haven.'
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Viking Star
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Favourite book/series: Mystery, Adventure and Secret series.
Favourite character: Fatty, Mrs Hilton and Philip
Location: Vauxhall, London

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

Post by Viking Star »

Thanks GH.

That was a real hoot. I loved some of the conversations eg. "I'm Enid Blyton" "Are you really" :lol:

And of course the biscuits/jogging/cycling banter.

Well done.
This is a Green Knight Book which means that it is a book by one of the most popular authors of all.
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