Inspiration for Kirrin Bay, Island and Castle?

[Lucky Star]

Lovely pictures Oscar. There is an amazing similarity between the first, arched, image and the Soper picture. The second picture, storm at Kirrin Island, also bears a strong resemblance to the shape of Kirrin Island as drawn by Eileen Soper. And the castle in that picture is not a million miles from the outline of Corfe Castle either. I have always thought that the fictional location was probably inspired, in both Blyton and Soper, by a melange of images from places they had visited. Does anyone know if Soper visited the Chanel Islands or Corfe Castle at any time?

[Anita Bensoussane]

It's possible that Enid Blyton might have mentioned, while corresponding with Eileen Soper, that Kirrin was inspired by Jersey. If so, Soper may have done a spot of research and based some of her drawings on pictures of Jersey. I suppose we'll never know for sure.

Anita

[Julie2owlsdene]

I remember reading somewhere, in one of the many books I have, but can't remember which one at present, that Enid did see Corfe Castle, and wrote a poem about it. So maybe Corfe, was the inspiration also somewhere along the lines.

[Oscar Spain]

Hi!
In a letter, dated on July 62, from Enid Blyton, (included in Journal 31) Enid wrote, about Kirrin:

It was an island I once visited several times when I was in Jersey

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

Perhaps Eileen Soper did see that engraving. There are lots of castles on Jersey, and a castle hunting trip there is high on the list of things I want to do.

Enid first visited Corfe in 1931, and then 10 years later just before she wrote Five on a Treasure Island. Her visit to Jersey was in 1924. In my last phone conversation with Gillian, I told her about the 1962 letter. "Well, for my money, it's Corfe" she said.

I have no doubt that Kirrin Island is Jersey (and not Brownsea as is often thought) because it is rocky and has shipwrecks. As I understand it, there are little Tudor forts on the little islets off Jersey - and not the big Norman Castle described as Kirrin.

The real answer to where is Kirrin - is inside Blyton's head!

Viv

[Oscar Spain]

Hi!
I think tha Kirrin Castle is Corfe Castle, but surely some of the Jersey´s little castles it was an inspiration source too.

[Chrissie777]

At a guess I would say that the island of Lihou could quite possibly be the Channel Island that Kirren Island was based on
http://www.guernsey-press.com/GP_on_lin" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 238973.jpg
Other possibilities could be Brecqhou (also spelt Brechou and now owned by the Barclays brothers who ironically built a modern castle on the island!) or Jethou. Lihou though has advantage of being just off the coast of Guernsey while the other two are off the coast of Sark. EB would probably have had her honeymoon in Guernsey and is she would have visited Sark it would only have been on a day trip (at a guess).
!

I just found this thread while I was looking at fortresses on Alderney.
Maybe Blyton spent a day on Alderney? There are lots of small isles along the coast with fortresses:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Alderne ... 63&bih=797" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Julie2owlsdene]

She did base Kirrin Island on one of the Channel Islands she'd seen, Chrissie. I think it was Eileen Soper who drew everyone's attention to Corfe Castle, as she drew a similar castle for Kirrin Island.

I remember Trevor Bolton telling me that Kirrin Island was based on one of the small Channel Islands. Enid herself had put this in a letter to Trevor, as he used to correspond with her when he was a child.

[Moonraker]

Merged with an earlier topic.

Corfe Castle still gets mentioned as being the inspiration behind Kirrin Island, while we know this isn't true. We know that Enid said it was inspired by a small island in the Channel Islands. Has anyone any further information, or would that be further speculation. I would love to see a picture of this island and castle, as I am sure we all would. I wonder if touring the area through Google Earth would throw any clues? Perhaps if anyone visits the CI, they could make enquiries. Isn't it odd how a myth can become factual, whereas the true location remains hidden?

[Carlotta King]

Hmm well there are quite a few here -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ca ... el_Islands" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mont Orgueil is quite an imposing ruin but I'm not sure if it's too much of a 'whole castle' still, and not enough of a ruin to be Kirrin.

[Carlotta King]

[Katharine]

Wow, stunning photos, but personally, too big for the Kirrin Castle I have in my head.

I only realised very recently that Kirrin wasn't Corfe, and by that time, my Dorset holiday was booked!! Oh well, I shall still go to Corfe Castle for the day.

[Carlotta King]

Yeah, that's what I meant when I said it seemed too much of a whole castle. The look of it perched above the water like that was what made me think of Kirrin, and if it didn't have all those walls around it at various heights, and was just the ruined castle in the middle, then it would look extremely Kirrin-ish, but I agree, it's too much of a 'fortress' really.

[Moonraker]

I wouldn't worry too much, Katharine. I could well be that with the many visits Enid made as she was driven through the Isle of Purbeck, parts of Corfe Castle and village stuck in her mind and could well have inspired her in imagining her locations. West Harnham, in Salisbury, is my Peterswood - the fact that Enid never visited it is neither here nor there!

Interesting photos, Cathy; although as Katharine says, it seems far too large.

[Daisy]

From what I have gathered of the inspiration for Kirrin Island, Enid saw, when on holiday in the Channel Islands, a ruined castle on a spur of land which became an island at high tide. This spurred her on to develop Kirrin Island in her imagination.