Five Have a Mystery to Solve

[Maggie Knows]

Does anyone know if the cottage that the Five are asked to look after (along with Wilfrid) is based on a real building. In the foreword she tells us that the golf course and the island are based on real-world things, I wondered if the cottage was too. If yes, does it still exist...

[Nick]

I seem to recall reading, perhaps on this forum, that the cottage was based on a real place but fans couldn't agree on it's location?

[Rob Houghton]

There is a cottage overlooking the golf course, which I feel is a strong contender, but I'm sure others would have their own ideas. In my article 'Blyton Country' in Journal 26, I suggest Hill Cottage might well be based on 'the stone house just below the road, which looks over the golf course and the moors to the sea beyond. From this house, the Five could indeed 'climb the hill, cross the road' and climb a stile onto the back part of the golf course, even though this description seems confusing if you've only read the book and never been there' (p 14 Journal 26).

Unfortunately, I don't have a photo to hand, but why not try Google Maps - you can zoom right in to the road that runs past the golf course, and see for yourself! (Purbeck golf course)

[Muminah]

Does any forumite have a picture of Whispering Island? In Enid's forward she says that it is still there near the Harbour.I would really like to see it. I tried Googling but without much success.

[Eddie Muir]

Have a look at the thread A Trip to Whispering Island on the General Natter forum, Muminah. Nigel posted some great photos on 17th June 2009. Hope this helps.

[Moonraker]

Thanks for the plug, Eddie! As most of us know, Whispering Island is based on Brownsea Island, in Poole Harbour - although in my imagination, it looks nothing like Brownsea!

Unfortunately, my pictures don't seem to appear when you click on the link.

[Muminah]

Thank You very much for the information Eddie and Nigel!

[Rob Houghton]

Five Have A Mystery To Solve doesn't seem to have a thread of it's own (though I admit I'm hopeless at finding such threads!) - only a thread it shares with 'Together Again' as 'the last two Famous Five books'. I thought that was a shame, especially if people are searching for a thread about a particular Famous Five, as all the others have threads to themselves I think.

I found a former thread by searching on "Solve" and selecting "Topic titles only", but it wasn't a very long thread so it's good to be able merge this new thread with it! - Anita


I've just reached FHAMTS in my Famous Five complete series read through, and I have to say I'm enjoying it more than I imagined I would. I first read this book after visiting Enid's golf course in Purbeck - and in fact I bought my first edition copy in a second hand book shop in the area. Having read the various descriptions of the golf course, Hill Cottage, etc, we went back there, and the scenes Enid wrote about immediately came to life for me.

Because of the fact this book is set in a real place that I've actually visited, walking across the golf course, standing outside Mrs Layman's cottage, walking across the moors nearby, I have always had a soft spot for it. I didn't read it until I was about 30, but for me the strength of it is in the descriptions of the real life places.

I have never enjoyed the Mystery part of the book so much, and find it really difficult to identify with the fact that Whispering Island is actually Brownsea, because Brownsea is just too well known these days to have a mystery taking place on it. However, in Enid's day I believe it was a private island and was out of bounds to visitors, so Enid probably never visited it personally and had probably heard a lot of stories about the old reclusive woman who lived there and put 'keep Out' notices up everywhere.

A few things have struck me while reading the start of this book - the setting is great - although it's rather confusing to suddenly find that the cousins are all living within a fairly easy bike ride of each other, and maybe even in the same village! It also seems as if Enid is struggling to keep the story on track. Was this because of her deteriorating mental skills? Mrs Layman just appears out of the blue - and none of The Five really seem to know her. She immediately asks the Five if they would like to stay in her cottage. It's explained that her grandson Wilfred is there also, but doesn't want to live there alone while Mrs Layman goes off to nurse a sick relative.

It's a bit odd, therefore, that when The Five cycle to see the cottage, and also Mrs Layman, Mrs Layman is out, and when she does come back, she only comes as far as the gate, has a chat, then gets back in her car and drives away! Has she already abandoned Wilfred? Good job the Five decide to stay there straight away rather than go back in a day or two, as Mrs Layman seems to have gone off without a thought, and also left nothing whatsoever to eat in the larder at the cottage - all a bit odd!

I also noticed a few inconsistencies that needn't be there - Julian's mother tells Mrs Layman she will come with the children to view the cottage, but by the next day she's busy organising a church bazaar, the cottage has absolutely no food in the larder - why would Mrs Layman leave it empty? Mrs Layman says Wilfred hates to be there on his own, and yet he tells the children he sent the daily woman away as he prefers to be alone. Quite a few things seem to be hastily added in by way of explanations or to make things more convenient.

On the other hand, the Famous Five feeling is still there in spades - except maybe it's beginning to feel a bit more tired and over-written than it was during the peak of the series. Still an enjoyable read, but not one of the best.

[Moonraker]

I did try to do a quick search to see if there was already a thread on this book, but due to the really annoying way the forum is set up, you have to wait around 20 seconds before you can go to the next page. I know in my forum admin can set the amount of time between searches, if that is the case here, it would be really helpful to reduce the time down to as near zero as possible.

Yes, this is an odd book, Robert. I could never picture Whispering Island as Brownsea, and on my visits to BI it never feels at all like WI to me. I picture WI to be much smaller than BI, and even Poole Harbour seems far to large in reality. It doesn't really seem like a FF book to me, almost more like a Barney mystery.

It is a very long time since I have read it, and I did start to watch the awful CFF version, but could only stick that travesty for ten minutes or so. I will be interested to see what I make of it when I recommence my FF re-read.

[Rob Houghton]

I did try to do a quick search to see if there was already a thread on this book, but due to the really annoying way the forum is set up, you have to wait around 20 seconds before you can go to the next page. I know in my forum admin can set the amount of time between searches, if that is the case here, it would be really helpful to reduce the time down to as near zero as possible.

I did try a search, and it came up 60 pages long, even just using 'Mystery to solve' and a few other search words. Clicking on the next page of results almost always leads me to a 'sorry we can't search for this at the moment' type message - so I gave up!

[John Pickup]

I haven't read this book for a while but I do remember thinking after visiting Brownsea Island a few years ago that it was nothing like Whispering Island had appeared in my mind. I'd always imagined the island in the book as been quite small, not much bigger than Kirrin Island. I never took to Wilfred either.

[Rob Houghton]

Must admit I think the last four books suffer for want of an interesting extra character (the likes of Ragamuffin Joe and Nobby and Sniffer and even Henrietta are much more successful). Tinker, Junior, and Wilfred are all characters I could never really take to!

[Daisy]

I have never been too bothered about Tinker... he seemed a rather hyperactive nine-year-old who was somewhat squashed by George and to a lesser extent, the others. Junior was annoying - but more to the other children than to me as a reader, but I do agree, Wilfrid was irritating - and confusing too, with his hatred of the Kirrins and then his amazing talent with animals.,, An odd mixture.
I agree, Nigel, the CFF version was like another story altogether! At least the TV versions of the books bore a greater resemblance to the originals!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Like several other people here, I find this book muddled and disappointing. As a child I was intrigued by the note at the front which said the location was based on a real place, but I've seen pictures of Brownsea Island and it's nothing like the Whispering Island of my imagination.

I did try to do a quick search to see if there was already a thread on this book, but due to the really annoying way the forum is set up, you have to wait around 20 seconds before you can go to the next page. I know in my forum admin can set the amount of time between searches, if that is the case here, it would be really helpful to reduce the time down to as near zero as possible.

I once asked Keith about shortening the time between searches and he said the settings couldn't be changed. However, the forums have undergone one or two updates since then so things might be different now. I'll see if I can check the settings some time, but I'm busy for the next couple of days.

[number 6]

Enid's Hill Cottage is based on Agglestone Cottage, just off the Corfe-Studland road. It is reached by a rough track from the road & is mostly obscured by trees. The front of the Cottage faces Poole Harbour & overlook's the 8th Hole on the Purbeck Golf Course. Apologises if I've posted this before!