Journal 31

What did you think of the latest Journal?
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Kiki's new mam
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Re: Journal 31

Post by Kiki's new mam »

Tony Summerfield wrote:This thread is reminding me of an advert I saw on TV, I think it was for Barclay Card but I'm not sure, but that slippery slip went through several rooms and even through a supermarket! :P
i think i've seen that advert before, not sure if it's the one your thinking of, but i thought it was someone going down a really long water slide going through shops and stuff, there was also one like that but with a rollercoaster :D


Leila.
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Daisy
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Re: Journal 31

Post by Daisy »

It reminded me of a water slide too, Leila. I know the ad. you mean Tony but like a lot of ads. I can't remember what it is they're tryimg to sell!
'Tis loving and giving that makes life worth living.

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Re: Journal 31

Post by Tony Summerfield »

Daisy wrote:I've been re-reading the journals and came upon Terry Gustafson's article in which he is talking about the effect various characters had on him as a child. What has just struck me (didn't I read this thoroughly before?) was his comment on Silky's house ..."She possessed a little house of her own, and despite the obvious interruptions to her sleep when bodies came hurtling through the ceiling on their way down the Slippery-Slip......" Now I had never thought the slippery slip visibly passed through anyone else's house but was behind their inner walls. It's interesting to hear how one's early impressions can vary. Does Terry still envisage Silky's room like that I wonder!
I have been asked to post the following reply to your question:-

Re: Journal 31
by TG » 21 Mar 2010

Daisy asked a question in the forums regarding the Slippery Slip (Journal 31).

I see it as a spiraling tunnel that borders the edges where humanly possible. Going by the pictures of the children in front of the tree I can’t see any space that could be used if it ran solely behind the walls of the modest dwellings. Part of it might if there was a particularly thick bit of trunk but I see the Slip itself as a hollow encasement of wood descending around the perimeters.

In Silky’s case it may spiral round her bedroom with no threat to her decency unless an innovative user can manage to stop abruptly and use an awl or something to create a tiny hole in the side of the wood – always with the ever impending threat of another user rocketing into him or her from above. No, there would just be a swishing noise accompanied perhaps by a few screams of pleasure as the traveler flies past the ceiling area, around the side of the room, and continuing on where the skirting board meets the floor. It wouldn’t affect Silky at all because she’s versed in the magic arts and can easily fashion a “Hear Nothing” or “Deep Sleep” spell to ensure sanity is preserved.

The children would be the noisiest because of the novelty value supplied by a ride that kids seldom experience but they’d rarely shoot past at midnight. The quieter fairy folk who are usually up well beyond the witching hour would be the main users but whether or not others have their own access to the slide is in question. If it’s a public thoroughfare an inhabitant whose address is “Branch Two, Faraway Tree, Enchanted Wood” might not want to climb all the way up in order to come down again and if the Slip is “not” a public facility, then I say lucky old Moon-Face. In that light, Silky’s beauty sleep would rarely, if ever, be interrupted.

Looking at the picture on Page 17 or thereabouts of “The Enchanted Wood” the proportions of the children as compared with the width of the tree can be noted and on Page 27 (or so) you can see the Angry Pixie looking out of his window, which conveys a fairly good idea of the bark’s thickness.
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Re: Journal 31

Post by Daisy »

Thanks Terry - I love your imaginative answer!
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Where is Kirrin

Post by pete9012S »

Viv of Ginger Pop wrote:
moonraker wrote: Viv's probably holed-up inside Corfe Castle, planning her strategy to counter-attack this Channel Islands propaganda. :twisted:
You bet!

Before I make my case, have a look at Tony's suggestion, St Aubin's Fort.
http://www.jeron.je/thatwasjersey/castl" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 013big.jpg

Then have a look at some of the other fortifications around Jersey
http://user.itl.net/~gedi/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The conundrum of Kirrin; Corfe or Jersey?

What excitement - we have a new clue for the real whereabouts of Kirrin. And evidence doesn't come any better than a real letter from Enid herself. Does this new evidence in any way diminish my claims that it was Corfe Castle that inspired Kirrin Castle, when Enid herself says that the castle and island are somewhere off Jersey? Strange as it may seem, I think not, and I set out my case below.

My Evidence

The evidence I worked on for my 2002 book The Dorset Days of Enid Blyton was the best available, given there was no evidence from Enid at the time.

My first port of call was to talk to her family. Gillian sent me a set of notes that she had made for a BBC Pebble Mill production called Tracks, where she described real locations, and included Corfe as Kirrin.

Next I read Norman Wright's The Famous Five: Everything you ever wanted to know. This acknowledged expert threw his weight in favour of Corfe.

Thirdly I thought about what Enid knew, and what may have influenced her. She and Gillian had visited Corfe at Easter 1941 and Five on a Treasure Island came out sometime between July and October 1942. That visit to Corfe had been very close to the time that she wrote the book, and if we knew the date of Easter 1941 and the date that the book came out, we could narrow down how soon it was. A book took an average of 10 months from leaving the author to publication, but this book may have taken even longer since a new publisher had to be found with paper to spare

Evidence about the Island

Kirrin Island has a castle on it, is surrounded by rocks with a large wreck stranded upon them, has a useful cave under it, and is of such a size that assorted children and a dog can hide themselves from various baddies.

If you can imagine Kirrin Island, without thinking first of Eileen Soper's pictures, how big an area would it cover? Would it be as big as St Michaels Mount, Lindisfarne, or Brownsea Island? Or is it very small, perhaps only the size of a football pitch?

From the mainland Kirrin Island is described as small, but as the children approach it for the first time Julian says that it is bigger than he thought. Ann says it feels like an island because wherever you are, you can see to the other side, but this must be impossible because there is a low hill on it.

From what I have seen from pictures of the islands off Jersey, their combined areas look as though they would fit comfortably inside a modern Tesco supermarket.

Evidence about the Castle

What sort of a castle is Kirrin Castle? Do you regard it as a real castle built for battle, a fortified manor house, a folly, or a small fortification?

Kirrin Castle, once beautiful, proud and strong, is now a ruin. It has an enormous broken arch and slit like windows. It had upstairs accommodation, and is built from white stone.

To me it sounds like a proper Norman castle. Archways were typical of Norman architecture, and slit like windows essential in the age of archery. Corfe Castle is such a Norman castle (complete with broken archway) and is built of pale limestone which shines brightly in sunlight.

I understand that the forts around Jersey are typically Tudor (or later) and built in the age of the canon. These forts were very small, and manned by just a few soldiers at a time. Building in Jersey is usually with granite, often pink but sometimes grey. From the pictures I'm not sure if St Aubin's is made of pink granite or red brick. However the bedrock shows clearly the origin of its French name of Noirmont. These forts were still in use during Napoleonic times, and are still in reasonably good condition. They could be said to be deserted but not in a state of ruination when Enid visited over 80 years ago.

What was Enid describing?

In 1962 Five have a Mystery to Solve came out, placing Kirrin firmly on the mainland. George cycled over to her cousins from Kirrin, and then they all rode off to view Poole Harbour and Whispering/Brownsea Island. Yet in this same year Blyton writes a letter telling a fan that Kirrin is in the Channel Islands. How can I explain this conundrum?

What I think she means is that Jersey inspired the Topography of Kirrin. I can well imagine her in 1924 gazing at all the little islands with their forts on them and thinking to herself "wouldn't it be fun to own a place like that. I must put it into a story sometime".

Perhaps this thought resurfaced 17 years later when she visited Corfe. It may have been only a matter of weeks later, following her Dorset visit, when she wrote Five on a Treasure Island. Her wish fulfilment would also came true, because through the character of George she did get to own an island with a castle on it.

The letter from 1962 was written 38 years after her 1924 honeymoon in Jersey. We know that she took inspiration for stories from all over the place, and shouldn't be surprised to see a jumble of places being used. That she writes tersely of Corfe when writing about the 1957 film is not unusual, especially when the brevity of some of her diary entries is considered.

Personally I think it a stroke of genius for her to take a Norman castle that she knew well (Corfe) and put it on a rocky island (like those off Jersey but bigger) to come up with the familiar landscape of Kirrin, even if neither element were being described exactly.

So where is Kirrin? The definitive answer has to be that the REAL location for Kirrin was inside Enid Blyton's own imagination.

Best wishes

Viv
Really enjoyed re-reading this post Viv,and would have to say that I for one would certainly agree with your final conclusion :D

Regards
Pete
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane -

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Re: Journal 31

Post by Moonraker »

Well done Pete. You have the prize for including the longest quote in a post! I've never been able to understand how people think Kirrin Island could be based on an inland location! :?
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Re: Journal 31

Post by Rob Houghton »

most real places will inspire a writer, I always think, but very few will be written down inch for inch as they really are. Most places in EB fiction are, as Viv says, only existant in her imagination. That's the beauty of fiction: it can take us places we've never been and are never likely to go! 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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Akanksha Perera
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Re: Journal 31

Post by Akanksha Perera »

Well, i must say that Enid Blyton used a sort of are for her stories. Especially, Whispering Island (Brownsea island) is there in the mouth of the entrance to the harbour. I took a look at the island and suddenly spotted Corfe castle. (I used google maps for this purpose). I will investigate further more using google maps. There are some more islands near Brownsea island (eg: Green island, Furzey island).
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Re: Journal 31

Post by Akanksha Perera »

Investigations about "Five have a Mystery to solve"

Found our a golf club called the "Parkstone Golf Club" North east of Whispering island (Brownsea island). Could it be the Golf Course in which Lucas worked? Could an old cottage be found near it?
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Re: Journal 31

Post by Akanksha Perera »

After all, this golf club is more inland... so it can't have a look over the harbour. This isn't the golf course in the book. Anyway, it's all Enid Blyton's imagination... I WISH Enid Blyton is still alive, so that we can figure things out.


PUZZLING FACT

Take a look at the end of "Five have a Mystery to Solve". Enid Blyton says that [flash] whispering Island is really there [/flash] (Of course it is) and the Gold club is really there. But the golf club is either closed down and not in use anymore, or it's an imagination. If it is an imagination, we can't depend on the rest of the note in the end of that book.

Isn't there any grandson/grand daughter of Enid Blyton who can provide us some information? There SHUD be some things that Enid Blyton has written in her diary (if there is one).
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Re: Journal 31

Post by Tony Summerfield »

The golf club is not in her imagination, it is still there and still in use and it does overlook the harbour. I think you are possibly looking for it in the wrong place.
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Re: Journal 31

Post by Akanksha Perera »

Can u please go to google maps and mark the golf course? I just want to see the place. Is it near the sea? Please tell me the name of the golf course.
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Re: Journal 31

Post by Moonraker »

A few seconds Googling brought this up, which might be of interest, Akanksha. Read through, and there is some information about the golf course to be found.
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Re: Journal 31

Post by number 6 »

The Isle of Purbeck golf course is the one once owned by Enid. It is situated a few miles west of Studland village, on the Studland -Corfe Castle road. :D
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Re: Journal 31

Post by Moonraker »

I see Akanksha has asked the same question on enidbylton.net and Fatty has given the same answer!
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