Canterbury Beaney Exhibition

[Anita Bensoussane]

There's a picture of the Secret Seven shed here (or part of it!):

http://exhibitions.sevenstories.org.uk/5/materials" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There were plastic plates and cups inside, and plastic food (sandwiches and cakes).

[Katharine]

Thanks Anita, I definitely don't remember seeing that, but wouldn't like to swear that it wasn't there, I may have over looked it.

[Courtenay]

I do remember seeing that same write-up about the Secret Seven - the wording on the webpage is identical to what's on the wall in the Secret Seven section of the exhibition. I don't recall the shed itself, but I only went past that area briefly; I'm sure the shed would have been there.

Perhaps we ought to start discussing a day when several of us might be able to meet up at the exhibition, go around together, and have afternoon tea or something afterwards? I'd be happy to go again for that - I'd love to meet some fellow Society members and Blyton enthusiasts in person - and we could check to make sure they really do have the shed in the display, while we're at it.

[Fiona1986]

The food and plates were fabric when I was in Newcastle

And another view inside the shed.

[Katharine]

I remember seeing a child playing with a tea party set somewhere, but not sure which section. The SS shed definitely doesn't ring any bells though. I'll show my daughter the photos though and see if she remembers that bit.

A meet up would be nice if people could arrange a day, but I get the impression that Plymouth would be more suitable for most forumites. We've only got about 6 weeks before it moves though.

[Moonraker]

Maybe if Dorset could generally be marketed as 'Enid Blyton Country' it might have had a little more success

Really, Enid Blyton Country wouldn't be Dorset. An author's "country" is usually where the lived or were brought up. I think Enid's connection (from memory) with Dorset is holidaying in Swanage and owning a golf course and a farm.

[Courtenay]

Also, it did occur to me that if they marketed Dorset as "Enid Blyton Country", people might start assuming that Dorset is full of sexist and racist people who play with golliwogs and think that girls should stay home and do the cooking and cleaning.

[Moonraker]

Sounds like my ideal county.

[Katharine]

I know Enid set her books in many different locations, but it she seems to have slightly more links to Dorset than to anywhere else, other than Green Hedges. It's been mentioned in several news articles that Corfe Castle was Kirrin Castle, and I believe that Finniston Farm and Whispering Island were both based on genuine places in Dorset, so why not exploit that rather weak link?

I doubt the media will ever be convinced that Corfe isn't Kirrin.

[Julie2owlsdene]

I think as long as you can see Eileen Sopers illustrations of Kirrin, you'll always be reminded of Corfe Castle. And of course there is Lulworth Castle, that could almost be Malory Towers. So for many the links are there, and as you mention, Katharine, Enid did base Whispering Island on Brownsea, and made special note to this affect inside the book - Mystery to Solve. Mentioning that Lucas is a real person, and the little cottage on the hills was real too.

And of course there are the books about - Enid's County of Dorset.

For me, I will always think of Enid's county being around Bourne End, and Beaconsfield, probably because of Old Thatch and Green Hedges.

[Eddie Muir]

For me, I will always think of Enid's county being around Bourne End, and Beaconsfield, probably because of Old Thatch and Green Hedges.

Me too, Julie - and because of the Five Find-Outers and Dog.

[Courtenay]

For me, it was in Dorset that I rediscovered (or re-admitted) my love of Enid Blyton - when, after a visit to Corfe Castle, I discovered the Ginger Pop Shop, which induced me to return for a holiday in Swanage a few months later - so Dorset it is for me! But to be fair, I've never been to Bourne End or Beaconsfield.

Regarding Corfe Castle "being" Kirrin Castle, although there's little or no evidence for that (and a good deal of evidence against it), it IS certain that Enid visited Corfe Castle at least once, as she wrote about it very eloquently in one of her Teacher's World letters. So even though it wasn't "the" castle that inspired Kirrin, it can legitimately be said to be a "Blyton location", and elements of it very likely crept into her imagination to be used in her stories. (It does feature by name briefly in one of her last published books, Adventure of the Strange Ruby.)

Incidentally, I don't find that Eileen Soper's illustrations of Kirrin Castle bear any really clear resemblance to Corfe Castle - Corfe's keep is much taller and more angular than the surviving tower of Kirrin in Soper's drawings. I'm sure someone mentioned here recently, too, that it's not known whether Eileen ever visited Corfe herself, so we can't say whether or not she was influenced by it at all.

[Katharine]

Good points, I would imagine it 'Enid Blyton Country' depends on how/when a person gets to know her. As I was only two when she died, I had no knowledge of Green Hedges so Beaconsfield would mean nothing to me. I never came across any of her Old Thatch books either, and only read the majority of the FFO books a few years ago, Bourne End wouldn't mean anything to me either. I suppose if any one says the words 'Enid Blyton' to me, I immediately think of the FF. I didn't visit Dorset until last year, so hadn't anywhere specific in my mind for the setting of many of the FF books, but now that I have been there, then I definitely felt that Dorset was at the back of Enid's mind when she wrote the books. Although personally I don't think Corfe Castle is anything like how I imagined Kirrin Castle.

Of course she also wrote about many other settings, but sadly I've yet to stumble across the Enchanted Wood or any other gateways to magical lands.

[Julie2owlsdene]

Let's not forget that Five on a Treasure Island was filmed at Corfe Castle, (about 1956) and the castle ruins were Kirrin Castle, and Lulworth Cove, was where the children landed on the 'so called Kirrin Island.' Many children who saw the film series at the cinema every Sat morning would also connect Corfe Castle with Kirrin Island, too.

For me, I will always think of Enid's county being around Bourne End, and Beaconsfield, probably because of Old Thatch and Green Hedges.

Me too, Julie - and because of the Five Find-Outers and Dog.

Yes, I too Eddie think of the Find-Outers being assosicated with Bourne End.

[Carlotta King]

For me, I always think of Cornwall and Exmoor as my 'Enid locations'. Strange maybe!
I know that Enid has nothing to do with Exmoor, and never lived in Cornwall or anything, but it's all down to childhood memories for me.

As a little girl, I never knew anything about Enid in person, or where she lived, or had visited, or anything like that, and obviously we had no internet or anything to do any research about her. At that age I wasn't really bothered about her personal life anyway, i just had all her books and adored them, so I link the happy reading of all those adventures with the places I lived and visited while enjoying the books.

As a young child we always holidayed in Cornwall, so I would read my books there, so even the adventures that aren't set in Cornwall, always remind me of Cornwall anyway, especially the ones where there are wild coasts and coves etc.

I was brought up on Exmoor so that is another place where I constantly read the books and am reminded of the lovely countryside there, even though none of the stories are set on Exmoor.
I find that I can imagine all the settings to be somewhere in Exmoor or in Cornwall anyway; such as the midnight-biking woods in FGIT, I have visited woods on Exmoor that could have easily been those woods, etc!

And then, when the 90s FF series was filmed, and I saw that it had been filmed on Exmoor and in a few of the places I knew very well and lived near, that made it even more real for me - to have my favourite FF book, Five Go Down To The Sea, filmed in one of my favourite places on Exmoor, made it really magical and now, even though I know it is set in Cornwall, the places in my minds eye are the ones on Exmoor.

So, although these places are nothing to with Enid as such, they were the places where I grew up reading the adventures, so to me they are 'Enid Country'.