Isn’t it funny how a bear likes honey….. A A Milne

If you catch the train to Royal Tunbridge Wells and then the 291 bus to Hartfield, you find yourself in Pooh country. 

Winnie the Pooh and his friends were the characters created by Alan Alexander Milne and he wrote stories about their adventures with his son Christopher Robin.

Milne was born the 18^th of January 1882 in Kilburn London.  After graduating from Cambridge in 1903, Milne contributed verse and essays to Punch, joining the staff in 1906 and becoming an assistant editor. During this time he published 18 plays and 3 novels. His son, Christopher Robin, was born in 1920 and in 1924; A A Milne produced a collection of children’s poems – When We Were Very Young, illustrated by E H Shepard; a collection of short stories for children and other stories that became part of Winnie-the Pooh books were first published in 1925.

When the Milne family moved to the farm in Hartfield, they still owned the house in Chelsea and this is where the writer lived during the week only returning to Hartfield on the weekends.  The store that is now Pooh Corner was a regular weekly trip for Christopher Robin and his nanny and A A Milne wrote the stories about Christopher Robin and his toys after hearing the tales his son told him.

If you hike through the woods, you come across Poohsticks Bridge and the enchanted places that are in the Pooh stories.  There’s even a plaque to commemorate the writer of the stories and the illustrator whose pictures are as famous as the characters.

Winnie-the-Pooh is an icon and he has been portrayed in cartoons by Disney as the stories of the adventurous bear continue to fascinate children everywhere.  My son Warren has a Winnie-the-Pooh bear which he has outgrown and the bear is now being cared for by my sister Pauline in Australia just in case he ever has children of his own.  If A A Milne were still around, I’m sure he would be delighted to think that his characters are still enjoyed by children everywhere, which reminds me that Once upon a time in London, a writer fell in love with the adventures of his son and wrote stories about Christopher Robin and his toys that will continue to amuse for generations.

www.pooh-country.co.uk

Hooray for Enid Blyton

As I boarded the train to Bourne End to visit Old Thatch, I thought about all of the Enid Blyton books I’ve read.  My favourite of them all and also my favourite book to date is Five Runaway Together, the story of the famous five and an adventure on Kirrin Island. I used to dream of having an adventure just like that one. So, without further ado, let me tell you about the woman that I like to call the first lady of children’s stories.

Enid Blyton was born in East Dulwich at 354 Lordship Lane on August the 11^th 1897.  The family moved to Beckenham where Enid was educated. Blyton trained as a teacher and taught for five years, writing in her spare time. Her first book, Child Whispers, was published in 1922 and well, you can guess the rest. 

After marrying, Enid and her husband Hugh Alexander Pollock moved into Old Thatch in Bourne End Buckinghamshire.  She drew plenty of inspiration from the area and referred to it as Peterswood in her books.

It pains me to reveal that the address in Lordship Lane is now a shop that sells bathroom tiles and the like. I found it disappointing to say the least, but Old Thatch gave me an incredible feeling that made up for any misgivings about the other property.  Surrounded by fences that make it impossible to see in, the grounds are beautiful and there’s loads of old world charm.  If the garden to the rear of the cottage is similar to what it was in Enid’s time, then there’s a shed full of spur, but the nearby wooded areas offer that too.  Just wandering along the lane that leads to the cottage garden take’s you into a sort of Blytonesque world and you kind of expect to see characters such as Brer Rabbit or Noddy along the way.  As I sat in the gardens sipping tea, I wondered if my chair would suddenly sprout wings and take off to somewhere magical with just a simple wish.

Old Thatch - Bourne End

Over the years, several of Enid Blyton’s books were banned or changed.  Noddy was said to be a poor role model for boys because he sometimes cried when he was frustrated, and his relationship with Big Ears was a bit suss. If you delve into it all further, there are several books that have been changed to make them politically correct. 

I could go on for hours about Enid Blyton; she is said to have written an estimated 600 books over approximately 40 years. Which I must say, is an incredible effort. My love for her work will never die regardless of what the critics say and this in turn brings to me to tell you that, Once upon a time in the mother country, a woman’s imagination took flight and soared far and wide to impress on the world the fantastic characters and incredible stories that bring out the child in all of us.

Thank you Enid Blyton.

www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk

www.oldthatchgardens.co.uk

Second star to the right, straight on till morning -J M Barrie

If you wander along the Lancaster walk in Kensington Gardens London, you almost get a feeling that takes you back in time.  Even though the city around is ever changing, Kensington Gardens have been there for hundreds of years.  You may even see the same things that James Barrie saw when he lived in Bayswater Road London.

100 Bayswater Road, London, W2 3HJ 

James Matthew Barrie was born on the 9th of May 1860 in Kirriemuir, Scotland. He was the 9th child of 10. As he grew up, Barrie was an avid reader who was fond of the ‘penny dreadfuls’ that were more affordable than the work by writers such as Dickens. Barrie wanted to be a writer, but his family wanted him to have a profession in the Ministry.  I for one am pleased he got his own way.

Barrie wrote several plays and stories, but the most known is of course Peter Pan, the story of a boy and a fairy and an ordinary London family. The character of Peter Pan was invented to entertain George and Jack Llewelyn Davies. Barrie would say to amuse them, that their little brother Peter could fly. He claimed that babies were birds before they were born and parents put bars on nursery windows to keep the little ones from flying away. This grew into a tale of a baby boy who did fly away, a boy who never grew up, a boy who took his friends on a marvelous adventure.

Peter Pan in Kirriemuir Scotland

The story has been depicted many times on stage and in films and there are statues of Peter Pan in Kirriemuir Scotland and Kensington Park London. 

Peter Pan Kensington Park London

For me, Peter Pan wasn’t just about staying young forever and playing games in a fantasy land filled with indians and pirates, it was about self-belief.  J M Barrie delighted children with a world where they could be children forever and make magic happen just by believing, which in turn delights me to say that, Once upon a time in London, a writer by the name of James Matthew Barrie taught us that if we truly believe we can fly, then we will.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever – John Keats

When you stand in the garden at the front of John Keats house in Wentworth Place Hampstead, you can truly understand how somebody could be inspired to write romantic poetry.

John Keats was born in 1795 on the 31^st of October; however his birthday was marked as the 29^th by his family - maybe they were just a little confused at the time. At the age of 8, he lost his father who died from a fractured skull and when he was 14 his mother died of tuberculosis. John was left in the custody of his grandmother. There was money in trust for Keats for when he turned 21 which he never applied for and he struggled financially.

The poet was an apprentice for a surgeon in his teens and lodged in an attic above the surgery.  After finishing his apprenticeship he registered as a medical student at Guy’s Hospital - now a part of Kings College.

                                                               Guys Hospital - Kings College

Keats first surviving poem, An imitation of Spencer, was written in 1814.  His work at the hospital was taking up a lot of his writing time and in 1816 he announced to his guardian that he would be a poet and not a surgeon. His poem, O Solitude, was the first to be printed and proof that Keats ambitions were valid.

The house at Wentworth Place

He moved into the house in Wentworth place in 1818. Keats wrote 5 of his 6 odes there and was said to have penned Ode to a Nightingale whist sitting in the garden under a plumb tree.

The garden where he wrote Ode to a Nightingale

Keats love interest Fanny Brawne moved into the house next door in 1819 and Keats gave her the love sonnet, Bright Star. He wrote hundreds of letters and notes to her and there is one on display in the Keats house. Unfortunately, there is no photography allowed in the house so I cannot show you the display, but maybe this will inspire a few  visitors.

John Keats passed away on the 23^rd of February 1821 and a quick calculation tells us that he was only 26 years of age.  He was living in Rome at the time and that is where the romantic poet is buried. He requested all letters from Fanny to be destroyed after his death - I wonder what she wrote.

Whether or not you like poetry, you can’t deny that the house and garden in Wentworth Place are beautiful and standing in that garden reminds me that - Once upon a time in London, a thing of beauty inspired John Keats to write poetry that will be a joy forever!

www.keatshouse.cityoflondon.gov.uk