Camping, on Brownsea Island Enid Blyton"s Famous Five Setting, Amid Wildlife - Recalling Squirrels, Snakes & Dragons

 I visited Brownsea Island with the tourist board to see the red squirrels from a hide. Just a side trip from Poole harbour, where we had previously visited Poole Pottery. 

No camping necessary. But, apparently, some people like the idea of camping overnight, not to save money, but because it evokes memories of Enid Blyton's books about the Famous Five.

The Joys Of Camping

I tried camping once as a teenager. It is one step worse than hiking. I discovered to my horros, that instead of the mere inconvenience of walking carrying your water, looking for a bush to go to the toilet, when camping overnight, you have to trek in the dark, stumbling over the tree roots, which might make you wet yourself with shock, to a smelly communal toilet. 

Modern camp sites with spaces for caravans, and swimming pools and toilet blocks are another matter. I have enjoyed those. For no more than one night for the novelty. I am not typical, even within my own family.

My husband is enthusiastically off camping. Putting up his own tent in the garden for practice. He stays three nights in splendour, then goes camping. Whilst I am jealous of the three nights in splendour, I think I'll be grateful to stay home. Reading about him and others. 

Enid Blyton & Brownsea Island

Here's today's good read, which I enjoyed, about the island immortalised by Enid Blyton in her books about the Famous Five. It's Brownsea Island in Poole, Dorset. It has red squirrels. 

Okay.  I'll watch a video of red squirrels. I have foxes and grey squirrels in London. 

Singapore Wildlife - Starting With Snakes

In Singapore, after seeing the snakes in the first six months, for the next thirty years I was cautious and never saw a snake. I lived in a high rise. 

My husband went running in the jungle..He saw snakes regularly. He entusiastically approached them with his camera. 

Whilst his retreating companion shouted to him, "Back off!" 

Larger than snakes are the crocodiles in the sea. And the komodo dragons on land.  

He also had a video of a hissing, long tongued, dragon, like a crocodile. Not a komodo dragon, from Indonesia, but the common or garden kind you get in Singapore in the Botanical Gardens - roaming freely. 

It was behind a chain link fence, the height of a tennis court, outside the Ministry of Defence buildings, inside their grounds, behind a chain link fence. I don't think the monster was an official part of the defence. They had signs warning about soldiers with machines guns, but no warning signs saying, beware of the dragon.   

At home, we were protected by a team of gardeners and security personnel who walked or cycled about.

American Wildlife\

I saw snakes in America. On trails through national parks. Forget that idea that snakes scuttle away. These were laying across the paths. warning signs were every few yards.

London Wildlife

I already have more wildlife in my life than I need. I had a nasty insect bite. I slept in pyjamas in summer heat for a fortnight. (For the enlightenment of any Chinese readers who don't knw the word Fortnight, it's short for fourteen nights, and days. It means two weeks It's a British everyday expression.)

Other Blyton Locations

You can see a plaque to Enid Blyton in south London. 

A model of a house connected to her is in Beaconsfield Model Village in Buckingham shire, a short trip from London. 

Should you be in Singapore and want to see a Komodo dragon at a safe distance, investigate what can be seen at the zoo. More are in zoos around the world, in the UK and USA at the Bronx zoo, the Smithsonian in DC and several more places.

Useful Websites

 Recapturing the joys and sorrows of camping, famous five style.

Video of Brownsea Island

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/dorset/brownsea-island?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_Blyton

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Enid_Blyton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon

https://www.slow-travel.uk/post/historic-writers-houses-you-can-visit-in-england

w.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/dorset/brownsea-dorset-famous-five-blyton-wv7wccfwh

Please share links to your favourite posts. My books are on Amazon.com and Lulu.com 

See Enid Blyton's Inspiration, Seckford Hall Hotel In Suffolk (and her Plaque in Southwark)

Seckford Hall in Brighton inspired Enid Blyton, I read whilst researching alliteration, which made me look up Famous Five and Secret Seven and Enid Blyton.

Enid Blyton led a busy life. She wrote up to 50 books a year. By my calculation, that means one every week with a fortnight off for a holiday.

Wiki says: She is the world's fourth most-translated author, behind Agatha Christie, Jules Verne and William Shakespeare with her books being translated into 90 languages.

BOOKS BY ENID BLYTON

You may recall

Secret Seven

Famous Five

Noddy and Big Ears

ABOUT AUTHOR ENID BLYTON

What about the author?

She lived from 1897 to 1968, had two husbands, and two children, and reached the age of 71. By the end of her life she had written more than 600 books. Her daughter has attended the Enid Blyton Day. The link to it seems to be broken.

PLACES TO VISIT

My first thought was, let's start in London. But would I ever want to visit Southwark. Where is it. The syllable south tells you it is south of the river.

Wiki provided a handy reminder, much more interesting than I remembered, full of places I have already visited, such as The Shard, highly recommended for its views over London with handy explanations on the glass. Expensive but worth it. We went there for a birthday. (You must book.)

The London Borough of Southwark (/ˈsʌðək/ (listen))^[2][3] in south London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London.

The part of the South Bank within the borough is home to London Bridge terminus station and the attractions of The Shard, Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe and Borough Market that are the largest of the venues in Southwark to draw domestic and international tourism. Dulwich is home to the Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Imperial War Museum is in Elephant and Castle.

Travel & Armchair Travel To See Enid Blyton Sites
1 Plaque in Ondine Street, East Dulwich, London Borough of Southwark, London, England, UK

2 Plaque

Plaque on Southlands.

Her homes included Old Thatch in Buckinghamshire, (a few miles from High Wycombe) where she lived for nine years (from 1929 to 1938) with her first husband who was Major Hugh Pollock, a book editor. The house had four bedrooms, dated from the 17th century and was a Grade II listed building. 

In 1938 she moved to another romantically and rurally named building, Green Hedges, in Beaconsfield. The name was chosen by her readers. She organized magazines and fan clubs which raised money for handicapped and underprivileged children and hospitals.

3 Seckford Hall Hotel & Spa

You can visit Seckford Hall hotel and Spa as an armchair  traveller. Their map of the u shape building in the grounds shows the words Enid Blyton sat here.

Useful Websites On Blyton and Seckford Hall
Wikipedia - Enid Blyton

Seckford Hall hotel and spa

Other Useful websites
https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/shop.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_words_having_different_meanings_in_American_and_British_English
https://context.reverso.net/translation/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/polyglotcommunity
https://translate.google.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_Blyton

About the author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

I and my family have lived in the UK, Spain, the USA and Singapore. I am a travel writer and photographer and teacher of English A level and English as a foreign language.

Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a language evaluator or grammarian.  We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and other language clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.

I am Immediate Past President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting on Zoom the first Wednesday of the month but  the third Saturday afternoon and occasionally on other Wednesdays our workshops are on app learncool.sg 

Incoming president Faith from July 1st 2020 could change dates so please contact the club.

learncool.sg

Or quicker to type and easier to remember: 

 tinyurl.com/BHACOOL

For language lovers:Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reduplicated_place_names

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reduplicated_Australian_place_names

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reduplicated_New_Zealand_place_names

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogs
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/04/how-to-say-thank-you-in-several.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/05/introducing-yourself-in-english-spanish.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/second-set-of-portuguese-words.html Please share links to your favourite posts
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
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