The Dauntless and her crew were sailing up the west coast of Scotland towards the Isle of Skye when their holiday plans were interrupted. Another converted fishing boat, bent on less lawful business than the Dauntless, crossed their path, and they found themselves unaccountably involved in a hunt for smugglers. Captain Blake and the boys would have left the smugglers unmolested but for a chance meeting with Captain Blake's old friend, McDougall, late of the Customs, who persuaded the Captain to take him aboard.
In spite of all Captain Blake's efforts to keep the boys out of trouble, the fact that they alone had seen and could recognise the smugglers made then, key witnesses for the Crown ; but what finally lined them up on the side of the Law was the smugglers' wrecking tactics. When they beheld the ripped sails and smashed engine of the Dauntless the boys were all out for retaliation, and the chase occupied the rest of their holiday."
The climax of the book takes place in the description of an encounter with the whirlpool at Corryveckan. They never actually make it to the island of Skye. In come ways the ending of the story is remarkably tame.
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Hilbre Islands Again
The Rising Tide – Mabel Esther Allan
When she inherits three small islands, Fennel Chalfont, an eighteen-
year-old orphan, plans to go and live there. The main island has a
house, the ruins of an ancient Abbey, and some cottages. Only one
cottage is inhabited, by a Mr Parry-Jones and his granddaughter,
Ceiridwen.
Penny's friend Sue decides to join in the adventure, and the two
girls drive to the north-western estuary planning a winter of writing
and bird-watching. They are not deterred by the warnings of the
danger of the tides and the difficulties of living on a remote island.
Their first meeting with Ceiridwen, a schoolgirl on horseback,
strikes an uneasy note of strain and mystery, for why should the
child seem, to fear and resent strangers so much? Though she is
dismayed by their lack of welcome and the state of Great Seal House,
Fenny loves her islands and quickly feels a sense of responsibility
toward the lonely and puzzling Ceiridwen, who is so much more Welsh
than English.
The danger of the rising tide is soon apparent, but there is a rising
tide of menace, too, as various events seem to prove that their lives
may be in danger. On clear days the mountains of Wales are visible,
but it is some time before Fenny guesses that the- source of the
mystery lies in that other country.-
When she inherits three small islands, Fennel Chalfont, an eighteen-
year-old orphan, plans to go and live there. The main island has a
house, the ruins of an ancient Abbey, and some cottages. Only one
cottage is inhabited, by a Mr Parry-Jones and his granddaughter,
Ceiridwen.
Penny's friend Sue decides to join in the adventure, and the two
girls drive to the north-western estuary planning a winter of writing
and bird-watching. They are not deterred by the warnings of the
danger of the tides and the difficulties of living on a remote island.
Their first meeting with Ceiridwen, a schoolgirl on horseback,
strikes an uneasy note of strain and mystery, for why should the
child seem, to fear and resent strangers so much? Though she is
dismayed by their lack of welcome and the state of Great Seal House,
Fenny loves her islands and quickly feels a sense of responsibility
toward the lonely and puzzling Ceiridwen, who is so much more Welsh
than English.
The danger of the rising tide is soon apparent, but there is a rising
tide of menace, too, as various events seem to prove that their lives
may be in danger. On clear days the mountains of Wales are visible,
but it is some time before Fenny guesses that the- source of the
mystery lies in that other country.-
Hilbre Islands Cheshire
The Brydons in Summer
This is the fifth book in a series of nineteen about the Brydons family. It was first published in 1949.
The Brydons live at One Elm Cottage, Milchester, a village in the north of England. Next door to them at Beechacres is St. Jonathan’s Convalescent Hospital for Crippled Children, where their mother, Dr. Brydon, is the doctor-in-charge.
The Brydons, Roger, Ruth, Simon and Susan who are twins, and Dan, are all looked after by Miss Marsden. ‘Marsdie’ is an old friend of their mother’s. Or perhaps it is better to say that the Brydons look after Marsdie, as she is terribly forgetful. Sam Mitton is Dan’s special friend and shares all the Brydon adventures.
In this book there are three major scenes. The first is about a day in which the boys and the girls decide to swap the chores of the household. The girls do the tasks normally allotted to the boys and the boys undertake the cleaning and the cooking. Disaster ensues. The second is about the Garden Party at St. Jonathan’s Hospital where sporting events cause fun and amusement. Three weeks later the inmates of the hospital go on a trip to the sands at Hoylake on the Dee Estuary. Inevitably the Brydon boys and Sam get involved in an adventure on the Hilbre islands which nearly leads to disaster. The book has a neat little sketch map which makes the setting clear.
This is the fifth book in a series of nineteen about the Brydons family. It was first published in 1949.
The Brydons live at One Elm Cottage, Milchester, a village in the north of England. Next door to them at Beechacres is St. Jonathan’s Convalescent Hospital for Crippled Children, where their mother, Dr. Brydon, is the doctor-in-charge.
The Brydons, Roger, Ruth, Simon and Susan who are twins, and Dan, are all looked after by Miss Marsden. ‘Marsdie’ is an old friend of their mother’s. Or perhaps it is better to say that the Brydons look after Marsdie, as she is terribly forgetful. Sam Mitton is Dan’s special friend and shares all the Brydon adventures.
In this book there are three major scenes. The first is about a day in which the boys and the girls decide to swap the chores of the household. The girls do the tasks normally allotted to the boys and the boys undertake the cleaning and the cooking. Disaster ensues. The second is about the Garden Party at St. Jonathan’s Hospital where sporting events cause fun and amusement. Three weeks later the inmates of the hospital go on a trip to the sands at Hoylake on the Dee Estuary. Inevitably the Brydon boys and Sam get involved in an adventure on the Hilbre islands which nearly leads to disaster. The book has a neat little sketch map which makes the setting clear.
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
His First Ship
His First Ship
This book was first published in 1936. The illustrations were by D.L.Mays.
The principal character in the story is Alan Carr. The ship involved
in the voyage is the Mary Rumbold
Crew of Mary Rumbold
Captain Rendshall
Mate Jim Morrison
Deck hands – Mush Herring, Stone Ginger
Radio Officer Nevison
Alan Carr is too young to be accepted by the Golden Line but
the junior partner of Whatmough and Duvant, Mr. Dexter,
manages to get him a job on the small coastal vessel called
the Mary Rumbold.
Alan begins the voyage in Boston in
Lincolnshire and travels up to Dundee and then on to
Thurso. He experiences sea-sickness, the rescue of the
crew of a yacht off Berwick and the escape of a pig on
the River Tay. He gets arrested by the police in Aberdeen
and succeeds in rescuing his own parents who are on holiday
on the South Coast.
He learns the harsh lessons of life at
sea and Percy F. Westerman makes many adverse comments about
the way in which the British government treats its merchant
seaman. In particular the way in which British trade is taken
from British ships by the Dutch because the Dutch government
subsidises their seamen to undercut the British ones.
On her
last voyage to the breakers’ yard the Mary Rumbold founders
in a gale in the North Sea. Alan conducts himself well during
the time of crisis. The book ends with a letter from Whatmough
and Duvant offering him a cadetship on the Golden Effort.
In a later book in the series Alan Carr in Command the reader
learns that Mate Jim Morrison has been killed by the Germans
and that Captain Rendshall is a distressed mariner who has spent
two years in an Italian prisoner-of-war camp.
This book was first published in 1936. The illustrations were by D.L.Mays.
The principal character in the story is Alan Carr. The ship involved
in the voyage is the Mary Rumbold
Crew of Mary Rumbold
Captain Rendshall
Mate Jim Morrison
Deck hands – Mush Herring, Stone Ginger
Radio Officer Nevison
Alan Carr is too young to be accepted by the Golden Line but
the junior partner of Whatmough and Duvant, Mr. Dexter,
manages to get him a job on the small coastal vessel called
the Mary Rumbold.
Alan begins the voyage in Boston in
Lincolnshire and travels up to Dundee and then on to
Thurso. He experiences sea-sickness, the rescue of the
crew of a yacht off Berwick and the escape of a pig on
the River Tay. He gets arrested by the police in Aberdeen
and succeeds in rescuing his own parents who are on holiday
on the South Coast.
He learns the harsh lessons of life at
sea and Percy F. Westerman makes many adverse comments about
the way in which the British government treats its merchant
seaman. In particular the way in which British trade is taken
from British ships by the Dutch because the Dutch government
subsidises their seamen to undercut the British ones.
On her
last voyage to the breakers’ yard the Mary Rumbold founders
in a gale in the North Sea. Alan conducts himself well during
the time of crisis. The book ends with a letter from Whatmough
and Duvant offering him a cadetship on the Golden Effort.
In a later book in the series Alan Carr in Command the reader
learns that Mate Jim Morrison has been killed by the Germans
and that Captain Rendshall is a distressed mariner who has spent
two years in an Italian prisoner-of-war camp.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Torridons' Triumph
This is a story with a young seventeen year old girl as the principal character. It is one in the series of four. Jan Torridon has to try to keep things going whilst her father is ill in Glasgow hospital. Her home is in Kilmodan, probably on the coast of Argyll, and remote from any places of large population. The family consists of Mr Torridon, eldest son Torquil who is about to go to University to train to be a doctor, Jan aged seventeen and young Ivor (about 14). Jan loves sailing and the family's yacht which is called Cormorant.
The illness of Commander Torridon throws the three children into turmoil and they soon discover that they have to face a huge financial problem. Chartering the Cormorant is one way of meeting their debts. However, this takes Torquil off the scene for the first two weeks. Meanwhile Jan is left to deal with the business that Ivor has drummed up by rashly placing advertisements which offer the facilities of a sailing training school. The first two customers are two rather ill-matched American cousins called Ruth and Lucilla. All that Lucilla appears to be interested in is making an impression with the opposite sex. Ruth is lame and seems to be very much the poor relation in her family.
Over a short period of time Jan finds that she has developed a real liking for Ruth and they work their way towards a very strong friendship. Meanwhile Ivor tries to play his part in the arrangement by teaching the remaining pupils how to sail the dinghies.
Jan finds that she has to cope with her fiery and irresponsible younger brother, with the cooking and cleaning chores, with the financial arrangements and the chilling background presence of her father's business partner who now wants his money back. Torquil returns from his cruise in the Cormorant and the family finds that things are likely to get worse for them. Jan also finds that Torquil believes she has not looked after the budget in the way that he could approve. It almost seems like she has made things worse whilst being desperately unhappy at the same time.
Lucilla's attraction to Torquil is an irritating factor and a short voyage to give everyone a break turns everything into a crisis when the weather starts to put all the sailors both amateur and experienced under pressure. The destination is a small island called Eileen Dubh where a run ashore proves to be a mixed blessing. On the return to Kilmodan the storm draws closer Lucilla is knocked overboard and Jan is the one who plunges in to the rescue. Torquil and Ivor complete the recovery but the whole group are forced to endure a good deal of discomfort on Cormorant and spend the night riding out the storm in the lee of another small island called Eileen Mor.
Two episodes dominate the end of the book. One is the severe illness of Lucilla and her slow recovery from a pneumonia like condition. This forms a new bond between Lucilla and Ruth and between Ruth and Lucilla's parents. Meanwhile Torquil is forced to sell Cormorant in order to pay back Bingham, his father's partner. Though he avoids having to sacrifice the boat directly to Bingham and makes a deal with the man who originally charted the boat and whom he likes, for Jan the fact remains that her beloved Cormorant has to go. A further surprise lies in wait in the last few pages of the book.
The next book in the series, Torridons' Surprise uses many of the same characters but Jan is forced out her Kilmodan world into a new situation that shows another side to her character. The Scottish location of the book is somewhat clarified when we find that two of the major characters complete their marital arrangements by a wedding in the town of Oban.
The illness of Commander Torridon throws the three children into turmoil and they soon discover that they have to face a huge financial problem. Chartering the Cormorant is one way of meeting their debts. However, this takes Torquil off the scene for the first two weeks. Meanwhile Jan is left to deal with the business that Ivor has drummed up by rashly placing advertisements which offer the facilities of a sailing training school. The first two customers are two rather ill-matched American cousins called Ruth and Lucilla. All that Lucilla appears to be interested in is making an impression with the opposite sex. Ruth is lame and seems to be very much the poor relation in her family.
Over a short period of time Jan finds that she has developed a real liking for Ruth and they work their way towards a very strong friendship. Meanwhile Ivor tries to play his part in the arrangement by teaching the remaining pupils how to sail the dinghies.
Jan finds that she has to cope with her fiery and irresponsible younger brother, with the cooking and cleaning chores, with the financial arrangements and the chilling background presence of her father's business partner who now wants his money back. Torquil returns from his cruise in the Cormorant and the family finds that things are likely to get worse for them. Jan also finds that Torquil believes she has not looked after the budget in the way that he could approve. It almost seems like she has made things worse whilst being desperately unhappy at the same time.
Lucilla's attraction to Torquil is an irritating factor and a short voyage to give everyone a break turns everything into a crisis when the weather starts to put all the sailors both amateur and experienced under pressure. The destination is a small island called Eileen Dubh where a run ashore proves to be a mixed blessing. On the return to Kilmodan the storm draws closer Lucilla is knocked overboard and Jan is the one who plunges in to the rescue. Torquil and Ivor complete the recovery but the whole group are forced to endure a good deal of discomfort on Cormorant and spend the night riding out the storm in the lee of another small island called Eileen Mor.
Two episodes dominate the end of the book. One is the severe illness of Lucilla and her slow recovery from a pneumonia like condition. This forms a new bond between Lucilla and Ruth and between Ruth and Lucilla's parents. Meanwhile Torquil is forced to sell Cormorant in order to pay back Bingham, his father's partner. Though he avoids having to sacrifice the boat directly to Bingham and makes a deal with the man who originally charted the boat and whom he likes, for Jan the fact remains that her beloved Cormorant has to go. A further surprise lies in wait in the last few pages of the book.
The next book in the series, Torridons' Surprise uses many of the same characters but Jan is forced out her Kilmodan world into a new situation that shows another side to her character. The Scottish location of the book is somewhat clarified when we find that two of the major characters complete their marital arrangements by a wedding in the town of Oban.
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Turner and the Tees
In “Colonel Sheperton’s Clock” a little wooden galleon, ‘The Golden Rose’ was the centre of all David’s daydreams and adventures. In that fantasy world he could leave behind his handicapped leg and all the feelings of inadequacy that went with it. The prosaic and rather under-stated build-up to the operation that will give him a chance to walk and run like anyone else, is actually presented as less important to David’s emotional growth than the friendship of Peter and Arthur and the mystery that they stumble across when they find a scrap of an old newspaper inside the organ of Darnley Mills Parish Church. When they solve the puzzle of Colonel Sheperton’s clock and David realises that there is adventure and heroism on his own doorstep if you know where to look, it breaks the chain that has bound him to the obsessive and escapist fantasies of childhood. This idea is continued in “Sea Peril” where David gains further self-respect when he discovers within himself the instinctive courage to put his swimming ability to good use and rescue the drowning Jane and her dog. As the series progresses the author allows David more and more opportunities to reflect on the world around him with perception and increasing intelligence. Though not allowed to dominate any of the action, his thoughts about his own future career and whether it will take him away from Darnley Mills, becomes a strand of the storyline that sustains this plausible representation of his progress to maturity.
It is only when you get to the end of the modern cycle of stories that you realise each and every one, though set in the present, has had strong elements which have led back to the past. Even certain events in the two series mirror and reflect each other – the summer journey of the boys upriver in “Sea Peril” so that they can explore the Bridgebolton Estate is matched by the magical Boxing Day journey of Richard and Emma down the Darnel in the opposite direction to “Powder Quay” during that first winter of World War I. The snow piled high that stops for a while a doctor getting through to the injured Midshipman Diggle in “Powder Quay” reminds us inevitably of the snowbound cottage of Miss Cadell-Twitton in “The Grange at High Force” and the desperate journey made by the boys to rescue her. Most poignant of all, however, is the moment in “War on the Darnel” when the lost engine, “Taffy” is found in the shed in the yard on the Bridgebolton Estate. It isn’t just a reminder to all of the boys about the former importance of the lost railway and how it was a part of the economic life-blood of the region; it is a personal message to David about the courage of his great-grandfather, Taffy Hughes, in whose honour the locomotive was named. His own resolution having been tested and found reliable, David can meet this tangible reminder of the past with happiness and pride. The reader, who knows about Taffy’s later life from “Powder Quay”, and who witnessed the way he coped with the death of his wife and then his only son, realises that there is far more to this family “inheritance” than David has yet understood. But now we are back to the adult themes that are explored indirectly in the final volume, “Skull Island”, through the painful experiences of Peter’s aunt.
Each of the “Darnley Mills” stories is strong in narrative grip, rewardingly deep in characterisation and themes, compelling in its description of northern landscapes and seascapes, and “The Grange at High Force” was awarded the prestigious Carnegie Medal. Nevertheless it is only when one has read all the nine inter-linked stories that one can truly appreciate the extent of this lost domain that has been created by this skilful author.
It is only when you get to the end of the modern cycle of stories that you realise each and every one, though set in the present, has had strong elements which have led back to the past. Even certain events in the two series mirror and reflect each other – the summer journey of the boys upriver in “Sea Peril” so that they can explore the Bridgebolton Estate is matched by the magical Boxing Day journey of Richard and Emma down the Darnel in the opposite direction to “Powder Quay” during that first winter of World War I. The snow piled high that stops for a while a doctor getting through to the injured Midshipman Diggle in “Powder Quay” reminds us inevitably of the snowbound cottage of Miss Cadell-Twitton in “The Grange at High Force” and the desperate journey made by the boys to rescue her. Most poignant of all, however, is the moment in “War on the Darnel” when the lost engine, “Taffy” is found in the shed in the yard on the Bridgebolton Estate. It isn’t just a reminder to all of the boys about the former importance of the lost railway and how it was a part of the economic life-blood of the region; it is a personal message to David about the courage of his great-grandfather, Taffy Hughes, in whose honour the locomotive was named. His own resolution having been tested and found reliable, David can meet this tangible reminder of the past with happiness and pride. The reader, who knows about Taffy’s later life from “Powder Quay”, and who witnessed the way he coped with the death of his wife and then his only son, realises that there is far more to this family “inheritance” than David has yet understood. But now we are back to the adult themes that are explored indirectly in the final volume, “Skull Island”, through the painful experiences of Peter’s aunt.
Each of the “Darnley Mills” stories is strong in narrative grip, rewardingly deep in characterisation and themes, compelling in its description of northern landscapes and seascapes, and “The Grange at High Force” was awarded the prestigious Carnegie Medal. Nevertheless it is only when one has read all the nine inter-linked stories that one can truly appreciate the extent of this lost domain that has been created by this skilful author.
Theresa Tomlinson
Theresa Tomlinson
Of all the books mentioned in this guide no other storyteller has used the particular blend of historical fact, imagined fictional happenings and stunning first-rate contemporary photography to such good effect as Theresa Tomlinson does in the two related volumes “The Flither Pickers” (1992) and “The Herring Girls”(1994). The small fishing communities to the north of Whitby and the small town itself are the locations for these two moving stories. The turn of the 19th to the 20th century is the period in which the stories are set and the remarkable photographs of Frank Meadow Sutcliffe that are incorporated in each book reinforce without overwhelming the author’s careful recreation of both the people and the places.
Her stories are ones of loss and love, of tragedy and triumph, of the spirit of independence and the sense of community. Although both the stories are told from the point of view of teenage girls, strong links are built to the experience of their elder siblings and to the world of their fathers and grandfathers and most particularly their mothers and grandmothers. More than anything else the author has been meticulous and inspired in her description of the hard and sometimes dangerous physical work involved in being a fisherman, a flither picker or a herring girl.
Liza Welford in “The Flither Pickers” has a special feeling for her grandmother who she realises is on the very brink of death. She cannot feel the same sense of closeness to her mother who seems to fret all the time about Liza’s younger brother. Before she dies the old lady seems to have something that she wants to tell her granddaughter before it is too late. However, the opportunity passes and Liza finds herself slowly discovering information from some of the older women in the small community. Uncovering this mystery, which somehow links to her own mother, takes the rest of the book. At its basis is a tragedy which sounds all too probable. What happens to John Ruswarp is an even more poignant disaster. Young John has got Irene, Liza’s elder sister, pregnant and, though the two want to marry, there is the inevitable family upheaval on the same day as the old woman’s funeral. When Liza’s father quickly accepts the situation and talks about a new life coming to replace the old one that has gone, it seems that events have taken a positive turn. But life by the sea is so hard and so dangerous that an inevitable new peril is just around the corner.
The days of terrible storms bring renewed danger and the author conjures a spell-binding but spine-chilling scene in which the lifeboat is launched with an old man as the coxswain, young boys at the oars, and all the women and children in the village dragging the heavy, lumbering vessel across the sand to be catapulted into the tumultuous waves. It would be all too easy for the author to turn this attempt at rescue into a triumph but her theme is the harshness of the life that was led by these resilient people. It is with a shudder that we hear Liza think of one of her hated items of clothing.
“It was special for funerals, and we had plenty of them.”
There are many more details of the horrors that these little communities sometimes had to face. Even Frank, the elder brother who joined the army to escape the dangers of fishing in the small cobles, returns with stories of the concentration camps in the Boer War to remind us of the other horrors that are to be found in this world. There is seemingly no easy escape from a life of grinding poverty and relentless hard work.
Liza’s way out would be through education. Her teacher thinks highly of her but Liza knows that she must miss school in order to help her family through its time of trial. For a while she must become a “flither picker”, undertaking the hard manual labour of searching the beach and rocks for the bait that will serve to entice the cod and haddock on to the lines of their menfolk. Only then can she get close enough to her mother to talk about the secret that her grandmother had wanted to pass on.
Amongst the horrors that Sandswick people always dreaded was the thought of your family being taken into the Workhouse. It was the lowest point on the scale of ignominy. In “Herring Girls” it the possibility that has to be faced when Dory Lythe’s mother who used to take in the village’s washing collapses with a stroke and cannot move. It falls on Dory to make some money so that the family can be safely got through the winter. The local clergyman believes that Dory could be found work as a laundry maid but she is determined to be a herring girl and the whole community of women close round her to defy the Reverend Hawkins and his plans for the workhouse for the rest of the family.
But herring gutters work in teams and, though Dory can count on her friend Mary-Jane, there seems to be no one else willing to make the short journey to Whitby for the herring season. Only Nelly Wright puts herself forward and neither of them like Nelly. Although she is twenty one, she is one of the few girls in the village who has never had a boy courting her.
The rest of the story is about the time the three girls spend in Whitby and it would be a shame indeed to steal the plot from the author and reveal all its details here. There are memorable scenes of the individual efforts of the girls as they work at the fish-quay, struggling to master their new skills, experiencing both the hostility and later the friendship of the Scottish professionals, and almost collapsing with the exhaustion of maintaining the frantic pace of gutting (“gipping”) , sorting, packing and storing. As they learn their trade so they and the readers begin to understand the whole concept of the “herring season” and the way in which it brought a huge influx of strangers and a brief prosperity to the small fishing town. Whilst we follow the story of the herring girls the author continues to let us know what happened next to the other characters we met in “The Flither Pickers”. In particular Liza Welford’s struggle to use her education to better herself runs in parallel to the efforts of her friends from Sandwick to earn enough money for the coming winter.
The closeness of death to the life of the fisherman is recaptured by another dramatic scene under the cliffs and quays of the small harbour and the words of the old hymn that Dory hears the Cornishmen singing in the chapel are brought vividly to life.
“Will your anchor hold in the straits of fear,
When the breakers roar and the reef is near”
This time, however, the ending of the book avoids the tragedy that is so profound in “The Flither Pickers”. All the girls have gained pride in themselves and felt the comradeship of the other gutting teams. Nelly Wright, most unexpectedly, has discovered something even more worthwhile that has transformed her character and changed the adverse opinions of the other girls.
The meticulous attention to detail gives the the books a feeling of authenticity that convinces you from the start. However, the very human scale of the girls’ experiences ensures that the main sensation is of being involved in the lives of very ordinary but very remarkable human beings.
Many other of Theresa Tomlinson’s books are worthy of note and some are clearly set in the north-east. “The Night of the Red Devil”(2000), for example, is intended for younger readers and fits into the genre of what nowadays would be called the “time-slip” novel. A lump of jet found on the beach near Whitby and his friendship with his new friend, Naomi, transforms Sam’s boring holiday with his family into an exciting adventure. When he goes through the magical doorway to the past Sam finds himself in Henrietta Street in 1870. The “Red Devils” of the title are the jet polishers of the famous Victorian industry that was then at the height of its prosperity. However, very soon both Sam and the reader know that somehow disaster is looming.
In “Beneath the Burning Mountain” (2001) Theresa Tomlinson takes her readers even further back into north-eastern history to the days when all the ghastly processes concerned with the production of alum dominated the lives of certain working class communities. Once again Ann and Polly Langtoft, living in the 18th century, are facing poverty and danger with nothing to rely on but their own reservoirs of courage and the strength of the community that they live in. Set in a fictional village just beyond the fishing community of Sandwick described in the other two tales, the author brings out the harshness of everyday life for the two teenage girls who have to collect urine for use in the final stages of the making of alum crystals. However, this is the time of the wars against Napoleon and even the rigour and stench of these revolting conditions is to be preferred to being taken by a particularly ruthless press-gang operating out of an inn in Whitby. The author has managed to mix real events from history with the story of two humble teenage Yorkshire girls. The landslip that destroys their community is based on a recorded event at Kettleness and even the riot against the press-gang is suggested by something that really happened. An old rumour about how George III was secretly brought to the Yorkshire coast to help cure his madness is also cunningly incorporated into the story. The strength of the family pulls the Langtofts through their time of crisis, and the reader can see that new alliances have also been forged between the people of the fishing village (the “fish faces”) and the alum workers (the “piss-pots”), not least through the growing love between Ann and Tommy.
Although she calls her little town Seaburn, all the details of Theresa Tomlinson’s modern story “Riding the Waves” (1990) suggest that she is in fact thinking of the Victorian spa resort of Saltburn on the Cleveland coast. Two characters dominate the story. Matt is an eleven year old in the first year of the comprehensive school who has been sent on a local history project to visit Florrie, an old lady that has some remote connection with his family. From this starting point the story then begins to unravel the different ways in which the lives of the two characters both resemble and differ from each other. It involves the young boy and the old lady taking a trip into their memories and their feelings about the past. This also involves drawing the reader into an exploration of what Seaburn/Saltburn was like in the days before it fell into decline. The relics of the town’s former glory are all around Matt : the pier, the famous hydraulic lift, the remains of the splendid hotel. They are also there inside Florence’s head, wrapped up with the memory of her love affair and the baby that she had to give away. When the reader gradually works out that Matt was adopted, the emotional link between these two characters at the opposite ends of the age spectrum is strengthened and begins to have a beneficial effect on both of them. Matt’s ambition is to join the surfers and ride the waves back onto the Seaburn beach. Florence begins to show him that learning how to do this is a metaphor for life, how you must climb back and start again every time that you are knocked down.
Of all the books mentioned in this guide no other storyteller has used the particular blend of historical fact, imagined fictional happenings and stunning first-rate contemporary photography to such good effect as Theresa Tomlinson does in the two related volumes “The Flither Pickers” (1992) and “The Herring Girls”(1994). The small fishing communities to the north of Whitby and the small town itself are the locations for these two moving stories. The turn of the 19th to the 20th century is the period in which the stories are set and the remarkable photographs of Frank Meadow Sutcliffe that are incorporated in each book reinforce without overwhelming the author’s careful recreation of both the people and the places.
Her stories are ones of loss and love, of tragedy and triumph, of the spirit of independence and the sense of community. Although both the stories are told from the point of view of teenage girls, strong links are built to the experience of their elder siblings and to the world of their fathers and grandfathers and most particularly their mothers and grandmothers. More than anything else the author has been meticulous and inspired in her description of the hard and sometimes dangerous physical work involved in being a fisherman, a flither picker or a herring girl.
Liza Welford in “The Flither Pickers” has a special feeling for her grandmother who she realises is on the very brink of death. She cannot feel the same sense of closeness to her mother who seems to fret all the time about Liza’s younger brother. Before she dies the old lady seems to have something that she wants to tell her granddaughter before it is too late. However, the opportunity passes and Liza finds herself slowly discovering information from some of the older women in the small community. Uncovering this mystery, which somehow links to her own mother, takes the rest of the book. At its basis is a tragedy which sounds all too probable. What happens to John Ruswarp is an even more poignant disaster. Young John has got Irene, Liza’s elder sister, pregnant and, though the two want to marry, there is the inevitable family upheaval on the same day as the old woman’s funeral. When Liza’s father quickly accepts the situation and talks about a new life coming to replace the old one that has gone, it seems that events have taken a positive turn. But life by the sea is so hard and so dangerous that an inevitable new peril is just around the corner.
The days of terrible storms bring renewed danger and the author conjures a spell-binding but spine-chilling scene in which the lifeboat is launched with an old man as the coxswain, young boys at the oars, and all the women and children in the village dragging the heavy, lumbering vessel across the sand to be catapulted into the tumultuous waves. It would be all too easy for the author to turn this attempt at rescue into a triumph but her theme is the harshness of the life that was led by these resilient people. It is with a shudder that we hear Liza think of one of her hated items of clothing.
“It was special for funerals, and we had plenty of them.”
There are many more details of the horrors that these little communities sometimes had to face. Even Frank, the elder brother who joined the army to escape the dangers of fishing in the small cobles, returns with stories of the concentration camps in the Boer War to remind us of the other horrors that are to be found in this world. There is seemingly no easy escape from a life of grinding poverty and relentless hard work.
Liza’s way out would be through education. Her teacher thinks highly of her but Liza knows that she must miss school in order to help her family through its time of trial. For a while she must become a “flither picker”, undertaking the hard manual labour of searching the beach and rocks for the bait that will serve to entice the cod and haddock on to the lines of their menfolk. Only then can she get close enough to her mother to talk about the secret that her grandmother had wanted to pass on.
Amongst the horrors that Sandswick people always dreaded was the thought of your family being taken into the Workhouse. It was the lowest point on the scale of ignominy. In “Herring Girls” it the possibility that has to be faced when Dory Lythe’s mother who used to take in the village’s washing collapses with a stroke and cannot move. It falls on Dory to make some money so that the family can be safely got through the winter. The local clergyman believes that Dory could be found work as a laundry maid but she is determined to be a herring girl and the whole community of women close round her to defy the Reverend Hawkins and his plans for the workhouse for the rest of the family.
But herring gutters work in teams and, though Dory can count on her friend Mary-Jane, there seems to be no one else willing to make the short journey to Whitby for the herring season. Only Nelly Wright puts herself forward and neither of them like Nelly. Although she is twenty one, she is one of the few girls in the village who has never had a boy courting her.
The rest of the story is about the time the three girls spend in Whitby and it would be a shame indeed to steal the plot from the author and reveal all its details here. There are memorable scenes of the individual efforts of the girls as they work at the fish-quay, struggling to master their new skills, experiencing both the hostility and later the friendship of the Scottish professionals, and almost collapsing with the exhaustion of maintaining the frantic pace of gutting (“gipping”) , sorting, packing and storing. As they learn their trade so they and the readers begin to understand the whole concept of the “herring season” and the way in which it brought a huge influx of strangers and a brief prosperity to the small fishing town. Whilst we follow the story of the herring girls the author continues to let us know what happened next to the other characters we met in “The Flither Pickers”. In particular Liza Welford’s struggle to use her education to better herself runs in parallel to the efforts of her friends from Sandwick to earn enough money for the coming winter.
The closeness of death to the life of the fisherman is recaptured by another dramatic scene under the cliffs and quays of the small harbour and the words of the old hymn that Dory hears the Cornishmen singing in the chapel are brought vividly to life.
“Will your anchor hold in the straits of fear,
When the breakers roar and the reef is near”
This time, however, the ending of the book avoids the tragedy that is so profound in “The Flither Pickers”. All the girls have gained pride in themselves and felt the comradeship of the other gutting teams. Nelly Wright, most unexpectedly, has discovered something even more worthwhile that has transformed her character and changed the adverse opinions of the other girls.
The meticulous attention to detail gives the the books a feeling of authenticity that convinces you from the start. However, the very human scale of the girls’ experiences ensures that the main sensation is of being involved in the lives of very ordinary but very remarkable human beings.
Many other of Theresa Tomlinson’s books are worthy of note and some are clearly set in the north-east. “The Night of the Red Devil”(2000), for example, is intended for younger readers and fits into the genre of what nowadays would be called the “time-slip” novel. A lump of jet found on the beach near Whitby and his friendship with his new friend, Naomi, transforms Sam’s boring holiday with his family into an exciting adventure. When he goes through the magical doorway to the past Sam finds himself in Henrietta Street in 1870. The “Red Devils” of the title are the jet polishers of the famous Victorian industry that was then at the height of its prosperity. However, very soon both Sam and the reader know that somehow disaster is looming.
In “Beneath the Burning Mountain” (2001) Theresa Tomlinson takes her readers even further back into north-eastern history to the days when all the ghastly processes concerned with the production of alum dominated the lives of certain working class communities. Once again Ann and Polly Langtoft, living in the 18th century, are facing poverty and danger with nothing to rely on but their own reservoirs of courage and the strength of the community that they live in. Set in a fictional village just beyond the fishing community of Sandwick described in the other two tales, the author brings out the harshness of everyday life for the two teenage girls who have to collect urine for use in the final stages of the making of alum crystals. However, this is the time of the wars against Napoleon and even the rigour and stench of these revolting conditions is to be preferred to being taken by a particularly ruthless press-gang operating out of an inn in Whitby. The author has managed to mix real events from history with the story of two humble teenage Yorkshire girls. The landslip that destroys their community is based on a recorded event at Kettleness and even the riot against the press-gang is suggested by something that really happened. An old rumour about how George III was secretly brought to the Yorkshire coast to help cure his madness is also cunningly incorporated into the story. The strength of the family pulls the Langtofts through their time of crisis, and the reader can see that new alliances have also been forged between the people of the fishing village (the “fish faces”) and the alum workers (the “piss-pots”), not least through the growing love between Ann and Tommy.
Although she calls her little town Seaburn, all the details of Theresa Tomlinson’s modern story “Riding the Waves” (1990) suggest that she is in fact thinking of the Victorian spa resort of Saltburn on the Cleveland coast. Two characters dominate the story. Matt is an eleven year old in the first year of the comprehensive school who has been sent on a local history project to visit Florrie, an old lady that has some remote connection with his family. From this starting point the story then begins to unravel the different ways in which the lives of the two characters both resemble and differ from each other. It involves the young boy and the old lady taking a trip into their memories and their feelings about the past. This also involves drawing the reader into an exploration of what Seaburn/Saltburn was like in the days before it fell into decline. The relics of the town’s former glory are all around Matt : the pier, the famous hydraulic lift, the remains of the splendid hotel. They are also there inside Florence’s head, wrapped up with the memory of her love affair and the baby that she had to give away. When the reader gradually works out that Matt was adopted, the emotional link between these two characters at the opposite ends of the age spectrum is strengthened and begins to have a beneficial effect on both of them. Matt’s ambition is to join the surfers and ride the waves back onto the Seaburn beach. Florence begins to show him that learning how to do this is a metaphor for life, how you must climb back and start again every time that you are knocked down.
Saville Whitby
On a more mundane level Saville is always very careful in his use of the locales for his stories. “Mystery Mine” is prefaced by a detailed note that explains what is real and what is fictional. His dirty back alley off the main streets in Whitby, does not exist but the place on the steps where Jon and Penny had their momentous encounter certainly does.
It is important to remember that Malcolm Saville’s “Lone Pine” stories were written for both boys and girls for it is difficult to find another writer, apart from Arthur Ransome, who succeeded so well in maintaining his appeal to both genders for so long. “Lone Pine” clubs were formed all round the world and even today the “Malcolm Saville Society” goes from strength to strength. It is true that his plots may at times have been riddled with implausibility and stereotypical “criminal” behaviour but the settings, as indicated above, always felt real. More important than that is that bold decision that he took to allow the friendships between the young people to ripen and mature into a form of adult love that wasn’t without its problems but which was founded on solid principles and which had its very tender moments. “Mystery Mine”, set in Whitby and on the moors around, is thus a key book in this interesting saga.
It is important to remember that Malcolm Saville’s “Lone Pine” stories were written for both boys and girls for it is difficult to find another writer, apart from Arthur Ransome, who succeeded so well in maintaining his appeal to both genders for so long. “Lone Pine” clubs were formed all round the world and even today the “Malcolm Saville Society” goes from strength to strength. It is true that his plots may at times have been riddled with implausibility and stereotypical “criminal” behaviour but the settings, as indicated above, always felt real. More important than that is that bold decision that he took to allow the friendships between the young people to ripen and mature into a form of adult love that wasn’t without its problems but which was founded on solid principles and which had its very tender moments. “Mystery Mine”, set in Whitby and on the moors around, is thus a key book in this interesting saga.
Whitby Steps
. All this now brings us to “Mystery Mine”(1959), the twelfth book in the “Lone Pine” series which is set in north Yorkshire and which has many key scenes in the town of Whitby. In particular it takes us to the heart of Saville’s presentation of the unfolding love between Jon and Penny.
Penny is red-headed, full of life and vitality, a natural mixer with a strong impetuous streak. Jon is more reserved, an intellectual who tries to think his way out of every situation. His apparent coldness and reserve towards her is something that Penny finds very frustrating. When he opts to go away on holiday with David she can’t help showing her anger. Later when most of the Lone Pine gang are together again at a small village near Goathland she finds that he is no friendlier towards her than towards any of the others. In fact he seems totally wrapped up in the details of the new mystery that they have come across. A trip to Whitby changes their lives for ever. It plants the seed that is seen to grow and mature in the later stories of “Rye Royal” and “Home to Witchend”.
Whilst Jon follows up a clue in Whitby public library Penny wanders the quayside and then the back streets of the town. She follows a suspect and ends up being imprisoned in the top room of a house up a dirty back alley. What started as an adventure turns into a nightmare from which she finally escapes when the crooks decide to clear out to another headquarters. Thoroughly shocked and frightened, Penny stumbles through the streets of the town desperately trying to find Jon. For a while they miss each other and then, finally, they meet on the steps leading up to the church on the edge of the cliff. She is staggering up whilst Jon is rushing down. She stands there waiting for him to speak. Instead of comfort she gets anger. Instead of understanding she gets accused of being untrustworthy. She has finally aroused some passion in him but it’s the very last emotion she actually wanted.
Her own anger comes to the rescue and she blurts out what has happened. He takes hold of her shoulders and won’t let go. When she looks in his eyes she realises that he wasn’t really angry with her – he was just frightened that he had lost her. He takes her by the hand and tells her that he has been a fool for a very long time. The word “love” isn’t mentioned but his feelings are implied. His affection for her is sealed by the way in which he takes her injured hand and kisses it gently – a remarkable step for this previously undemonstrative character. In the context of the immediate story it is important for the readers to know that Penny is still shocked and upset by her recent encounter with the crooks, but, in the framework of the entire series, Saville makes it clear that she feels a deeper happiness than she has known before.
It must be made clear that such moments of revelation and understanding are rare and that the main thrust of the plot is still around the mystery to be solved and the dangers to be gone through. However, the subtlety with which he writes scenes like this classic encounter on the steps in Whitby helps to underpin the essential reality of the relationships so that the implausible plot material can be more readily accepted. It also means that Saville’s readers are not just waiting for the next story to witness another adventure, they are also anxious to find out what happens next in the core relationships.
Penny is red-headed, full of life and vitality, a natural mixer with a strong impetuous streak. Jon is more reserved, an intellectual who tries to think his way out of every situation. His apparent coldness and reserve towards her is something that Penny finds very frustrating. When he opts to go away on holiday with David she can’t help showing her anger. Later when most of the Lone Pine gang are together again at a small village near Goathland she finds that he is no friendlier towards her than towards any of the others. In fact he seems totally wrapped up in the details of the new mystery that they have come across. A trip to Whitby changes their lives for ever. It plants the seed that is seen to grow and mature in the later stories of “Rye Royal” and “Home to Witchend”.
Whilst Jon follows up a clue in Whitby public library Penny wanders the quayside and then the back streets of the town. She follows a suspect and ends up being imprisoned in the top room of a house up a dirty back alley. What started as an adventure turns into a nightmare from which she finally escapes when the crooks decide to clear out to another headquarters. Thoroughly shocked and frightened, Penny stumbles through the streets of the town desperately trying to find Jon. For a while they miss each other and then, finally, they meet on the steps leading up to the church on the edge of the cliff. She is staggering up whilst Jon is rushing down. She stands there waiting for him to speak. Instead of comfort she gets anger. Instead of understanding she gets accused of being untrustworthy. She has finally aroused some passion in him but it’s the very last emotion she actually wanted.
Her own anger comes to the rescue and she blurts out what has happened. He takes hold of her shoulders and won’t let go. When she looks in his eyes she realises that he wasn’t really angry with her – he was just frightened that he had lost her. He takes her by the hand and tells her that he has been a fool for a very long time. The word “love” isn’t mentioned but his feelings are implied. His affection for her is sealed by the way in which he takes her injured hand and kisses it gently – a remarkable step for this previously undemonstrative character. In the context of the immediate story it is important for the readers to know that Penny is still shocked and upset by her recent encounter with the crooks, but, in the framework of the entire series, Saville makes it clear that she feels a deeper happiness than she has known before.
It must be made clear that such moments of revelation and understanding are rare and that the main thrust of the plot is still around the mystery to be solved and the dangers to be gone through. However, the subtlety with which he writes scenes like this classic encounter on the steps in Whitby helps to underpin the essential reality of the relationships so that the implausible plot material can be more readily accepted. It also means that Saville’s readers are not just waiting for the next story to witness another adventure, they are also anxious to find out what happens next in the core relationships.
Oxenham and Whitby and Saltburn
However, “Finding her family” (1915) is very clearly tied to real places that Elsie J. Oxenham found exciting and interesting. An Oxenham fan declared of this story that the “plot and the action go all over the place but I love it.” In fact another literary standby, familiar even nearly 100 years ago, the babies swapped at birth, provides the framework for this book with a very complicated plot. However, there is nothing like a quest with false leads and misunderstandings and dramatic revelations for putting an emotional hook into the dedicated reader. Once again the author makes many attempts at simulating a Yorkshire accent with the frequent use of “champion” to establish the dialect of the more humble and even the middle-class characters in the book. Rather patronisingly, people from the “south” are shown to find this manner of speech to be outlandish and queer and a suitable subject for mockery. However, landmarks like St. Hilda’s Abbey at Whitby and the little harbour at Sleights had clearly both captured the author’s affection and stimulated her imagination so that they became the locations for suitable scenes at crucial moments in the story line of the great search. The Whitby connection is explored again when three of the young characters organise a pageant on the beach at Saltburn, which celebrates the story of the famous abbey in order to raise money for the charitable Beach Missions.
Further details also confirm this sense of the story happening in a real place. The Allerby family live in reasonable circumstances in Amethyst Street, a suggestion of one of the many streets still named after precious jewels in Saltburn today and, again very plausibly, one of the sons goes to school in Middlesborough. There are also many railway and cart journeys round the moors near Saltburn and Whitby which members of the modern Abbey Club have attempted with some success to reproduce.
The length and longevity of her “Abbey” series which actually began to germinate around about the time Elsie J. Oxenham was penning these three Yorkshire stories owes much to regular features which are only partly suggested in these early tales. Music and Morris dancing, girls growing up and finding partners in marriage, problems with money and snobbery, difficult moral and religious questions and above all an intricate network of friends and relations, all play their part in creating the author’s continued appeal. Her drawing power, even more than 40 years after her death, should not be underestimated and it is a sobering thought that in order to obtain a first-class edition of the three books which constitute the subject of this account you would need to contemplate an outlay of at least one thousand pounds. Your money, however, would be very safe, for you would be very unlikely to find someone willing to part with them even at that extraordinary price. Such is the grip of this strange domain over those who have fallen under its spell.
Further details also confirm this sense of the story happening in a real place. The Allerby family live in reasonable circumstances in Amethyst Street, a suggestion of one of the many streets still named after precious jewels in Saltburn today and, again very plausibly, one of the sons goes to school in Middlesborough. There are also many railway and cart journeys round the moors near Saltburn and Whitby which members of the modern Abbey Club have attempted with some success to reproduce.
The length and longevity of her “Abbey” series which actually began to germinate around about the time Elsie J. Oxenham was penning these three Yorkshire stories owes much to regular features which are only partly suggested in these early tales. Music and Morris dancing, girls growing up and finding partners in marriage, problems with money and snobbery, difficult moral and religious questions and above all an intricate network of friends and relations, all play their part in creating the author’s continued appeal. Her drawing power, even more than 40 years after her death, should not be underestimated and it is a sobering thought that in order to obtain a first-class edition of the three books which constitute the subject of this account you would need to contemplate an outlay of at least one thousand pounds. Your money, however, would be very safe, for you would be very unlikely to find someone willing to part with them even at that extraordinary price. Such is the grip of this strange domain over those who have fallen under its spell.
Hull
The Voyage of the "Dauntless" - J.C.Western Holt
When his livelihood is threatened by the unscrupulous dealings of a ship-owner the captain of a small cargo vessel decides to take action. The owner pays him off in Hull and then replaces him with a captain who is prepared to see one of his ships turned into a "coffin ship" for the insurance money. A stowaway intervenes and saves the captain's life and the two of them steer the ship back to Hull and rejoin the original
crew. At this point the good captain decides to take advantage of the crook's plans and take over the ship himself. Believing it is lost, the world does not realise that the honest crew have set out for Africa under false colours.
When his livelihood is threatened by the unscrupulous dealings of a ship-owner the captain of a small cargo vessel decides to take action. The owner pays him off in Hull and then replaces him with a captain who is prepared to see one of his ships turned into a "coffin ship" for the insurance money. A stowaway intervenes and saves the captain's life and the two of them steer the ship back to Hull and rejoin the original
crew. At this point the good captain decides to take advantage of the crook's plans and take over the ship himself. Believing it is lost, the world does not realise that the honest crew have set out for Africa under false colours.
Whitby2
Wolf Girl - Theresa Tomlinson,
This story is set in Whitby Abbey in the year before the Synod of Whitby. Cwen, the weaver, is accused of stealing a valuable necklace. That in itself would merit a severe penalty but there is worse. It could be a royal necklace and in that case stealing it would be treason and the punishment would be slow death. But Cwen's daughter
Wulfrun is determined to prove her mother innocent. And she finds some surprising allies in the Princess Elfled, the novice monk Adfrith and the cowherd/poet Cadmon. Their quest takes them to a small fishing village and then to a hermit in a forest. But there are those who do not want the truth uncovered and Wulfrun and her friends
eventually find themselves on a wild desperate flight to Bamburgh. Whitby Abbey and its community are brought vividly to life both by the author's descriptions and also by the useful little plan at the beginning of the book. Right away this makes it quite clear that thisis a Celtic Abbey and not one of the better known medieval Roman
ones. For a start Hild's community contains both monks and nuns. The everyday work of the little community can be easily imagined by the reader. There is Adfrith in the scriptorium, Fridgyth with her herb garden, Cadmon with his calves – and we share his pain when the blood month arrives and they are killed. The book just abounds with strong, independent female characters. To name but a few: there is the Princess Elfled, wilful and imperious but also courageous and determined, Wulfrun, courageous and
responsible beyond her fourteen years, and the abbess Hild herself
who rules her little community wisely and who wields power among the
greatest kings and princes in the land.This story brings to life a period of English history which, sadly, is too often neglected –– Anglo-Saxon times. The book has been
thoroughly researched and there is a note on the sources used –– including of course Bede's History of the English Church and People.
And yet although so many scholarly works have been used the writing
is eminently readable. In her note at the end the author has said that she decided to try
some mystery/adventure stories using Hild's abbey at Whitby for the setting.
This story is set in Whitby Abbey in the year before the Synod of Whitby. Cwen, the weaver, is accused of stealing a valuable necklace. That in itself would merit a severe penalty but there is worse. It could be a royal necklace and in that case stealing it would be treason and the punishment would be slow death. But Cwen's daughter
Wulfrun is determined to prove her mother innocent. And she finds some surprising allies in the Princess Elfled, the novice monk Adfrith and the cowherd/poet Cadmon. Their quest takes them to a small fishing village and then to a hermit in a forest. But there are those who do not want the truth uncovered and Wulfrun and her friends
eventually find themselves on a wild desperate flight to Bamburgh. Whitby Abbey and its community are brought vividly to life both by the author's descriptions and also by the useful little plan at the beginning of the book. Right away this makes it quite clear that thisis a Celtic Abbey and not one of the better known medieval Roman
ones. For a start Hild's community contains both monks and nuns. The everyday work of the little community can be easily imagined by the reader. There is Adfrith in the scriptorium, Fridgyth with her herb garden, Cadmon with his calves – and we share his pain when the blood month arrives and they are killed. The book just abounds with strong, independent female characters. To name but a few: there is the Princess Elfled, wilful and imperious but also courageous and determined, Wulfrun, courageous and
responsible beyond her fourteen years, and the abbess Hild herself
who rules her little community wisely and who wields power among the
greatest kings and princes in the land.This story brings to life a period of English history which, sadly, is too often neglected –– Anglo-Saxon times. The book has been
thoroughly researched and there is a note on the sources used –– including of course Bede's History of the English Church and People.
And yet although so many scholarly works have been used the writing
is eminently readable. In her note at the end the author has said that she decided to try
some mystery/adventure stories using Hild's abbey at Whitby for the setting.
Whitby
Room 13 - Robert Swindells
This is mostly set in Whitby. It gives an account of a week's holiday spent in the seaside town by a party of 31 pupils from a school in Bradford. The story is mostly told from the point of view of Fliss or Felicity who has a bad dream the night before
she goes on the trip and a nightmare experience during the week that she is there. During the week various Yorkshire locations are visited includings Staithes, Robin Hood's Bay and many well-known Whitby landmarks including the Abbey and the famous steps.
This is mostly set in Whitby. It gives an account of a week's holiday spent in the seaside town by a party of 31 pupils from a school in Bradford. The story is mostly told from the point of view of Fliss or Felicity who has a bad dream the night before
she goes on the trip and a nightmare experience during the week that she is there. During the week various Yorkshire locations are visited includings Staithes, Robin Hood's Bay and many well-known Whitby landmarks including the Abbey and the famous steps.
Flamborough
The Tale of Robin Lyth – Christine A. Jones
A young child is found on the beach near some fishing boats at the North Landing of Flamborough, Yorkshire. Who he is or where he came from no-one knows. He is taken in and raised by a fishing family and becomes a notorious but brave and generous smuggler. He falls in love with a pretty farmer's daughter whose family is reluctant to encourage the match because of Robin's trade and unknown origins. Robin promises to reform and prove himself worthy of her -- but too late, he is framed
for the murder of a coast guard and has to flee for his life. How he is exonerated, the mystery of his birth and his quest to live "happily ever after" is Robin Lyth's tale.
A young child is found on the beach near some fishing boats at the North Landing of Flamborough, Yorkshire. Who he is or where he came from no-one knows. He is taken in and raised by a fishing family and becomes a notorious but brave and generous smuggler. He falls in love with a pretty farmer's daughter whose family is reluctant to encourage the match because of Robin's trade and unknown origins. Robin promises to reform and prove himself worthy of her -- but too late, he is framed
for the murder of a coast guard and has to flee for his life. How he is exonerated, the mystery of his birth and his quest to live "happily ever after" is Robin Lyth's tale.
Robin Hood's Bay
Huntrodd's Eye – Victor C. Brown
Set in Yorkshire, this a story about fourteen year old Kit. He is of the Huntrodd family, the only one with that peculiar telepathic power known as 'Huntrodds eye'. His journey ends in the smugglers' tunnels of the village of Robin Hood's Bay. The old legends of the Bay take on a terrifying life of their own.
Set in Yorkshire, this a story about fourteen year old Kit. He is of the Huntrodd family, the only one with that peculiar telepathic power known as 'Huntrodds eye'. His journey ends in the smugglers' tunnels of the village of Robin Hood's Bay. The old legends of the Bay take on a terrifying life of their own.
Coast of Yorkshire
Fifteen year old Bill Walton of Long Island, U.S.A., lives a carefree, adventurous life sailing his beautiful shining boat off the Sound, happy among his many friends, proud of captaining his school football team. Suddenly Bill's mother dies, and everything is changed.Bill decides to take his young sister Merrie to live with "Gram," the grandmother he has never met, in a tiny Yorkshire fishing village.
Bill's sister Merrie falls sick on the Atlantic crossing, but even worse, Gram is not there to meet them at Southampton! Bewildered and homesick Bill finds his own way up to Yorkshire.
Whilst suddenly happy in their new home with Gram, Bill finds he is unwelcome in the village and is looked upon as a "foreigner." He has a tough time living down an early fight with local boys, Rolf, Tim and Pete over the possession of a drifting boat he salvages and which he hopes to repair and sail again himself. How Bill lives down this first disastrous accident and takes part in an exciting fishing expedition; how he passes his first strange and frightening day at an English school and how he heroically rescues his former enemies in a terrifying storm at sea, is all vividly relived in this enthralling story of courage and high adventure set against the authentic background of the storm-ridden, sea-battered Yorkshire coast.
Bill's sister Merrie falls sick on the Atlantic crossing, but even worse, Gram is not there to meet them at Southampton! Bewildered and homesick Bill finds his own way up to Yorkshire.
Whilst suddenly happy in their new home with Gram, Bill finds he is unwelcome in the village and is looked upon as a "foreigner." He has a tough time living down an early fight with local boys, Rolf, Tim and Pete over the possession of a drifting boat he salvages and which he hopes to repair and sail again himself. How Bill lives down this first disastrous accident and takes part in an exciting fishing expedition; how he passes his first strange and frightening day at an English school and how he heroically rescues his former enemies in a terrifying storm at sea, is all vividly relived in this enthralling story of courage and high adventure set against the authentic background of the storm-ridden, sea-battered Yorkshire coast.
The Joy of Sailing
I enjoy sailing, but I cannot describe my enjoyment. I can sit at the tiller for hours on end, just revelling in the feel of it as the rudder clips through the water and the wind tries to throw the boat off course. I love to feel the wind on my cheeks and the occasional wetness of salt spray, to feel the boat heeling and see and hear the water hissing past, to watch the canvas straining. I get a fresh thrill out of every time we come about on to another tack, every time we have a hard beat to make our mooring or the entrance to the creek, every time I can let the sheet run and give the mainsail full scope before a following wind.
And there it is, said in a few lines; but each line, almost every word, means hours of sheer enjoyment. Others to their ponies, their racing cars, their pictures and their music. To me all these things come together in a boat under sail.
And there it is, said in a few lines; but each line, almost every word, means hours of sheer enjoyment. Others to their ponies, their racing cars, their pictures and their music. To me all these things come together in a boat under sail.
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Coast of Wales
This story is about sailing adventures around the coast of Wales. It is the first of a series of three about the same group of children. In the second story "Winklepicker Goes South" the children sail south from near Harlech and call at other Welsh ports and then continue their journey round to Plymouth and also to Exmouth. The final book in the trio of stories starts in Exmouth and pursues a voyage to Jersey in the Channel Isles. This is called "Winklepicker and Paper Dart". However, it is the first story that is truly based in Wales.
The books are written by Heather Moon and they are illustrated by Gavin Rowe. They also each have maps which help to illustrate just where the voyages are taking place.
"Winklepicker" is the best of the three because the remaining two stray much too far from the bounds of possibility. In particular "Winklepicker Goes South" introduces a plot about terrorism and attempted world domination by nuclear blackmail that sits very poorly with the down-to-earth motivations of the first in the series.
The three young people in the first of the series set out to fulfil a modest ambition of possessing in some way a sailing boat that they can use off the coast of Lleyn peninsula whilst still under their parents' supervision. The boat Winklepicker and the boatyard at Pensarn are vital ingredients in the plot. Some of the other characters in the story are given malicious motives which are only revealed in the last frantic section of action at sea.
The books are written by Heather Moon and they are illustrated by Gavin Rowe. They also each have maps which help to illustrate just where the voyages are taking place.
"Winklepicker" is the best of the three because the remaining two stray much too far from the bounds of possibility. In particular "Winklepicker Goes South" introduces a plot about terrorism and attempted world domination by nuclear blackmail that sits very poorly with the down-to-earth motivations of the first in the series.
The three young people in the first of the series set out to fulfil a modest ambition of possessing in some way a sailing boat that they can use off the coast of Lleyn peninsula whilst still under their parents' supervision. The boat Winklepicker and the boatyard at Pensarn are vital ingredients in the plot. Some of the other characters in the story are given malicious motives which are only revealed in the last frantic section of action at sea.
Thursday, 17 February 2011
September Island
This is set in a small coastal village near Swansea. Martin is on holiday in a small caravan site with his small sister and the family dog. He is only eleven but he feels that he has spent his whole waiting for an adventure. He feels that he is prepared in every way for things to happen. A sudden storm over night floods the surrounding sand dunes and swells the local rivers.
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Outer Hebrides - Great Northern ?
Great Northern ? by Arthur Ransome is the last fully completed book in the 'Swallows and Amazons' series. The adventure takes place on the coast of an island in the Outer Hebrides. The location is left vague as a part of the plot for Ransome is claiming that he wants to preserve the anonimity of the breeding place of the Great Northern Divers of the storyline. It is a clever variation on the old idea of having your cake and eating it. The obfuscation of the setting is a necessary part of the creation of the book. Ransome knew the real Isle of Lewis well and must have used the settings there.
The well-known children of this twelvth story struggle so hard to contend with two opposing dilemmas - the confirming of the fact that these rare birds do break all the rules of known British ornithology is placed against a desperate desire to preserve the secret and, within the story, most alarmingly, preserve the lives of the birds themselves. All of the usual children in the series are assembled again for this additional adventure. The last time they were all together in one joint enterprise was in the Carnegie Medal winning 'Pigeon Post'.
Ransome's achievement is to make all of the children seen the same and yet, at the same time, become slightly older. Titty, so often the key character in many of the earlier adventures, is here relegated into a minor secondary role. John and Nancy are still their reliable selves. Even Dorothea's support is secondary to Dick's dmination of the centre stage.
Both Dick and Roger develop in ways that we might not expect. Roger's liking for himself faces a short-term reverse in his self-esteem. However,it is basically Dick's story, for he is the one who has to re-evaluate his feelings about what life may bring him as he grows up and becomes an independent adult.
The life and opportunities of the birdman seems a desirable objective - something upon which the naturalist can set his heart. We remember that inn 'Pigeon Post' Dick makes an obvious mistake of fact when he allows the painfully mined ore to dissolve in 'aqua regia' and thinks it could still be gold. The threat posed by the fire and the drama of the last section of the book is not a consequence of his error.
In 'Great Northern' he learns that his pursuit of knowledge and the truth lays him open to a greater mistake of judgement when he thinks he can reveal information to a person, Mr. Jemmerling, whom he should never trust. He learns that mistakes, no matter how innocent, can bring unexpectedly painful consequences. The drama of the last part of the final novel is provided by Jemmerlings' greed for reputation, Dick's desperate attempt to preserve what he has so endangered and the fortunate but largely chancy intervention of the Gaelic population.
We are left with the feeling that Dick still has lessons to learn about the world of scientific study. It is not simply a matter of taking accurate measurements,obtaining clear photographic proof and reporting what has happened to the world. Ransome's own achievement is attempting to report the perils of making of a major discovery and the effect that it can have even on the best of people. You can believe that Nancy may glory in the fact that it is the naturalist of the Sea Bear who confounds received opinion about the birds who nest in the United Kingdom. You are more likely to believe that Dick will have learned a greater lesson.
The well-known children of this twelvth story struggle so hard to contend with two opposing dilemmas - the confirming of the fact that these rare birds do break all the rules of known British ornithology is placed against a desperate desire to preserve the secret and, within the story, most alarmingly, preserve the lives of the birds themselves. All of the usual children in the series are assembled again for this additional adventure. The last time they were all together in one joint enterprise was in the Carnegie Medal winning 'Pigeon Post'.
Ransome's achievement is to make all of the children seen the same and yet, at the same time, become slightly older. Titty, so often the key character in many of the earlier adventures, is here relegated into a minor secondary role. John and Nancy are still their reliable selves. Even Dorothea's support is secondary to Dick's dmination of the centre stage.
Both Dick and Roger develop in ways that we might not expect. Roger's liking for himself faces a short-term reverse in his self-esteem. However,it is basically Dick's story, for he is the one who has to re-evaluate his feelings about what life may bring him as he grows up and becomes an independent adult.
The life and opportunities of the birdman seems a desirable objective - something upon which the naturalist can set his heart. We remember that inn 'Pigeon Post' Dick makes an obvious mistake of fact when he allows the painfully mined ore to dissolve in 'aqua regia' and thinks it could still be gold. The threat posed by the fire and the drama of the last section of the book is not a consequence of his error.
In 'Great Northern' he learns that his pursuit of knowledge and the truth lays him open to a greater mistake of judgement when he thinks he can reveal information to a person, Mr. Jemmerling, whom he should never trust. He learns that mistakes, no matter how innocent, can bring unexpectedly painful consequences. The drama of the last part of the final novel is provided by Jemmerlings' greed for reputation, Dick's desperate attempt to preserve what he has so endangered and the fortunate but largely chancy intervention of the Gaelic population.
We are left with the feeling that Dick still has lessons to learn about the world of scientific study. It is not simply a matter of taking accurate measurements,obtaining clear photographic proof and reporting what has happened to the world. Ransome's own achievement is attempting to report the perils of making of a major discovery and the effect that it can have even on the best of people. You can believe that Nancy may glory in the fact that it is the naturalist of the Sea Bear who confounds received opinion about the birds who nest in the United Kingdom. You are more likely to believe that Dick will have learned a greater lesson.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Great Northern ?
A lot is usually made of the fact that Ransome was send the plot of this story by another person "Myles North" and that this is no more than an adaptation. But my brief notes here will suggest some of the highlights of the story. The concealment of the location - it is probably somewhere on the isle of Lewis - is actually a bonus to the atmosphere.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
South Wales Coast
This is a book which belongs to the South Wales section of the plan. The author was also an artist and her eye for physical detail comes out in many of the descriptions.
She is not specific about the location in terms of naming the nearby town which is definitely on a railway line but it doesn't seem to be either Cardiff or Swansea. I suspect somewhere near Barry. The children in the story are a family of three children with two boys, Peter and Robert, who have a younger sister called Stella.
The early preoccupation of the story is with the girl who seems left out of things whilst the boys are busy building a sailing dinghy in which she has a third share. She expects her time to be taken up with looking after a female French exchange friend whom she has never met. The two boys have been to France and met the brother of the girl due to arrive. The book takes an unexpected turn when an accident happens to the French girl before she leaves home and her brother arrives as a replacement. Stella is left without a companion as the French boy,Philippe, also seems fascinated by the soon to be finished sailing boat. Yet somehow the English girl finds herself making friends with the incomer.
The pair of them are particularly drawn to the fate of a disabled man,Sammy, who in England/Wales would be regarded as "simple". For the French boy he is "a child of God" and to be treated with respect. The figurehead of the title lies on the sand near the cottage and seems to have a particular importance in the story of disabled Sammy. Sammy's aunt, who looks after him, dies and Sammy is due to be turned out of his cottage by the owners of the local estate. Sammy's care for all the injured creatures of the coast is the centre of his life and the prospect of moving into a proper and regulated form of care appals the young people and their French guest. A mystery and a secret surrounds Sammy and figurehead. This is the riddle of the title whixh is unravelled in the nick of time.
At the same time the boys are ready to launch their boat and make the first voyages. The description that surrounds the naming ceremony of the 'Evening Star' and the sudden drama that follows is just one excellent part of the plot which works its way to a very satisfactory, if not unexpected conclusion. This is a notable book for its treatment of the launch as the tide rushes in over the muddy backwaters.
She is not specific about the location in terms of naming the nearby town which is definitely on a railway line but it doesn't seem to be either Cardiff or Swansea. I suspect somewhere near Barry. The children in the story are a family of three children with two boys, Peter and Robert, who have a younger sister called Stella.
The early preoccupation of the story is with the girl who seems left out of things whilst the boys are busy building a sailing dinghy in which she has a third share. She expects her time to be taken up with looking after a female French exchange friend whom she has never met. The two boys have been to France and met the brother of the girl due to arrive. The book takes an unexpected turn when an accident happens to the French girl before she leaves home and her brother arrives as a replacement. Stella is left without a companion as the French boy,Philippe, also seems fascinated by the soon to be finished sailing boat. Yet somehow the English girl finds herself making friends with the incomer.
The pair of them are particularly drawn to the fate of a disabled man,Sammy, who in England/Wales would be regarded as "simple". For the French boy he is "a child of God" and to be treated with respect. The figurehead of the title lies on the sand near the cottage and seems to have a particular importance in the story of disabled Sammy. Sammy's aunt, who looks after him, dies and Sammy is due to be turned out of his cottage by the owners of the local estate. Sammy's care for all the injured creatures of the coast is the centre of his life and the prospect of moving into a proper and regulated form of care appals the young people and their French guest. A mystery and a secret surrounds Sammy and figurehead. This is the riddle of the title whixh is unravelled in the nick of time.
At the same time the boys are ready to launch their boat and make the first voyages. The description that surrounds the naming ceremony of the 'Evening Star' and the sudden drama that follows is just one excellent part of the plot which works its way to a very satisfactory, if not unexpected conclusion. This is a notable book for its treatment of the launch as the tide rushes in over the muddy backwaters.
Thursday, 13 January 2011
Penny in Suffolk
Penny Puzzled
For the first time this story takes our heroine away from her home ground in Buckinghamshire and on a trip to stay with a family in coastal Suffolk. No sooner has she got on to the small branch-line leading to the East Anglian resort than she finds herself embroiled in a mystery about a stolen painting. She quickly makes friends with Elizabeth and David Bale and fits comfortably into the life of the family. For the first time the reader sees signs that Penny is beginning to think about her appearance. The delights of a new dress and the opportunity for wearing it at a special dance are ideas that would never have crossed the mind of the younger Penny. The villain of the piece is easy to spot from the beginning but the dramatic intervention of a flood causes an exciting episode that makes Penny realise that every one has a mixture of qualities that go into their character. There are signs that Penny is growing up, though the author maintains a lot of the comic element by the dialogue between Penny and young David who spends most of his time coming up with impossible inventions.
For the first time this story takes our heroine away from her home ground in Buckinghamshire and on a trip to stay with a family in coastal Suffolk. No sooner has she got on to the small branch-line leading to the East Anglian resort than she finds herself embroiled in a mystery about a stolen painting. She quickly makes friends with Elizabeth and David Bale and fits comfortably into the life of the family. For the first time the reader sees signs that Penny is beginning to think about her appearance. The delights of a new dress and the opportunity for wearing it at a special dance are ideas that would never have crossed the mind of the younger Penny. The villain of the piece is easy to spot from the beginning but the dramatic intervention of a flood causes an exciting episode that makes Penny realise that every one has a mixture of qualities that go into their character. There are signs that Penny is growing up, though the author maintains a lot of the comic element by the dialogue between Penny and young David who spends most of his time coming up with impossible inventions.
Light Over Lundy
"The Tamlyn family, on holiday in Devon, notice strangely irregular flashes from the lighthouses at Hartland and Bull Point. Stephen Tamlyn is riding on the sands the next day, when his horse shies at a bottle, which proves to contain a mysterious message. He encounters a stranger, who offers to decipher the message and who subsequently invites the children to a picnic. During luncheon they see an aeroplane drop something shining on the beach, and by now it is apparent that there are sinister goings on in this quiet corner of the coast. The investigation of these happenings lands the Tamlyn family and their ally, Mr. Prosper, in the most exciting holiday, described by Mr. Mais with unflagging gusto and with intimate knowledge of the West country and it's people.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
River Thames Dawlish
Dauntless Takes RecruitsThis is the fourth book in a series of seven adventures. It was first
published in 1950.
The Dauntless boys, lucky owners of a trim little sailing ship, run
into a group of Poplar boys on none too friendly terms. But they soon
discover that these London boys are only trying to express their
resentment at being warned off the river by the unfriendly bargemen.
The Dauntless boys' answer to this problem is to invite Nicky and his
friends aboard for a trip down towards the Thames estuary; and all is
set fair until they run into fog. The Dauntless sits at anchor,
comparatively safe, nut one of the barges which is risking the fog
falls foul of a wreck and the bargeman's family take refuge on the
Dauntless. It is then that David finds that his hospitality has
precipitated an unpleasant dramatic situation from which they are all
extracted only by his tact and good seamanship.
'Dauntless and the Poplar Pirates'
Dauntless and the Poplar Pirates"Look out, David!" Alex cried warningly. "They are throwing stones at
us." David ducked, then raised himself cautiously. There was a
ringing sound and a yell of triumph.
"Got it!" a voice shouted jubilantly.
"I will get it as well," another voice cried and a stone hit the
Dauntless's mainmast. David saw the attackers as a row of faces
showing over the edge of the bridge balustrade and arms upraised to
throw more stones.
The crew of the Dauntless, David, Bob, Alex and Tim , have sailed
their boat up the Thames and moored her in Bow Creek and they are not
at all pleased at this reception. But they discover the "Poplar
Pirates", as these local lads call themselves, are not really
vicious, just showing their resentment at being warned off the river
boats by the local bargees. The Pirates are all desperately keen on
boats, so David and his friends decide to offer them a trip in the
Dauntless. There is fog in the river and they rescue the
unfriendliest of the bargees when his Thames sailing barge gets
wrecked on a sandbank. The bargee, his wife and granddaughter Jenny
take refuge on the Dauntless, but the Pirates decide to salvage the
barge so they can have a boat of their own.
David is worried about the barge family whose home it is, and the
rest of the story tells of the exciting salvage of the barge and how
finally David extracts them all from a dramatic situation by his tact
and good seamanship.
Another in the series of exciting books about the Dauntless, with the
usual ingredients of a thrilling story and all the fun of sailing as
well as the interest of the details of life on a working sailing
barge in the late 1940-s.
published in 1950.
The Dauntless boys, lucky owners of a trim little sailing ship, run
into a group of Poplar boys on none too friendly terms. But they soon
discover that these London boys are only trying to express their
resentment at being warned off the river by the unfriendly bargemen.
The Dauntless boys' answer to this problem is to invite Nicky and his
friends aboard for a trip down towards the Thames estuary; and all is
set fair until they run into fog. The Dauntless sits at anchor,
comparatively safe, nut one of the barges which is risking the fog
falls foul of a wreck and the bargeman's family take refuge on the
Dauntless. It is then that David finds that his hospitality has
precipitated an unpleasant dramatic situation from which they are all
extracted only by his tact and good seamanship.
'Dauntless and the Poplar Pirates'
Dauntless and the Poplar Pirates"Look out, David!" Alex cried warningly. "They are throwing stones at
us." David ducked, then raised himself cautiously. There was a
ringing sound and a yell of triumph.
"Got it!" a voice shouted jubilantly.
"I will get it as well," another voice cried and a stone hit the
Dauntless's mainmast. David saw the attackers as a row of faces
showing over the edge of the bridge balustrade and arms upraised to
throw more stones.
The crew of the Dauntless, David, Bob, Alex and Tim , have sailed
their boat up the Thames and moored her in Bow Creek and they are not
at all pleased at this reception. But they discover the "Poplar
Pirates", as these local lads call themselves, are not really
vicious, just showing their resentment at being warned off the river
boats by the local bargees. The Pirates are all desperately keen on
boats, so David and his friends decide to offer them a trip in the
Dauntless. There is fog in the river and they rescue the
unfriendliest of the bargees when his Thames sailing barge gets
wrecked on a sandbank. The bargee, his wife and granddaughter Jenny
take refuge on the Dauntless, but the Pirates decide to salvage the
barge so they can have a boat of their own.
David is worried about the barge family whose home it is, and the
rest of the story tells of the exciting salvage of the barge and how
finally David extracts them all from a dramatic situation by his tact
and good seamanship.
Another in the series of exciting books about the Dauntless, with the
usual ingredients of a thrilling story and all the fun of sailing as
well as the interest of the details of life on a working sailing
barge in the late 1940-s.
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Dean's Lighthouse Adventure
The story starts as usual in the Deans' home town of Wigan. The
actual adventure takes place on the Berwickshire Coast near the small
village of Coldlingham. This, though Berwick is mentioned, the bulk
of the events take place in Scotland. One of Mr. Deans' friends from
his days in the Royal Navy during the Second World War is now a
lighthouse keeper who has been based in many different parts of the
British Isles. He invites the children to stay with him during the
Easter holidays. The three members of the Dean family, plus their
three friends are all included in the invitation. Nearly half of the
book is then spent in describing events that take place before the
journey to Scotland. All the children are given the share in a
greenhouse by Andrew Forbes and his fiancee (who feature largely in
the earlier story "The Deans Solve a Mystery"). They are to be
allowed to grow what they want and are given six pounds to help them
stock and equip the enterprise. They decide to work as a cooperative
and, with the help of Caleb Moscrop, the old gardener at the hall,
they begin to labour and to plan. Caleb also introduces Buffin
(Bartholomew) Dean to the delights of pigeon care to pigeon racing.
Things are just beginning to get going when they are destined to go
away on holiday.
The lighthouse they travel to is a very remote one that is built into
the cliff rather than as a separate pillar or traditional tube
affair. Mr. Patterson, his wife and their daughter Doris are just one
family who live on the premises and Mr, Patterson is the senior
keeper.
Two adventures befall the children whilst they are in Berwickshire.
The first is the traditional one of getting trapped by the tide.
Buffin, Doris and Beckie (who has injured her ankle) are forced to
retreat into a cave. The cave leads back to the cliff top but they
three prisoners have to be rescued by their siblings who pry away a
rock from the cleft above them. The cave proves to a part of the old
hermitage of St.Coll and also the probably haunt of smugglers from
two hundred years before.
Camille, the young French girl who lives next door to the Deans in
Wigan, is left alone with Mr. Patterson one day that suddenly becomes
stormy. A "Mayday" message comes in from a ship that is in trouble.
Here Camille proves her worth because the crew of the ship is all
French and radio communication proves problematical. She is able to
help Mr. Patterson fix the correction position so that the local
lifeboat can be launched to save the sailors in distress. There are
quite a few details in the book about the chain of lighthouses down
this part of the coast as the keepers make their regular radio
reports. One hears of the one on Bass Rock and others up on the Firth
of Forth.
actual adventure takes place on the Berwickshire Coast near the small
village of Coldlingham. This, though Berwick is mentioned, the bulk
of the events take place in Scotland. One of Mr. Deans' friends from
his days in the Royal Navy during the Second World War is now a
lighthouse keeper who has been based in many different parts of the
British Isles. He invites the children to stay with him during the
Easter holidays. The three members of the Dean family, plus their
three friends are all included in the invitation. Nearly half of the
book is then spent in describing events that take place before the
journey to Scotland. All the children are given the share in a
greenhouse by Andrew Forbes and his fiancee (who feature largely in
the earlier story "The Deans Solve a Mystery"). They are to be
allowed to grow what they want and are given six pounds to help them
stock and equip the enterprise. They decide to work as a cooperative
and, with the help of Caleb Moscrop, the old gardener at the hall,
they begin to labour and to plan. Caleb also introduces Buffin
(Bartholomew) Dean to the delights of pigeon care to pigeon racing.
Things are just beginning to get going when they are destined to go
away on holiday.
The lighthouse they travel to is a very remote one that is built into
the cliff rather than as a separate pillar or traditional tube
affair. Mr. Patterson, his wife and their daughter Doris are just one
family who live on the premises and Mr, Patterson is the senior
keeper.
Two adventures befall the children whilst they are in Berwickshire.
The first is the traditional one of getting trapped by the tide.
Buffin, Doris and Beckie (who has injured her ankle) are forced to
retreat into a cave. The cave leads back to the cliff top but they
three prisoners have to be rescued by their siblings who pry away a
rock from the cleft above them. The cave proves to a part of the old
hermitage of St.Coll and also the probably haunt of smugglers from
two hundred years before.
Camille, the young French girl who lives next door to the Deans in
Wigan, is left alone with Mr. Patterson one day that suddenly becomes
stormy. A "Mayday" message comes in from a ship that is in trouble.
Here Camille proves her worth because the crew of the ship is all
French and radio communication proves problematical. She is able to
help Mr. Patterson fix the correction position so that the local
lifeboat can be launched to save the sailors in distress. There are
quite a few details in the book about the chain of lighthouses down
this part of the coast as the keepers make their regular radio
reports. One hears of the one on Bass Rock and others up on the Firth
of Forth.
Lois Lamplugh
Andrew, Bruce and Celia (who are friends but not related to each other)
are home from the holidays in their small North Devon village of Crowdown.
Bruce becomes intrigued with the idea of re-building a sand yacht that
has been abandoned in Crowdown by another family. Eventually he is
successful. Meanwhile Andrew and Celia have become fascinated by
searching for the remains of a chapel that once used to be located
amongst the massive sand dunes that are a major feature of the coast.
As the year goes by the three teenagers spend different holidays
enjoying the racing of the yacht and uncovering the ancient building.
It is the latter task which dominates the second half of the book.
Together with 6 helpers (including the Allen family who feature in
many later adventures) the three friends gradually dig their way down
until the outlines of the small chapel buried for hundreds of years
are finally revealed. They style themselves the "Nine Bright Shiners"
after the words of "Green Grow the Rushes" which they sing as a sort
of work-song as the slowly clearly the inrushing sand.
Inevitably their activities are found out by some of the local
small-time villains who suspect that a treasure may be found.
There is a robbery, a chase and a successful recovery. This
leads to the discovery of something precious which makes all
their activities worthwhile.
are home from the holidays in their small North Devon village of Crowdown.
Bruce becomes intrigued with the idea of re-building a sand yacht that
has been abandoned in Crowdown by another family. Eventually he is
successful. Meanwhile Andrew and Celia have become fascinated by
searching for the remains of a chapel that once used to be located
amongst the massive sand dunes that are a major feature of the coast.
As the year goes by the three teenagers spend different holidays
enjoying the racing of the yacht and uncovering the ancient building.
It is the latter task which dominates the second half of the book.
Together with 6 helpers (including the Allen family who feature in
many later adventures) the three friends gradually dig their way down
until the outlines of the small chapel buried for hundreds of years
are finally revealed. They style themselves the "Nine Bright Shiners"
after the words of "Green Grow the Rushes" which they sing as a sort
of work-song as the slowly clearly the inrushing sand.
Inevitably their activities are found out by some of the local
small-time villains who suspect that a treasure may be found.
There is a robbery, a chase and a successful recovery. This
leads to the discovery of something precious which makes all
their activities worthwhile.
Saturday, 8 January 2011
St. Abbs and Kathleen Fidler
The three books by Kathleen Fidler which are set on the Berwickshire Coast are Treasure of Ebba, The Gold of Fast Castle, The Deans Lighthouse Adventure.
Treasure of Ebba is the first in a group of two about the same groups of children. These are Nicol and Julie Milne and their cousins David and Sarah Drummond who live on a farm at St.Abbs. The story is the old one of members of the family who initially don't get on with each other. David has formed the impression that his rather bookish cousin Nicol is a "jessee" because he has had to drop out of a continental journey because of his period of illness with pneumonia. Nicol considers David to be a bit of a country clodhopper who is interested in nothing but the outdoor life. A part of the plot of the book is used to explore how they eventually overcome these erronious impressions. Both boys find themselves in life-threatening situations and their cousin to bring them to safety. The second strand of the story is about the way in which the four children begin to become involved in the history of that small area of the coast. In particular it is about the way in which they carry out an archeological dig on the remains of Ebba's church located on the St. Abb's promontory.
Nicol is a strickler for doing things the right way and insists on all the excavations being done "according to the rules". David just wants to get on with things but eventually begins to operate according to the methodical way in which the expedition is set about. There is an interesting explanation of how to excavate and record the results. The girls also follow Nicol's lead even though they admit that their main hope is to find some treasure.
Nicol points out that it is very unlikely that they are going to find anything. The following conversation then takes place:
"Then what are we going to dig for ?" David interrupted from his mound.
"Information," Nicol told him, "That's what true archeologists are really looking for, information. They want to learn how people lived in the past. They aren't digging to make themselves rich by finding buried treasure. If any object do turn up, they're of interest first of all for what we can learn from them of the people who made them." Nicol was serious and sincere.
The story that the children are trying to piece together is captured in the dramatic lines of the dust-jacket.
"Cut off your noses," said Ebba to her companions, "and the Vikings will not kill you." But when the Danes came in their long ships to Coldingham, to see what treasure they could find, everybody was killed, in spite of Ebba's plan. The little chapel on the cliff at St. Abb's was burned, and the grass grew over it; but after eleven centuries the site was still to be seen on St. Abb's Head north of Berwick-on-Tweed.
"Just the place for a properly-run Dig," said Nicol Milne; and Milnes and Drummonds began to explore, to see what they could discover, and to find any treasure which the Danes might have left behind.
David's friend Jimmy Barr introduces another note to the harmonious progress of the excavation. He is the son of the lighthouse keeper and Kathleen Fidler makes sure that she introduces the feeling of methodical service to duty that such a family has to undergo. Jimmy is patient and sensible where David is impulsive and rash. He too becomes caught up in the adventure of the dig and the links with the past that is all around his home. At the end of the book there is, of course, a tangible reward but there is also a much more important reward when the children's involvement in the enterprise is approved of by an expert and the period of exploration proves to be just the beginning of a new strand of their lives rather than the closed book that seems to be threatened.
Treasure of Ebba is the first in a group of two about the same groups of children. These are Nicol and Julie Milne and their cousins David and Sarah Drummond who live on a farm at St.Abbs. The story is the old one of members of the family who initially don't get on with each other. David has formed the impression that his rather bookish cousin Nicol is a "jessee" because he has had to drop out of a continental journey because of his period of illness with pneumonia. Nicol considers David to be a bit of a country clodhopper who is interested in nothing but the outdoor life. A part of the plot of the book is used to explore how they eventually overcome these erronious impressions. Both boys find themselves in life-threatening situations and their cousin to bring them to safety. The second strand of the story is about the way in which the four children begin to become involved in the history of that small area of the coast. In particular it is about the way in which they carry out an archeological dig on the remains of Ebba's church located on the St. Abb's promontory.
Nicol is a strickler for doing things the right way and insists on all the excavations being done "according to the rules". David just wants to get on with things but eventually begins to operate according to the methodical way in which the expedition is set about. There is an interesting explanation of how to excavate and record the results. The girls also follow Nicol's lead even though they admit that their main hope is to find some treasure.
Nicol points out that it is very unlikely that they are going to find anything. The following conversation then takes place:
"Then what are we going to dig for ?" David interrupted from his mound.
"Information," Nicol told him, "That's what true archeologists are really looking for, information. They want to learn how people lived in the past. They aren't digging to make themselves rich by finding buried treasure. If any object do turn up, they're of interest first of all for what we can learn from them of the people who made them." Nicol was serious and sincere.
The story that the children are trying to piece together is captured in the dramatic lines of the dust-jacket.
"Cut off your noses," said Ebba to her companions, "and the Vikings will not kill you." But when the Danes came in their long ships to Coldingham, to see what treasure they could find, everybody was killed, in spite of Ebba's plan. The little chapel on the cliff at St. Abb's was burned, and the grass grew over it; but after eleven centuries the site was still to be seen on St. Abb's Head north of Berwick-on-Tweed.
"Just the place for a properly-run Dig," said Nicol Milne; and Milnes and Drummonds began to explore, to see what they could discover, and to find any treasure which the Danes might have left behind.
David's friend Jimmy Barr introduces another note to the harmonious progress of the excavation. He is the son of the lighthouse keeper and Kathleen Fidler makes sure that she introduces the feeling of methodical service to duty that such a family has to undergo. Jimmy is patient and sensible where David is impulsive and rash. He too becomes caught up in the adventure of the dig and the links with the past that is all around his home. At the end of the book there is, of course, a tangible reward but there is also a much more important reward when the children's involvement in the enterprise is approved of by an expert and the period of exploration proves to be just the beginning of a new strand of their lives rather than the closed book that seems to be threatened.
Sunday, 2 January 2011
Dumfries and Galloway legend
Kate Crackernuts by K.M,Briggs is part legend and part manufactured story. It is really about the power of witchcraft and the friendship between two girls who share almost the same name. The story is set in the time of the civil war when King Charles tried to use a Scottish army in order to defeat the forces of parliament until he was defeated at the battle of Worcester. However, the action is mostly centred on the small communities along the Scottish edge of (Dumfries and Galloway) of the Solway Firth. The two Kates live in Auchenskeouch Castle in Dalbeatie. Events take place in such coastal locations as Kircudbright,Colvend, Port o'Warren and Kippford. Castle Douglas and Douglas Hall are also mentioned. The climax of the story is the pursuit of the two Kates as they set out to leave from Kippford in order to land in England. Eventually their journey is completed in Maryport but not before the ship that pursues them is sunk with all hands in the mid-channel. Amongst those who perish are Kate's mother and Kate's stepmother - the same person.
"Four went down with her. Black Hew, with his dazed mind still held in blind obedience to the witchwife, went down trapped under the thwarts without a struggle. The other three rose up ans beat the water in anger and fear and frowing black despair."
The author knows that she is a notorious witch who is trying to win her daughter to the dark side and to take revenge on her stepdaughter whom she hates out of sheer malevolence. The principal activity of the witches takes place on Criffel, the highest peak of the coastal range and the prominent landmark across the Solway today.
"Four went down with her. Black Hew, with his dazed mind still held in blind obedience to the witchwife, went down trapped under the thwarts without a struggle. The other three rose up ans beat the water in anger and fear and frowing black despair."
The author knows that she is a notorious witch who is trying to win her daughter to the dark side and to take revenge on her stepdaughter whom she hates out of sheer malevolence. The principal activity of the witches takes place on Criffel, the highest peak of the coastal range and the prominent landmark across the Solway today.
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