IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ENID BLYTON
Settings from favourite books wait round every Dorset corner
Enid Blyton made her first visit to Dorset in the 1930s. She obviously fell in love with it and visited regularly in the years that followed, staying in Swanage on the Isle of Purbeck, the peninsula “across the bay” from Poole. Although she never explicitly names Dorset as the setting of her books, there’s no doubt she took inspiration from the scenery around her.
Famous Five adventures often start with the children arriving by train, and you can re-enact the moment by taking the steam train from Swanage to Cor fe Castle, where the station has been beautifully restored by volunteers.
The ruin of Corfe Castle itself matches the description of Kirrin Castle, the scene of many magical moments in the Famous Five books where it sits, gloomy and forbidding, on Kirrin Island. The island itself, Enid Blyton wrote in a letter, was inspired by a small island she saw when she was on her honeymoon in the Channel Islands.
Just two miles from Cor fe Castle is the Blue Pool at Furzebrook which appeared in Five Go Off In A Caravan, while Stoborough Heath which stretches beyond the Blue Pool was the setting for Five Go To Mystery Moor.
Brownsea Island sits at the entrance to Poole Harbour and was transformed into Whispering Island in Five Have A Mystery To Solve. In Enid Blyton’s day, no visitors were allowed and she described it as “Keep Away Island”.
In Five Fall Into Adventure, the setting for their swim is Kimmeridge Bay and when they row round the coast they spot a tower on a cliff, believed to be Clavell Tower, a folly you can now rent for a holiday.
The Rub a dub Mystery is set in a secret cove with a blow hole in the cliffs. The cove is Lulworth Cove and the blow hole is Stair Hole, a local landmark. Smugglers are a recurring theme in Enid Blyton stories, and the area around Purbeck is full of tunnels and caves, many linking to cottages and used in the smuggling trade of the 18th century. These undoubtedly inspired Five Go To Smuggler’s Top.
The other standout feature of her books are picnics. Enid herself enjoyed countless picnics on the beach at Swanage, although during the war, it would have been off limits. PC Plod in the Noddy stories is also believed to be based on the local Swanage constable.