10 OF THE BEST LITERARY LOCATIONS
As we celebrate World Book Day this month, we highlight the places that have inspired some of our best-loved children’s stories
To celebrate World Book Day, we highlight some of the places that have inspired our best-loved children’s stories
FIDRA, EAST LOTHIAN Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Stand on the shore at Yellowcraigs and you’ll see Fidra out in the Firth of Forth. As a child, Robert Louis Stevenson spent his holidays here in East Lothian, and visits to this uninhabited isle are said to have inspired Treasure Island. Today, Fidra – or ‘Feather Island’ in Old Norse – is an RSPB nature reserve where puffins, razorbills and fulmars build their nests on the craggy cliffs. Channel your inner Jim Hawkins and see it by boat: book a seat aboard The Braveheart, which departs from North Berwick Harbour all year round. northberwickboattrips.co.uk
ASHDOWN FOREST, EAST SUSSEX The House at Pooh Corner by AA Milne
A game for two or more (and best played with willow), Poohsticks first appeared in The House at Pooh Corner, where it was devised, according to the story, by Winnie-the-pooh after he dropped a pine cone into the river. In reality, AA Milne dreamt it up while walking in Ashdown Forest, close to his home at Cotchford Farm. Originally played with Christopher Robin on Posingford Bridge – which went on to become Poohsticks Bridge – participants, human or ursine, drop their stick into the water and see whose emerges under the bridge first. More than 100 years later, visitors travel to see the site – and have a go themselves. ashdownforest.org
WATERSHIP DOWN, HAMPSHIRE Watership Down by Richard Adams
Beautiful but brutal, Richard Adams’ Watership Down started life as a tale he would tell his daughters Rosamond and Julia on journeys to school. A civil servant, Adams spent his evenings writing at the behest of the pair, who said the story was “too good to waste”. His tale of rabbits escaping danger and establishing a new home takes its name from Watership Down in Hampshire, close to where Adams grew up, and went on to win a host of literary awards. Visit today and you’ll see that the hill, overlooking fields and woodland, would make the perfect place for a rabbit warren – with fewer perils ahead. visit-hampshire.co.uk
OXFORD BOTANIC GARDEN, OXFORD His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials might span other worlds, but many of its locations and landmarks are recognisable from our own. At the back of Oxford Botanic Garden – one of the oldest of its kind in the world – an inconspicuous bench marks the spot where protagonists Will Parry and Lyra Belacqua agree to meet each year on Midsummer’s Day: “At midday. As long as I live,” Lyra promises in the closing chapters of the trilogy. Today, you can sit on the bench, as well as admire Julian Warren’s sculpture featuring daemons Pantalaimon and Kirjava in the Walled Garden. obga.ox.ac.uk
HILL TOP, CUMBRIA The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Beatrix Potter bought Hill Top, in the Cumbrian countryside, in 1905 with the proceeds from her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. In subsequent years, she based many stories near the property, including The Tales of Jemima Puddle-duck, Tom Kitten and Mrs Tittlemouse. Inside the 17th-century house, visitors can peruse treasures and trinkets, including Potter’s glasses, sketches and the doll’s house in which Two Bad Mice ran riot. Outside, the diminutive garden features a Bramley apple tree that Potter may well have planted herself. Mr Mcgregor would have been proud. nationaltrust.org.uk/hill-top
CORFE CASTLE, DORSET Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton
For more than two decades, Enid Blyton spent her holidays on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, travelling by steam train and swimming in Swanage Bay. It’s little wonder, then, that many places made their way into her books. Appearing first in Five on a Treasure Island, Kirrin Castle is said to be based on the 11th-century Corfe Castle. Julian marvels at the same “broken archways, tumbledown towers and ruined walls”, which you can still see today. visit-dorset.com
GREAT MAYTHAM HALL, KENT The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Sitting in the grounds of Great Maytham Hall, her home between 1898 and 1907, Frances Hodgson Burnett spotted a rusty gate beneath a veil of ivy and unearthed a neglected walled garden dating back to the 1700s. She set about restoring the plot and, over the years, would sit among the flowers writing The Secret Garden. Retrace her footsteps on 1 April, 13 May, 10 June and 1 July during the National Open Garden Scheme, plus you can immerse yourself in the story when a new film adaptation premieres in April. ngs.org.uk
MOURNE MOUNTAINS, COUNTY DOWN The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
As a child, CS Lewis spent family holidays in County Down, where the terrain and Celtic myths took root in his imagination – the Mourne Mountains are said to have inspired Narnia. Lewis wrote of the scenery: “I’ve seen landscapes, which, under a particular light, made me feel that, at any moment, a giant might raise his head over the next ridge.” Today, you can explore Northern Ireland’s highest range on foot, following the Devil’s Coach Road or former smugglers’ route, the Brandy Pad. Just watch out for the White Witch… walkni.com
MOAT BRAE, DUMFRIES Peter Pan by JM Barrie
“For our escapades in a certain Dumfries Garden, which is enchanted land to me, were certainly the genesis of that nefarious work, Peter Pan,” wrote JM Barrie in his memoirs. Between the ages of 13 and 18, he attended Dumfries Academy at Moat Brae, playing pirates in the Georgian villa. Tearing around with his friends – he created codenames for many – Barrie dreamt up all manner of fantastical concepts and characters. Moat Brae was restored and reopened to the public last summer. Look out for the Peter Pan sculpture in Neverland Garden. peterpanmoatbrae.org
CRINAN CANAL, ARGYLL The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame made up his tales of the riverbank for his son Alastair, which the family’s governess then read to him at bedtime. The stories were inspired partly by Grahame’s childhood exploring the banks of the Crinan Canal, where, along the waterside ‘hurry and scurry’, he glimpsed the creatures that would become his colourful characters – Badger, Ratty, Mole and Mr Toad. Head to Ardrishaig on Loch Fyne to begin the nine-mile journey (on foot, bicycle or kayak) to the canal’s end at the Sound of Jura, a stretch known as ‘Britain’s most beautiful shortcut’. scottishcanals.co.uk