In the 1950s, as Dictys 23 the prize I won in an Argonauts Club* competition was Enid Blyton’s Sea of Adventure. This was when I met Blyton’s appealing characters, Phillip and Dinah Mannering and Jack and Lucy Trent, Mrs Mannering, Bill Cunningham, and Kiki, the parrot. Most importantly for my travel plans in the future, Huffin and Puffin, the names the children gave the comical birds they befriended on Puffin Island, featured in the middle of their adventures.
Visiting the Farne Islands in 2024 was the outcome of my dream to see puffins in their natural inhabitant as did the children in The Sea of Adventure. Although many of the other birds the children saw on their adventure this book published in 1948, thrive on the islands, the puffins have been the real survivors. In a previous book I reviewed, **puffins had been a food source, a sad reflection on the earlier version of my reading. On the Farne Islands, a sanctuary has been established, and at the last count there were over 60,000 pairs of puffins. And, even better, the island on which they had been a food source, has been abandoned, leaving its name to the Australian coastal town of St Kilda to which some of the island inhabitants migrated.
Planning the trip encouraged me to reread Enid Blyton’s children’s novel – formulaic being but one of the criticisms of Blyton’s work. Yes, there are the problems literary critics have enunciated. However, I was impressed with the amount of description in this book, cleverly done so that child readers did not rebel, but continued reading. The pictures Blyton’s descriptions conjured up and the way the book introduced action without challenging the description was heartening. But does the book have merit?
I stopped worrying about this (having already reviewed a biography of Enid Blyton in which I discuss the merit or otherwise of her life and writing) *** as I boarded the boat to spend two and a half hours on the sea, passing various islands, and spending an hour on the bird sanctuary. The sky was grey, the sea heaving, rain imminent and a brisk breeze blowing. Worse was to come, it began hailing as we alighted from the boat onto the island! The Sea of Adventure also featured a storm, and some of the descriptions contrasting this with the peaceful beginning of the children’s adventure demonstrates the detailed writing that readers navigated throughout the book.
*The Argonauts Club
Compiled and edited using Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and Nostalgia Central.
The Argonauts Club was an Australian children’s radio program, first broadcast in 1933 on ABC Radio Melbourne… After a short hiatus the format was revived on 7 January 1941 as a segment of the ABC Children’s Session. Western Australia devised its own program as the two-hour time difference made this mor expedient It was one of the ABC’s most popular programs, running six days a week for 28 years until October 1969, when it was broadcast only on Sundays and was finally discontinued in 1972.
My sister and I were avid listeners and contributors. We also attended a session at the ABC where we are present in a photograph, mouths wide open with the cry of “Good rowing, Argonaunts”.
**Matthew Green Shadowlands A Journey Through Lost Britain.
***Nadia Cohen The Real Enid Blyton Pen & Sword, Pen & Sword History 30 Oct 2022.
Thank you Net Galley and Pen & Sword for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.
I was pleased to receive this book for review, even though I am reasonably familiar with the story of this prolific writer who won children’s, if not adults’, hearts with her amazing output. Mysteries to be solved by children; magical and imaginative adventures in a wishing chair or faraway tree; school sagas; reinterpretation of bible and classical stories; and a host of appealing and unappealing toy characters whose behaviour covers a wide gamut of naughtiness, moral strength and comic moments were a source of great reading for many children.
Nadia Cohen’s story of Blyton’s writing, covering so many examples of the fiction, is an engaging read. It is here that one of the strengths of the biography lies. Too often the writer’s story seems to be told without much attention to the fiction written. Cohen deftly weaves the story of a writer with character flaws together with appealing insights into the work she produced. See Books: Reviews, 2 November 2022.
Seahouses
Seahouses is the coastal town from which we reached the Farne Islands. We boarded the train at Kings Cross Station soon after our arrival at Heathrow. Alighting at Berwick Upon Tweed we realised that the possibility of warm sunny days was a dream – it was cold and spattering with rain. The taxi service was invisible, but fortunately we had the number of a taxi driver who was able to organise a taxi from us to Seahouses.
There, we began our delightful three-night stay at Farne Island B&B – something I had begun arranging pre-covid in 2020. The email contact with Michael the proprietor served us well. He gave us advice about booking The Black Swan for dinner and relayed useful information about Billy Shields boat rips. We were well equipped, even though the weather was disappointing. Breakfast was excellent, the bed most comfortable, the bath was huge and served with very hot water, the towels large and the toiletries gorgeous. We had a balcony that on the few hours of sun was a joy to use.
Seahouses is a delightful town, with its friendly community, a multitude of dogs and, most importantly, access to the islands abounding with birds. There are pleasant walks, a range of good restaurants/coffee shops, a co-op that has amazing hours and even a charity shop. The Farne Island B&B was very good indeed, with its friendly well-informed host, delicious breakfasts, comfortable room with a balcony, excellent bed, and an amazing huge bath with very hot water, large towels, and beautiful toiletries it couldn’t have been better.
Islands Cruise with Landing
A badly chosen day – rain, hail, wind and high seas – but the trip couldn’t have been better. To see the puffins, as well as other birds, in their natural habitat was such a privilege. Photographs cannot really show the comic behaviour of the puffins, but some are close to conveying their antics. As Jack observed, ‘…they even take rabbit burrows for nesting places …it will be fun to see the puffins scuttling underground to their nests’. And, indeed, it was. One hovered for a while, observing us, and eventually courageously scuttled for its burrow, fish lined up in its beak.
The environment we encountered was different from being that described in The Sea of Adventure in ‘the northern seas, so wild and desolate…May up there – the sea so blue, the birds all soaring and gliding, the sea pinks out…’ They were on the northwest coast of Scotland, and we were on the northeast coast of England, but the birds observed in the story featured on the Farne Islands: puffins, terns, guillemots, cormorants, kittiwakes were mentioned on the cruises. The children were to be on a ‘blue-green sea, with all kinds of little enchanted islands…’ and as they travelled by train to their destination, they dreamed of ‘ Blue-green water, clear as crystal, enchanting little islands, big white clouds flying across an enormous blue sky, and birds, birds, birds…’ As they neared the coast ‘they were delighted to see the blue sea shining like a thin blue line in the distance’…eventually, aboard their boat, ‘the y sped fast over the blue water. It was a wonderful day, almost as hot as summer. The May sun shone down out of a sky flecked with tiny curly clouds, and little points of light danced on the waves…They …glided over the green waves, leaving a white wake behind them, like a long feathery tail’.
Night falls with ‘the sun [going down] in a great golden blaze, and the tiny curly clouds, turned a brilliant pink…over a sea that blazed pink and golden too…gradually the sea lost its blue, and became grey-green. The breeze felt cold…in the distance a dark lump loomed up – land!’ There are sparkling waters, translucent blue seas, birds gliding gracefully on the wind, diving and bobbing, choruses of different bird cries, shrill, gutteral, mournful and forlorn.
Like the photos below, there were birds everywhere, ‘On every ledge they stood or squatted, thousands of white gannets, myriads of the browner guillemots, and a mixture of other sea birds… Besides the birds that stood on the ledges, there were always others arriving and others leaving. That way and this the busy birds, with a chorus of excited cries.’ When the children ‘reached the top of the cliffs [they] were almost deafened by the cries and calls around them. Birds rose and fell in the air, glided and soared, weaving endless patterns in the blue sky.’
From the cliff top they saw the sea ‘so very, very far below, moving slowly in and out, with only a far off rumble to mark the breaking of the waves’.
Like those in Blyton’s story, ‘the colony of puffins was as good as a pantomime to watch. There were hundreds, thousands of birds there. Some stood about, watching, their crimson ringed eyes fixed seriously on their neighbours. Others walked about, rolling from side to side like a sailor. Some took off like small aeroplanes…’
These terns nest near the walking path and dive on anyone who comes close – however, they choose to nest there, rather than at a distance. Wear a hat!
Sunset Cruise
The sunset cruise started late as the original boat was delayed – how fortunate, insetad of the small open boat we were on a large boat with some cover. Although it did not rain as it had on our previous trip, it was certainly cold, and shelter was appreciated. The sun appeared for a few minutes, but by the time it was ready to set, the cloud cover hid this feature of the trip. However, to see the birds clamouring in such large numbers on the cliffs, sky and sea was such a treat.
Seals also live on the islands, remaining on the rocks until the tide gently pushes them into the ocean.
Buildings of note include the Lighthouse from where Grace Darling rowed the lifeboat to save survivors from Forfarshire in 1838 when it capsized, the church on the Island Sancturary which provided protection from the heavy downpours while we were on the island, as well as being an attractive site to visit, and an island farm building.
Cindylou eats in Seahouses
Farne Island B&B
Farne Island B&B breakfast was excellent. Fresh fruit, a large range of yoghurts and cereals, and a cooked breakfast with plenty of choice, tea, coffee and juices were served in a pleasant room by an attentive host. The photos of the cooked breakfast do not show the generous portions available – two of every item could be ordered, but that was too much for us! The smoked salmon was prepared locally, and very special.
Neptunes Fish and Chips
The sunset cruise on the evening we arrived from Heathrow was cancelled because of expected rain, not much was open, and the taxi driver recommended Neptune’s. Good food (although bread and butter was a different addition) and the coffee was not the best. However, the fish, chips, pie and mushy peas were traditional, and the service was delightful.
Insiemie Italian restaurant
Our rescheduled sunset cruise began late, so at 9.45 we were back on land in Seahouses, and hoping that a restaurant would be open, and still serving meals. We were fortunate to come upon Insiemie as we walked back to the Farne Island B&B. The staff were wonderful, welcoming us in, although they were very close to closing, the chef agreed to make us a meal, and we were encouraged to ignore the time and choose what we wanted (I had proposed that we order the easiest meal to prepare). Everything was hot, delicious, and served promptly, without making us feel hurried. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly. My king prawns were huge, the rice nicely cooked and the sauce and garnish delicious. The tomato salad was generous, and the pasta dish was another success. The garlic bread, a thin crispy pizza base was a delight. With a glass of wine each, the meal was a resounding success, and somewhere I fully recommend.
The Black Swan
This was a recommendation from Michael at the B&B, and his support for this pleasant pub is valid. Although we found it hard to negotiate around the black pudding and haggis with many of the meals, my mussels were delicious, and my friend’s hamburger deserved a better name. The service was friendly and informative.
Leaving Seahouses was the end of a wonderful adventure but the start of our jaunt in Scotland. A cottage near Berwick upon Tweed made a delightful beginning to our time there.
Visit to Abbotsford House
Visiting the home of Sir Walter Scott on the banks of the Tweed has been the experience of millions – we joined them on a day where the sunshine eventually appeared between bouts of light rain. “There’s nothing so easy to invent as a tradition” is the quote that completes the Abbotsford information online. The house is full of artefacts and solid dark furnishings, perhaps for avid readers of Scott’s work, in keeping with those works. Amongst the many, two of us recalled Guy Mannering from school English classes – one reader from the UK, and the other from Australia.
Cindy Lou eats in Berwick upon Tweed and nearby fishing villages
Foxtons
Foxtons served us well when our friends’ favorite restaurant was not open on the Tuesday night we wanted to eat out. This is a casual pub, with pleasant staff, and a good menu. The desserts were particularly delicious – unfortunately they were huge but irresistible. We chose treacle tart with tablet and vanilla ice-cream, lemon parfait and a serve of vanilla ice-cream and sticky toffee pudding (ice-cream too). The main courses were also generous – haddock and chips, chicken supreme and haloumi skewers with salad.
Coffee in Eyemouth
Latte and tablet and… a large flat white (which is almost unheard of in the UK).
The Old School Cafe
Fish pots and salad with brown bread – what could be nicer than this mix of smoked Mackerel, prawns and salmon? A tomato and cheese quiche with salad for the non-fish eater.
Abbotsford Cafe
Salad, sandwich and soup – generous and delicious. Lovely service and splendid outlook. This is a nice stop before or after enjoying the house and gardens of Sir Walter Scott’s home.
Apologies for the lateness of this week’s blog, but holidaying takes up time. Next week the fishing village jaunts and my time in St Andrews will be the focus – hopefully on time.
Robin's Room 
Great puffin photos! What a wonderful experience.
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