Dulwich OnView

by Angie Macdonald

I was four when I fell in love with Enid Blyton. With her books and characters, to be exact. It started with Noddy and Big Ears and from there I graduated to The Secret Seven, The Famous Five and adventure stories like The Rockingdown Mystery and The Treasure Hunters. Before I knew it, I was addicted! No other author could come close to the literary euphoria she induced in me.

So, imagine how thrilled I was when, while waiting for the bus one day, I happened to look up and see a blue plaque on the facade of a red brick flat at 354 Lordship Lane, above a hardware store. It turns out that Enid Blyton had been born there in 1897, although her family moved to Beckenham shortly after her birth.

It is thanks to her that I discovered the joy of reading. Enid Blyton books were pure escapism. Sweltering in the South African heat, this was a world I desperately wanted to be part of. A world with definite seasons, beaches with caves, ruined castles and meadows.

More than anything else, her stories convinced me that if I ever wanted to be happy or live an exciting, adventure-filled life, I had to move to England. In her books, children had an exciting life away from adults. They were free to explore and were always going for long walks, eating chocolate and sandwiches and drinking cocoa and ginger beer.

So, how fitting then, that I finally ended up living just around the corner from Enid Blyton’s birthplace. I never imagined that Enid and I would someday share a bit of geographical history.

So am I living an exciting, adventure-filled life? Now, that would be telling. But I do enjoy long walks exploring the delights Dulwich. And of course, chocolate and sandwiches are ever near.

Another Dulwich Blue Plaque – for Anne Shelton