The Famous Five - Julian, Dick, George (Georgina), Anne and
Timmy the dog have entertained countless children over the years. Their exploits began in Five on a Treasure Island in 1942 and continued through twenty one full-length adventures and numerous short stories.
With a plentiful supply of ginger-beer, the Famous Five have
outwitted thieves and smugglers, explored castles, caves and secret passages
and even discovered hidden treasure.
In this story, they find themselves on the trail of a ghost
train...
On a camping trip with an absent-minded school
teacher the five are left to roam the
|
Spook trains? Whatever are they asked Jock. |
moors more or less unsupervised. The
holiday has hardly begun when the friends stumble across an abandoned
railway yard looked after by an old watchman by the name of Wooden Leg Sam. It’s Sam who tells them about the 'Spook Trains' which haunt
the rails and tunnels in the dead of night.
Close to the rail yard is a farm where the five buy bread,
milk and countless other goodies. It’s
not long before they make friends with a boy named Jock, who lives on the farm
with his mother and stepfather. Jock and his mother know nothing about
the trains but when Jock’s stepfather overhears them talking, he becomes
agitated telling them to stay away from the tunnels, or they might "never
come back"
Naturally, staying away is the last thing they intend to do and a few nights later Julian, Dick and Jock make their way to the yard. In daylight, none of them really believe there are 'Spook Trains' but as the sun sinks and long shadows start creeping across the
hills they are not so sure.
|
Look at that, old derelict lines said Julian |
Finding
nothing of interest in the darkened yard, they follow the line
towards the tunnels, and its then things begin to happen. First, a far-off
rumbling noise issues from the tunnel, followed by a loud clanking. Its darker than
night in the tunnel and by now the boys are clutching one another fearful of
what is about to happen. They don’t have long to wait as the noise grows thunderous
and out from the tunnel comes something huge and black, which passes quickly
and is gone...
Should the children follow the tracks into the tunnel, and
if they do will they solve the mystery? Are
they dealing with ghost trains or something else entirely?
As a child I wanted to be one of the Famous Five. Who wouldn’t want to be out on the moors with a
teacher who is more interested in insects than his young charges? That kind of freedom almost guarantees another
adventure, which is of course exactly what the author intended!
A lot of the language is old fashioned, but I have no
problem with that. Sadly, I was always ten steps ahead of the plot, but that is
only to be expected considering the number of times I’ve read it. How I wish I
could travel back in time and read it again as if for the first time.
Enid Blyton once described herself as a reporter, an
interpreter and the viewer of a private cinema screen inside her head. This might
go some way toward explaining her vast outpouring of words. Many people
complain her books are formulaic and of course that’s true, but it could be why
children find them so appealing. Her adventure stories are exciting from
beginning to end thus ensuring lots of children (including me) continued to read long after
their bedtime. I was forever promising my parents I would turn the light off as
soon as I finished the chapter. Which of course I did, but it didn’t stop me hiding
the book under the covers and reading by torchlight.
Enid Blyton
Five Go Off to Camp
1st Edition
Published August, 1948 (the month and year of my birth)
Hardback with Dust Jacket
192 Pages
Enid Blyton intended to finish the series with book six
(Five on Kirrin Island Again) but with her readers begging for more she obliged
by writing another fifteen adventures. Here they are in date order.
Five On a Treasure Island (1942)
Five Go Adventuring Again (1943)
Five Run Away Together (1944)
Five Go To Smuggler's Top (1945)
Five Go Off in a Caravan (1946)
Five On Kirrin Island Again (1947)
Five Go Off to Camp (1948)
Five Get Into Trouble (1949)
Five Fall Into Adventure (1950)
Five On a Hike Together (1951)
Five Have a Wonderful Time (1952)
Five Go Down to the Sea (1953)
Five Go to Mystery Moor (1954)
Five Have Plenty of Fun (1955)
Five On a Secret Trail (1956)
Five Go to Billycock Hill (1957)
Five Get Into a Fix (1958)
Five on Finniston Farm (1960)
Five Go to Demon's Rocks (1961)
Five Have a Mystery to Solve (1962)
Five Are Together Again (1963)
I had masses of freedom when I was growing up, but I also
had to abide by a set of rules as stipulated by my parents. It seems to me
different rules apply in stories created by Enid Blyton, actually there are no
rules, which is why I love them so.
Did you have the freedom to roam when you were growing up or
was life very different for you?