'Dear John...'

Nostalgia can be considered the opponent of factual reporting, rose-coloured glasses obscure harsh reality. Writers are often accused of indulging in nostalgia for a time that never existed, of viewing the past in a soft hue.

Tolkien’s account of the Hobbits, and their cosy life has been described as his view of an England that was little more than a mirage.
No doubt, critics would add, Arthur Ransome’s ‘Swallows and Amazons, or Enid Blyton’s ‘The Famous Five’ to the list.
Enid Blyton became so non- PC, that public libraries banned her books from their shelves.






We laugh at the literature of England in the post war years, and allow ourselves to be faintly amused at the Ovaltineys and their middle class happiness. John Betjeman wrote

'He gives his Ovaltine a stir, and nibbles at a petit beurre.'

By this point, you might be forgiven for thinking that such an England never existed, and laugh at John Betjeman as well.
I don’t think he would have minded very much, he had a fine sense of the absurd, but he knew and described his Middle England with a fine touch.

Without any apology I give you a few extracts from his poem
‘In Westminster Abbey’

(1)Let me take this other glove off
As the vox humana swells,
And the beauteous fields of Eden
Bask beneath the Abbey bells.
Here, where England's statesmen lie,
Listen to a lady's cry.

(4)Think of what our Nation stands for,
Books from Boots and country lanes,
Free speech, free passes, class distinction,
Democracy and proper drains.
Lord, put beneath Thy special care
One-eighty-nine Cadogan Square

And it ends…

And now, dear Lord, I cannot wait
Because I have a luncheon date.



I met John Betjeman when I was a rather gauche teenager and remember vividly his terrible jokes, his beaming smile, and his delight in the absurd. I’m glad I met him.

His England still exists, in a changed form maybe, but it’s still there – just go and look. You’ll find it.

Yep.

Bibliography and Sources

Arthur Mitchell Ransome (January 18, 1884 – June 3, 1967), was a British author and journalist, best known for writing the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, which tell of school-holiday adventures of children, mostly in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads areas of England

Swallows and Amazons -1929 The first of the series that made his reputation as one of the best English writers of children's books.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

J. R. R. Tolkien

The Hobbit – published 1937 by Allen and Unwin

The Lord of the Rings.

The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier fantasy book, The Hobbit, and soon developed into a much larger story.
It was written in stages between 1937 and 1949, with much of it being created during World War II.
It was originally published in three volumes in 1954 and 1955

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Enid Blyton
11th August 1897 - 1968
The Famous Five
A series of books on the Famous Five were published betwen 1942 - 1963

The Famous Five are a group of children who have the sort of adventures most kids dream about, in a world where ginger beer flows and ham rolls are a staple diet. Julian, Dick and Anne get together with their cousin George in the first adventure, Five On A Treasure Island.

http://www.enidblyton.net/famous-five/

The Ovaltineys

The Ovaltiney Club, founded in 1935 and broadcasting from Radio Luxembourg every Sunday evening from 5.30 to 6 p.m. became a secret society for children, with its own badges, rule books, and inside codes: by 1939 it had five million members.
Though primarily a children's drink, Ovaltine was supplied to the armed forces in both world wars.
Tommies sang 'we are the Ovaltineys' as they marched, in sharp contrast to the German preference for the 'Horst Wessel Song.

Text from: The English Companion by Godfrey Smith.
http://www.sterlingtimes.co.uk/ovaltine.htm

Sir John Betjeman CBE (28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".
He was born to a middle-class family in Edwardian London. Although he claimed he failed his degree at Oxford University, his early ability in writing poetry and interest in architecture supported him throughout his life.
Starting his career as a journalist, he ended it as British Poet Laureate and a much-loved figure on British television

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia