Reliving childhoods with readings of republished novel

A WOMAN has celebrated the republishing of her mother’s children’s novel after more than 70 years.

Anne Barrett wrote Caterpillar Hall in 1950 and her daughter Gay Doggart worked with editor Jon Appleton to publish her mother’s book in paperback for the first time.

More than 30 people gathered to celebrate the launch of the book at her home in Badgemore Lane.

Broadcaster Johnny Ball and Mrs Doggart’s second cousin, Dame Veronica Sutherland, who did the illustrations for the new edition, both gave readings from the book.

Extracts included the moment when the book’s protagonist, a young girl named Penelope, first comes across Joseph, a beautiful parrot-handled umbrella.

Readers of the book discover that there is more to Joseph than meets the eye and, with a few twists and turns, magic begins to unfold around Penelope, and soon she stumbles upon the enchanted country house, Caterpillar Hall.

Mr Appleton said that while he had read several of Anne Barrett’s works in his youth, Caterpillar Hall had eluded him. Eager to preserve the novel for future generations, he was determined to bring it back into the spotlight.

He said: “I knew about Anne Barrett’s work because she was a fairly prominent writer in the Fifties and Sixties, at a time when there was a lot of very prominent children’s writers. She was someone who was always reviewed and was written about in books about children’s books. She is remembered by people.

“I read Midway and Songberd’s Grove in the Eighties and loved them and wished there was more to read but I couldn’t find this book.

“Earlier this year I was thinking I really ought to do something about these writers who we all remember and revere and the Enid Blyton Society provided this enormous thread of huge enthusiasm for Anne Barrett’s work. There was a lady whose husband found a copy of Caterpillar Hall in hardback for her 30th wedding anniversary. ‘Better than diamonds,’ she said.”

Mr Appleton then found an article that Mrs Doggart had published in Dorset Life in 2008 explaining her connection to Anne Barrett. He eventually managed to track her down via the bell-ringing group at St Mary of the Virgin Church in Hambleden, of which Mrs Doggart is a member.

He said: “Thanks to Gay being a celebrity in the bell-ringing world I found her. We met and had a lovely lunch. It was really exciting talking about her mother’s work and after I finally got to read Caterpillar Hall, I thought, ‘Yes, this book deserved to be back in print’. It’s beautifully written. It’s a classic time slip story, a perfect autumn read.”

Mr Ball said: “I love the book because of the references to London. In the Sixties I worked for Play School and was in London a lot and I remember all the places because I had friends who lived all over.

“The subtle secret of writing children’s material is the parents are going to buy it if the grandparents are going to buy it. It has got to appeal to everybody and not leave the kids out. This book, I think, does it just brilliantly, really brilliantly.” Dame Veronica, who illustrated the cover of the book as well as some of its chapter headings, said she had based the cover on her own childhood.

She said: “The front cover I had great fun with because the little girl is as I remember myself. Blonde hair, a little bow with a princess coat with a velvet collar and little velvet buttons at the back and the sandals with white socks.

“The only problem was that in those days, little girls had coats in camel or grey or navy. They did not have bright red coats but Jon insisted as it was ideal for the Christmas market. Although not technically correct, it does work very well as an illustration.” Dame Veronica, who served as the ambassador to the Republic of Ireland from 1995 to 1999, said she had based the drawing of Caterpillar Hall on Whitmore Hall, the family’s ancestral home.

She said: “My mother’s family, Mainwaring, has a house in North Staffordshire, a property which has been in the family, according to my grandfather, since 1060.”

Mrs Doggart, who lives with husband Sandy, said it was “extraordinary” that people were already reading the book. The book costs £8.99 (£11 with postage) from annebarrettenquiries
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