Another Dahl.

This month seems to be dominated by all things Dahl.
From Sophie to Roald and back again.

On Sunday me and Grundy took a trip to Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire the former home of Roald Dahl and present home to The Roald Dahl Museum & Story Centre. Grundy has been slightly obsessed with Roald Dahl of late and looking back at my own childhood Dahl has without a doubt played a big part as he has done to so many children for generations. I can remember sitting in bed, probably around the age of seven thumbing through a tattered copy of Georges Marvelous Medicine, the cover art work I recall vividly, a great swirl of turquoise blue wafting up from a cauldron stirred by George and framed in crimson. It was also the first book I can remember reading alone and in one sitting, pretty unremarkable now of course but looking back a triumph in a life of reading.

Great Missenden was a small yet interesting place to look around, this tiny unassuming village is the birthplace of some of the most internationally read and well recognised children's books of all time. The BFG, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, Matilda all written in a small shed in a back garden, the village library is where Matilda fell in love with books and knowledge, the red-pump garage as described in Danny & The Champions Of The World and what is now a house was the orphanage as described in The BFG and the great man himself buried in the local church yard at the top of the hill.

It seemed that we were the only Dahl tourists there that day but it was a Sunday and we got up early to make the journey, we started with a cup of tea in the Twits Café where the walls were dotted with framed original pages from Dahl's first notebooks on Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, pages so influential and so accessible nestled alongside pots of sickly candy canes and jars of gobstoppers all good signs.

When we went into the museum itself we were issued with a pamphlet each and told to walk down the corridor as we did so the smell of churned chocolate stroked our nasal passages with Dahl's voice reading pages from well loved memoir 'Boy' exciting the ears. The first room showed images and artifacts from the authors childhood, his school satchel and uniform alongside the little taxidermy mouse used in 'The Great Mouse Plot of 1924.' Passing slabs of Wonka branded chocolate the museum continues with videos of the author at home, a deconstruction of his writing process and you can even sit in the very chair that every Roald Dahl story was written, and of course we did, it'd be rude to pass on such an opportunity.

Although the museum is geared more towards a young audience it is still a fascinating way to spend an hour or so and for the film buffs there are costumes and props from Tim Burton's version of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory including Johnny Depp's Wonka outfit and the re-vamped versions of the Oompa Loompa and also the sets used in Fantastic Mr. Fox.

For any fan of Roald Dahl the shop is a must and there are quite positively hundreds of items all Dahl related from books to prints, pencil cases, DVDs, mugs and more. After the museum you can go on a self guided village trail that takes you to various places of interest culminating in a visit to Dahl's grave where fans have left presents and tributes including a bottle of marvelous medicine and a Wonka bar. Dahl's house is not on the trail as it is still owned by the Dahl family but as we had made a special journey we felt the need to find it and after a short walk and the help of phone based navigational technology we found the famed Gipsy House and from the public pathway that passes at the side of the garden and a quick glimpse through the hedge there, with a bright yellow door was the writing hut, Dahl's much celebrated literary retreat. We were just hoping that the Dahl family didn't see us and call the authorities. I am pleased to report they didn't.

Now that Grundy owns all of the books (more or less) I feel I myself should re-read them, probably starting with Esio Trot, a tortoise based childhood favourite for sure.

"There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination.
Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be. " - Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka.