Posted by PeterH on September 11, 2006 at 10:53:41 from 86.130.132.15 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: Photos of Peter Duck's Cave posted by Elizabeth on September 11, 2006 at 01:47:24:
I wouldn't put it beyond AR to gather together the best features of a number of different places to create what we know as Swallowdale, in much the same way he created "The Lake".
Elizabeth - not only do I agree that it wasn't beyond AR to do that, I am totally and utterly convinced that that was what he did. It is interesting that in the 'Lake' books nearly all the locations are 'generic' in this way, and have made-up names, whereas in the 'Broads' books the locations are all real and have their real-life names. Why is that? A possible reason, which I submit, is that AR did not feel quite so much 'part' of the Broads area as he did the Lakes, so that he didn't have the confidence to make up names and locations, whereas he knew the Lakes so well that he could remould places and names to suit his stories. Well, my theory is there to be shot at . . .