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Lark Rise to
Candleford
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The Flora Thompson
Exhibition
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Many people will be familiar with the
semi-autobiographical stories of Flora Thompson, the best known of which,
perhaps, is the trilogy, 'Lark Rise to Candleford', published in 1945. Flora
Thompson told what life was like for a child growing up in the Buckinghamshire
and Oxfordshire countryside in the late nineteenth century. This
semi-autobiographical trilogy chronicles the daily lives of farm workers
and craftsmen, friends and relations alike and is a precise and enduring
portrayal of country life long since vanished. She used real life villages
and towns as her inspiration and she freely admitted that Candleford was
based upon Buckingham and Banbury and, quite obviously, Juniper Hill and
Cottisford did provide the bases for Lark Rise and Fordlow. However, Flora
did also draw upon experiences gained through visits to a number of other
local communities. Flora clearly enjoyed her numerous trips to Buckingham
when she visited her father's relatives, the Timms family, who have been
continuously associated with the town for hundreds of years. Flora's younger
sister, Ethel Elizabeth (Betty) Timms, shared her love of writing and Betty's
success with a children's book,' The Little Grey Men of the Moor', which
was published in 1926, encouraged Flora to write her books
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The Old Gaol Museum of Buckingham is very pleased
to announce a major addition to our permanent exhibition, featuring the life
and work of Flora Thompson. This exhibition, which the Museum Development
Service (which publishes a quarterly newsletter to 72 local museums) called
'of national importance', opened on April 2nd 2005 with a preliminary display.
Visitors should note that this is currently located on the first floor of
the building and is accessible only via a flight of stairs. It is planned
that this 'preliminary' exhibition will be further developed and extended
with additional material over the coming months and years. We are indebted
to Henry Westbury, Flora's great nephew, for the loan of the exhibits, his
generous support and for the support of Christine Bloxham, Flora's 1998
biographer. The exhibition, which will be the only permanent major exhibition
of Flora Thompson memorabilia in the country, comprises photographs, pamphlets,
early and first edition books and extracts from letters written by Flora,
together with a number of personal items. The typewriter on which Flora and
Betty composed much of their work is a major attraction. Apart from its strong
association with Buckingham itself, the collection will provide a wealth
of research information about Flora Thompson to bona fide students and
historians.
The museum would be very pleased to hear from
anyone who has any 'Flora Thompson' or associated items they would be willing
to add to this collection, especially if they are connected with Buckingham.
We are particularly interested in donations of books (and 'talking books'),
plays, etc., many of which are now out of print, in any condition by, about
or connected to Flora Thompson or any of her extended family, past or present.
As part of the exhibition, there will also be a small display of various
editions and titles, commercially published from the 1920's to
date
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A selection of 'Flora Thompson' books
are available for purchase in the 'Cell' shop, including "Lark Rise
to Candleford", "Flora Thompson, the Story of the Lark Rise Writer", by Gillian
Lindsay (the first full biography, published in 1990), "The World of Flora
Thompson", the 1998 biography by Christine Bloxham, the most recent of her
many biographers, which also includes the author Margaret Lane, Countess
of Huntingdon (the biographer of Beatrix Potter), who wrote a biography of
Flora in the 'Cornhill' magazine of 1957. Artists amongst you may also be
familiar with the work of the artist and illustrator, Valerie Petts, whose
book, 'Stories of Lark Rise', contains many paintings illustrating the locations
made famous in Flora's books.
Theatregoers may also recall the National Theatre
productions of 'Lark Rise' and 'Candleford' in the late seventies. We have
been fortunate in also obtaining signed 'handbills' and programmes of these
productions from a local Buckingham lady who is a direct descendent of Flora's
sister, May Timms.
Further information on Flora Thompson may be obtained
from the following dedicated web sites.
The
Flora Thompson Home Page by John Owen Smith (contains a wealth of information
on her life and work, but is dedicated in particular to her time at Grayshott
(1898 - 1901) and Liphook (1916 - 1928))
The
Harry Ransom 'Flora Thompson' archives at the University of Texas. This
contains the bulk of the papers purchased in 1967 from the estate of Winifred
Thompson, Flora's daughter
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Flora
Thompson Papers at the University of Exeter (small collection of
papers).
Other small collections of papers can be found
at the Banbury
Museum, the Centre for
Oxfordshire Studies (COS),
Oxfordshire
Museums Store, Standlake, the
University of Exeter Library,
plus others deposited at the Bodleian
Library.
The two plays by Keith Dewhurst are performed
annually at many locations every summer, mainly in the south of England.
The plays of John Owen Smith
are also performed regularly in the Grayshott/Liphook area.
Can you help us identify this photograph found
in the Flora Thompson archives in Banbury Museum - click
here to view |
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