Strangers at Witchend

Lone Pine #18

by Malcolm Saville, Rosemary Dowler (Contributor ), Mary Cadogan (Contributor)

Genres: Childrens, Adventure, British Literature, Mystery

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Leonard Malcolm Saville was an English author best known for the Lone Pine series of children's books, many of which are set in Shropshire. His work emphasises location; the books include many vivid descriptions of English countryside, villages and sometimes towns.

(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Friday’s dream on Saturday told
Is sure to come true, be it ever so old.’ — Old Shropshire saying.

When Harriet recalls her nightmare – being lost in a dark wood, with pinpoints of light, a boy crying, “I can’t see, I can’t see,” and flames opening out like a red flower – subsequent events seem to confirm an old country adage about prophetic dreams.

The first five days of her stay at Witchend in Shropshire with her friends from the Line Pine Club were meant to be an enjoyable start to the summer holidays, camping and walks and picnics – if it weren’t for the several strangers who inexplicably turned up in what should be a quiet rural spot.

Who is the motorcyclist that the cottage’s caretaker thinks he recognises? Who is the mysterious birdwatcher who takes an interest in comings and goings? Who has broken into the larder and stolen some food? And what is the meaning of the lights at an abandoned farm on the Long Mynd visited at night by a helicopter?

Malcolm Saville’s Strangers at Witchend was a late entry in a series that had begun nearly thirty years before, featuring several youngsters who would grow only a few years older during those decades. Though begun a year after Enid Blyton’s first Famous Five book, Five on a Treasure Island (1942), the Lone Pine books had a longer time span and, to my mind, were a great deal more sophisticated.

In this instalment the Morton children – David and the twins Dickie and Mary – are central, along with Petronella Sterling, Tom Ingles, Jenny Harman and, of course Harriet (‘Harry’) Sparrow; they are all members of the Lone Pine Club, named after a solitary conifer that grows behind Witchend. David and Peter (as Petronella is called) are sensible young adults now, but the excitable twins and the slightly older Harriet are a year or two off being teenagers. Naturally it’s the young trio who tend to indulge in the risky activities while the older teens behave like the grown-ups they nearly are.

The action mostly takes place in the triangle formed by the A489 between Craven Arms and Bishops Castle and the Long Mynd, but you’d be hard pressed to precisely locate the cottages, farms and settlements mentioned and noted on the novel’s sketch map, although excursions do take us to nearby towns such as Ludlow. Within this triangle Harriet, the twins, and Mackie the Scottish terrier encounter many of the strangers we’ve been alerted to in the title, some sympathetic and some decidedly not so.

Meanwhile the young adults and sundry older individuals, including their long-term friend who’s an investigative journalist, pursue leads that will eventually bring everything to a fitting climax. Saville’s plotting is as good as any thriller writer’s, though a more unusual feature is that he also gives us scenes from the villains’ viewpoints in parallel with the young protagonists’, a process which adds considerably to the menace while contrasting the villainy with the Lone Piners’ enthusiasm and sense of justice.

With a narrative that’s essentially set in the late sixties this now feels very much a period piece with its lack of mobile phones for example, even including a clear reference to the so-called kipper tie which was very fashionable in late 60s Britain. I remember enjoying a few in the Lone Pine mystery series as a young teen in the early sixties, and though I never got round to this particular title it still awoke a few memories of the kinds of freedoms afforded to youngsters then.

But one of my biggest takeaways – more than the youngsters’ bravery, which sometimes bordered on a misplaced over-confidence – was an appreciation of their friendliness, generosity and compassion towards those outside their circle, a contrast with the climate of fear and suspicion that was to arise in the 1970s from campaigns emphasising ‘stranger danger’.

But that danger was nevertheless present on occasion, as presaged by Harriet’s nightmare.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

More excitement from the Lone Piners, once again in Shropshire. The older ones are somewhat preoccupied, so the bulk of this adventure falls on the twins Richard and Mary, their loyal dog Mackie, and their friend Harriet. A surprising number of strangers seem to be wandering around, looking for lonely cottages to rent. Peter's father meets an unpleasant stranger from his past, and James Wilson the reporter is on the trail of some fake jewellery that's flooding the stories.

Plenty of suspense and fast-paced action, with a fairly complex resolution. All good stuff. Probably best for children of between about eight and 14, but enjoyable as an adult too. Definitely best to have read some of the earlier books in the series first, as there's rather a large cast and a somewhat complex plot.

Unexpectedly poignant in places.

Latest full review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank heavens for GGB, who completed my Lone Pine collection when they published this. I think I saw a copy once - my brother's friend also read the Lone Pine books and I think he had it - but I waited nearly 30 years to read it. It doesn't disappoint.

This is Harriet's story - Shropshire and Witchend are viewed through her eyes, and she is the one who befriends Kevin and pulls the Lone Piners into another adventure. The twins are never far behind, so it is the three of them - and Kevin - who make up the abductee count in this story. The twins have grown up a little, too - the maturity they showed with Mrs Flowerdew in Rye Royal is evident here, too. This is just as well, because David and Peter are off being couple-y most of the time, and we hardly see Tom and Jenny at all.

The crime the Lone Piners uncover is both original and hugely complicated, and it links in nicely to some back-story for Mr Sterling, and to Mr Sparrow's professional interest in antique items. James Wilson is on hand, and Mister Cantor, Charles and Trudie Sterling, and Mr Harman, all have the briefest of walk-on roles. It's the Lone Pine itself that holds centre stage for much of the story and it's lovely to be back; but I can't read the end without getting a lump in my throat. One of the very best.

[Selaya Morton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to Shropshire after their adventures in Rye, the Lone Piners find even more new villains as well as new & old friends. The inclusion of some of their latest and prior acquaintances fills out the cast of characters to almost the most numerous in the entire series. They are also involved with yet another derelict cottage on the Long Mynd although this one does not survive the narrative. The plot is quite involved and there is mention of an incident from Mr. Sterling's past. Pretty scary stuff actually.

[Suzie Grogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

These reissues of the fabulous Lone Pine adventures that I read and loved in my early teens are long overdue. Malcolm Saville was a consummate story teller with clever adventurous plots and relationships between characters more mature than Blyton. This is the only one I hadn't read and the only one missing from my much loved collection. I have just had a lovely nostalgic day imagining myself in the Shropshire hills....

[Greyscotty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the most intricate plot of all the LP books. Lots of characters and locations. Even the addition of a second hound! I would say, however, that if I didn't know the Shropshire hills as I do, I would find the existence of so many derelict cottages questionable. I suppose they're all gone by now. Oh, well, time marches on.....