Holiday at the Dew Drop Inn

The Family from One End Street #3

by Eve Garnett

More endearing adventures of the Ruggles family from One End Street.

Kate loves the country so much that kind Mr and Mrs Wildgoose invite her to spend the whole of the summer holidays with them at The Dew Drop Inn, so she says good-bye to her mother and father and her six brothers and sisters, and sets off by train with a shiny black mackintosh and some brand-new gum-boots. The Wildgooses are just as kind as she remembered them, and there is a big excitement for her when The Dew Drop Inn is to take part in the concert and flower show. Kate is kept busy learning how to make cakes and jam, discovering where all sorts of wild flowers grow, and writing an essay. But the most difficult thing of all is deciding which of her poems to recite at the concert.

Genres: Childrens, Coming Of Age, Middle Grade

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

Reviews

[Bretty Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as a child in the early 1970s and the two previous volumes. As there were no mobile phones, PC's, etc, back in my childhood days, the 1930s setting did not seem as remote as it did on a recent re-reading. I liked this book less than the previous two volumes because the working class character of Kate had adopted (beginning in the second volume) a frightfully posh way of speaking ("You frightful fibber!") and irritated me more than somewhat. But the settings of Upper Cassington, the Dew Drop Inn, plus the brief return to One End Street for a Lily Rose story, somewhat made up for my disgruntlement. NOBODY else in the story puts on airs quite as much as Kate, and whether this was author Eve Garnett forgetting the character's humble background, Kate displaying her love of English and making (too much of) an effort to "speak proper", or getting big ideas about herself (as we would have said in my working class neighbourhood when I was a child) I've no idea. But it rankled. The fact that most of the principal characters also seemed to want to own a destructive bull terrier seemed a little odd, and I couldn't help wondering if Eve Garnett was letting her personal likes intrude a little too much.

[JennLynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third in Garnett's trilogy about the working class Ruggles family, this book focuses on Kate. She spends a summer holiday in the country at her beloved Dew Drop Inn. She keeps busy preparing exhibits for the fair and also recites poetry at the town show. My favourite of the three it is a delightful look at British country life in the 1930's. A-

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book, the third, and last of the series. I only wish there were more.

[Avril · Rating 5 out of 5]

The absolute epitome of children's comfort reading. This book makes the world seem a warm and friendly place.

[Katrin V · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remembered Eve Garnett's No 1 One End Street as I read Mangan's Bookworm. (I have to thank her for reminding me of several winners). I absolutely loved these books as a child, but could only find one on my shelf now. I am delighted they are still in print. They have much to commend them, not least the absolute decency of people who are not wealthy or have fewer opportunities. Loving relationships in working class families isn't something that is often depicted in today's literature for adults or children. There is much in these books that defies the hyper modern fad of 'intersectionality.' Hurray.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the first two books in the series as a child. I never knew there was a third. I've just read the entire trilogy as an adult and thoroughly enjoyed them all over again.

[Harsha Priolkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Middle Grade March 2022.

This is the third and final book in the Family From One End Street trilogy by Eve Garnett. The series as a whole has been a five star read and a highlight of my March reading! It’s very rare to find an entire series that consistently delights, amuses and comforts, and this is definitely one of them!

In this book, we follow Kate, who is once again sent to the Dew Drop Inn in the country for her school vacations. Once there, we watch her participate in various events, the Flower Show, the Concert and the Village Fete. In the process we watch her overcome stage fright and nerves, and her willingness to learn new skills. We watch her enjoy competition, play fair, take joy in victory - both hers and her friends, and learn to accept defeat gracefully.

The adventures that ensue when her father and her twin brothers visit for the Village Fair are hilarious! What with Thelma the tigress, the Dog Daisy and Jaegar, I was laughing out loud for the most part! And yet it’s not easy to forget the constant poverty that dogs their lives…the constant shortage of money notwithstanding, Garnett manages to capture the joy and comfort they find in the little, unexpected joys that life affords; always maintaining their dignity, integrity & honesty. I’ve come to love the Ruggles - their tight family bond and their irrepressible family spirit!

Goodbyes are bittersweet, but I feel sure I’ll revisit the Ruggles before long! Meanwhile I wish them love and courage enduring.

[Pollymoore3]

Written much later than the first and second books (1937 and 1956), Eve Garnett is now recreating the past, set in a vague bucolic 1930s countryside. 1962, when the book was published, would have had a different vibe. I prefer the urban adventures, such as the escaped convicts, to the rural hobnobbing with the gentry and who will win most prizes at the village show, but it is a pleasant enough read.

[Angie Rhodes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh how I loved re reading Holiday at The Dew Drop Inn..
When Kate Ruggles from One End Street goes to stay with Mr and Mrs Wildgoose at The Dew Drop Inn, for the Summer, adventures are waiting.
Complete with illustrations by Eve Garnett, it is a joy to read and treasure.

[Catherine Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

More fun with the Ruggles family . I loved the description of the summer flower show as I remember these when I was little.

[James Higginson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book (and the other One End Street books). Not just a children's book -- I am a senior citizen.

[Nathaniel Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another beautiful and serene Ruggles tale. A comforting and cosy read.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. A light hearted and easy read with a gentle historical aspect aswell

[Agnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the fun of the fair!

[Kathleen Vincenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you liked the Wallace and Grommit and the Curse of the Were Rabbit and all things British and vegetable, you'll like the first section of Holiday at the Dew Drop Inn, where dear Kate is back at the Dew Drop Inn and tasked with entering every competition in the Upper and Lower Cassington fair and reciting at the annual concert. I much more enjoyed the end section where we returned to One End Street with Lily Rose's adventure and Kate's father and the twin's visit to the Dew Drop Inn. Kate is a bit too perfect for me.

I wish Eve Garnett had given us a glimpse of the future so we knew whether Kate ended up living in the country and whether Lily Rose became a laundress like her mother, but I guess it is up to my imagination.

What a lovely family!

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love these. I wish we had them here at the library to share.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Who wouldn't want to go on Holiday to the delightful Dew Drop Inn, in the most perfect countryside? Totally wonderful, idyllic book.

[Rachel Louise Mutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't that keen bit old fashioned

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magical childhood read.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved all of these but felt the momentum and focus was a bit off in this one which i think was written much later. Easy to forget the first was ground-breaking in its day and was refused by a lot of publishers as unsuitable for children!