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May 03, 2006

Narnia restoration project

At least one self-styled environmentalist is outraged by some tree-felling at Risinghurst wood.

A wildlife trust was yesterday accused of "desecrating" woodland said to have been the inspiration for the author C S Lewis when he created Narnia, the setting for his children's books.

Ronald Brind, who grew up close to the Oxford writer's home at Risinghurst and was a boyhood friend of Lewis's stepson, Dougie Gresham, claims that the wood has been "vandalised" by the tree-felling activities of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, which was gifted the five-acre site. The wood was once a part of Lewis's home.

The Kilns looks like a fine Flea-ish place to have lived; certainly before Risinghurst grew up around it. Defenders of some tidying up in the wood say they are restoring it to something closer to the Narnia-like conditions of Lewis' day. Now they have uncovered the bench in Lewis' back garden where many of his stories were conceived. The bench had long ago been over-grown with the mess the whole place had become. I hope this discovery puts an end to the argument.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at May 3, 2006 01:14 PM

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