On the quest to find Roald Dahl!

My favourite author of all time would have to be Roald Dahl. I remember borrowing his books from the library at primary school and reading my brothers books and I even saw some his books as plays at the Twelfth Night Theatre in Brisbane. Just the thought of George's Marvellous Medicine or The Twits brought back great childhood memories. Roy reignited my love for Roald Dahl a couple of years ago when he bought me Collected Stories which was published by Everyman's Library. I quickly devoured the book in a matter of weeks (it's a very thick book) and wanted more! On the bus from Stansted when we first arrived in England, we passed by a place that I knew I MUST go and see.

Roy and I set off in the hire car to Buckinghamshire which is East of Oxfordshire. It was quite a nice drive to the little old town of Great Missenden where Roald Dahl lived and wrote his great stories. We parked the car in the local public car park and walked into the little village, following the signs to the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre. Noticing that it was oddly quiet in the museum, we checked the sign for opening times and saw that the centre was closed on Monday's. A sense of dread filled me since we had just driven an hour and a half to get here. A tad down in the dumps, Roy cheered me up by telling me that we could drive back again the next day. Since we were in Great Missenden, we thought we might have a look around and check out the local boutique stores. On our way back through the town, we passed the museum again and I read the sign on the door which said that Roald Dahl was burried in the Churchyard up on the hill behind the village. Excited by the prospect of actually visiting his grave, we walked quickly back to the car and set off on the quest to find the churchyard.

We found a road that had a sign pointing to a church and drove on up the hill, parked the car and searched the gravestones for my beloved author's name. A quick google search on my mobile told me that we were in the right churchyard and not too long afterward, Roy stumbled across a grave near a big, beautiful tree. The grave said "Roald Dahl, 13 September 1916 - 23 November 1990". The grave was covered in coins and notes from children who feel the same joy in reading his wonderful stories. I went up to the nearby tree and sat on the chair that surrounded it. Leading up to the tree were giant footprints... "The BFG" and around the tree was a quote from "The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me."

We have tears in our eyes
As we wave our goodbyes,
We so loved being with you, we three.
So do please now and then
Come and see us again,
The Giraffe and the Pelly and me.

I sat and was amazed at the fact that I was actually sitting near his grave. I never thought that I would ever get so close to my favourite author. I don't usually get emotional about these types of things but it was quite an emotional experience for me sitting there. The thought of coming so far and finding out that the museum was closed was quickly out of my mind, since I got to see his actual grave.

The very next day Roy and I drove down to Great Missenden again, parked the car and walked to the story centre - this time, it was open! I could barely contain my excitement while we were buying our tickets. The museum was aimed at children so the exhibits were quite simple but it was interesting to read about his life. They had original copies of letters he religiously wrote to his mother while he was away at boarding school. They were all signed with - "Love from Boy." Having read his book "Boy and Going Solo" (stories about his life), it was quite exciting to see all the stuff for real.

The ACTUAL jacket from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (on loan from Johnny Depp!!)

The ACTUAL chair that Roald Dahl had in his writing hut, where he wrote his stories!! He made a few modifications to suit him just right. Underneath the green mat was a large piece of rolled-up corrugated cardboard to prop the surface up to at the right angle.

After we had finished looking at all of the exhibits we went to The Twits cafe for a bit of refreshment. They had a few items on the menu that were from Roald's books. Roy and I chose to have the coolest drinks in the cafe: a Whizzpopper for Roy and a Fizzy-lifting-drink for me!

Whizzpopper from The BFG

Fizzy lifting drink from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Hrrmmm.. We're big kids huh! I think I was more excited than most of the kids there.

After soaking in as much Roald Dahl atmosphere as we could, we walked back to the car and tried our luck at finding The Gypsy House where Roald lived for many years before his death in 1990. We found the driveway with a sign to it but it was a private road, so we couldn't go any further to see the house. On our way home, driving through Great Missenden we passed The Nag's Head which was a pub that inspired a setting in the book Fantastic Mr Fox.

I'd say that I got a thorough dose of Roald Dahl in those two days! It made me want to read his books again (which I left in Aus). I think I might have to do some online ordering....