And When They Grew Up?

I’ve been a reader of the Arthur Ransome Swallows and Amazons series of books for fifty-five years now, regularly reading them over that time apart from a period in my thirties, but even during those years they were still on my bookshelf in a prominent position, a collection of the hardback editions including those belonging to my late brother from his own childhood.

When I began to read the books for myself as a child, I was, for a short period, immersed in them as if I was a participant; they gave me an alternative childhood. A childhood very different from the one I was experiencing then; dealing with the earlier death of my brother, medical issues and an unsettled time at primary school. The books described and gave me the childhood I really wanted.

In my late forties and early fifties I began to read the books again, now going beyond the stories in themselves and once again imagining what the characters were doing when not being observed by Ransome. One his skills as a writer, not for children as he always declaimed, but of books children would want to read, was to describe what was happening as if an invisible observer. Perhaps this was an ability he brought with him from his journalism days, he reported to us readers what the Walkers, Blacketts and Callums (and others) were up to.

Part of these imaginings led me in the Internet age to ‘fan fiction’ Websites, where enthusiastic readers create their own adventures for their favourite characters. What interested me most in these attempts were the ones where the adult lives of any of them are speculated upon, what were they like when they became grown-ups?

Given the original books are set in the nineteen-thirties with only the occasional reference to actual dates, my curiosity was initially aroused pondering what they may have all done during the Second World War. We know that John and Roger have ambitions to follower their father, Commander Walker, in to the navy, but what of the others?

This is where I have to admit that I eventually succumbed to the idea of ‘fan-fiction’, written only for my own entertainment as an exploration of the main characters from the information we have about them all from Ransome.

So here are my speculations of what happened to them all.

Commander Walker – we know he is already a serving officer in the Navy, tragically he dies in the early years of World War II when his ship is torpedoed.

Mary Walker – in her bereavement she becomes particularly close to Molly Blackett and Jim Turner, she is even more devoted to her children.

John Walker – joins the navy on leaving school and over the years rises through the ranks, during which he believes he is the most senior officer in the family since the death of his father. For a time at the end of their teenage years he feels that Nancy is the woman for him, until she gently re-buffs his overtures without a full explanation. It is only then he begins to realise that it is Peggy that he is really attracted to and loves, after the war they marry and have children.

Susan Walker – joins the Women’s Royal Navy Service (WRNS) at the beginning of the war, partly to ‘do’ something and as she can no longer stand having to be forever running around after the younger members of the family as if a second mother. She quickly rises through the ranks in various ‘desk jobs’ in London until by the end of the war she is in a superior and more influential role in the War than John has achieved at sea. Unfortunately for her, thanks to the restrictions of the Official Secrets Act, she is never able to reveal this to any of the others (apart from Dick Callum many years later.) She never marries or shows any romantic intentions.

Titty Walker – spends the entire war in London living the life of what is often negatively called a ‘good time girl’. Her contribution to the war effort is as an official dowser having learnt more about the skill, this involves her with searching for dead bodies after air raids. She gets by with the help of well-off casual friends and lovers, but mostly through Captain Flint, who still shows his gratitude to her for finding the manuscript of ‘Mixed Moss’. She continues to be a close friend to Dorothea. After the war she then dowses for a living, finding missing objects and water sources. In the 1960s through Dorothea she meets up again with Dick, they both fully realise the love they have for each other that is suggested at the end of Great Northern? and they subsequently marry.

Roger Walker – joins the Navy once he is old enough in the early years of the war. Whilst serving in the Far East he is captured and imprisoned by the Japanese. During this time he is regularly tortured because the Japanese discover, through the letters he receives, that he has a connection with Dick Callum. This treatment results in him being seriously mentally disturbed for the remainder of his life, and is cared for by his mother, then by Susan, with Titty’s help, after the death of their mother.

Bridget Walker – trains to be a teacher and mainly works abroad.

Molly Blackett – continues to live at Beckfoot and does all kinds of voluntary work on the ‘Home Front’ during the war, with her brother Jim Turner she consoles and supports Mary Walker in her grief. After the war she still maintains Beckfoot, welcoming any of the children who are to visit.

Nancy Blackett – Joins the WRNS and trains to be a driver as she is, disappointingly, unable to go to sea. In this role she serves on various bases, including some of those involved in the build up to D-Day. During this time, on one occasion, she serves along side Daisy of the Eels at one base. Unbeknown to all the others until after the war, the two of them have continued the close, intimate friendship begun after they met during the mapping of Secret Water. They remain a devoted couple until the death of Nancy many years later, the day following her funeral Daisy commits suicide by drowning in the lake at Beckfoot unable to face life without her.

Peggy Blackett – spends the war at Beckfoot helping her mother to run the house, doing WVS voluntary work in the local area. She reveals her love for John towards the end of their childhood adventures, once it is obvious that he and Nancy will never be romantically linked. After the war they marry and have two children.

Jim Turner (Captain Flint) – thanks to the money he earns from the publication of ‘Mixed Moss’ he is able to live a comfortable life. With Timothy Stedding (‘Squashy Hat’) he pursues various mining projects around the world. After the war he becomes close to Mary Walker and even proposes marriage, she turns him down knowing nobody could replace her late husband.

Dick Callum – gains a place at Oxford to study mathematics, whilst there, because of his exceptional skills in symbolic logic, he is secretly recruited to work on code breaking at Bletchley Park. Here he meets Alan Turing and then goes on to work with Tommy Flowers on the first electronic computers; this experience enables him to work for computer companies in the USA for many years after the war. Susan, through her position in the Navy, is aware of his war work, unlike the rest of them who never quite understand why he does not ever talk of the war years. On his return to the UK he meets up once more with Titty and their romance is re-ignited and they marry.

Dorothea Callum – during the war she works for the Ministry of Information writing leaflets for the general public and propaganda material. During this time she continues to write novels, after the war she eventually begins to get them published. In the nineteen-sixties she meets again Timothy Stedding through his friendship with Captain Flint, despite Timothy being married they have a passionate love affair for over twenty years that only ends with his death. Later in life she crosses paths with Tom Gudgedon, himself recently widowed from Bess Farland, and they begin a relationship. After her death her novels are reassessed by the literary establishment, and judged to be a significant contribution to twentieth century English Literature.