Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

The Greenbank Hotel in Falmouth overlooks the Fal Estuary and has strong links with the author Kenneth Grahame.

When the author was staying at the hotelΜύin May 1907 he started writing stories in the form of letters to his son. These went on to form the world famous book 'The Wind in the Willows'.

The seaside town of Fowey also features in the Kenneth Grahame story. He enjoyed many holidays in the harbour resort.

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Cornwall's Debbie McCrory has been finding out more about the magic of 'The Wind in the Willows'.

In 1897 Kenneth met Elspeth Thompson. Two years later, they married in Fowey, spending a week in St Ives afterwards for their honeymoon.

Kenneth Grahame

Alastair, their only child, was born prematurely on 12 May 1900, blind in one eye and with an evident squint in the other.

The author is believed to have used the wayward headstrong nature he saw in his little son to create the swaggering Toad of Toad Hall.

The book has introduced countless children to the joyous adventures of Toad, and his friends, Rat, Mole and Badger.

The first publishers rejected it, and it was not until October 1908, after several rejections and some pro-active campaigning by President Roosevelt in the United States, that the book was finally published by Methuen and Co.

Original artwork from the book

The public loved it, and within a few years it sold in such numbers that many reprints were required.

Despite its success, Grahame never attempted a sequel. Others, years after his death, have done that for him. The book was a hit and is still enjoyed by adults and children today, whether in book form or in the films.Μύ

In 1929, AA Milne dramatised the story for the stage as 'Toad of Toad Hall'.

At the end of 2006 Matt Lucas and Bob Hoskins headed an all star cast in a Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ production of The Wind in the Willows, proving that the book produced 100 years ago, had taken on a timeless quality.

Today memories of Kenneth Grahame live on in Cornwall, with reproductions of his first story book letters, written in Falmouth, now on show at The Greenbank Hotel.