Welcome to the second Curiously Specific Book Club podcast, where we go in search of a famous dump. We’re using Clive King’s classic childrens book Stig of the Dump to navigate our way around rural Kent, with its heady mix of travellers, standing stones and luxury golf courses.
We start off in a pub car park (nothing unusual there), and speculate on the dating of Stig of the Dump, based on the remarkable existence of an actual date in the book.
From there we travel to a Gypsy site with an interesting, and slightly sad, history of fiscal skulduggery. And on this site we find what looks, very like, a dump.
But it’s not Stig’s dump. Our third location is a golf course, designed by Jack Nicklaus. Lloyd has a political rant and does a bit of journalism, and we ask the unexpected question: did Jack Nicklaus kill Stig?
And then finally, we go ‘midsummer crazy’ in search of the book’s standing stones. Which are not at all where you might expect them to be.
Sources & credits
Music
Neanderthal Man – 10cc – youtu.be/wiWu7Csn2HY
Straight Down the Middle – Bing Crosby – youtu.be/XDkV_41qEVM
Do Not Operate Heavy Machinery While Under The Influence Of Poetry – Andrew Grumbridge
Links
“Ash was a boring place. It needed something to wake it up, so I invented Stig” by Patrick Barkham
Swan Farm Romany Gypsies
Kit’s Coty House
Readings
Lily Shepherd – @theveganstudentuk on Instagram; theveganstudentuk.wordpress.com
Stig of the Dump EXTRA: Interview with Julia Eccleshare
You’ve probably already realised that Lloyd and Tim are no better than budding amateurs – in all matters relating to books and podcasting anyway.
So – whenever we can – we’re going to chat to someone who actually knows what they’re talking about when it comes to the books we cover in the main podcast.
This time, distinguished childrens book expert Julia Eccleshare agreed to talk to us about ‘Stig of the Dump’.
She covers a load of interesting topics including kids roaming free in the countryside, Stig’s lack of a voice, the absence of parents and the general culture of kids literature in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Between this and the main podcast we’re hoping you’ll go back to ‘Stig of the Dump’ and read and enjoy it in a slightly different way.
The Curiously Specific Book Club 