The Secret of Galleybird Pit (by Malcolm Saville)

(Amazon UK link)

Having re-read the ‘Lone Pine’ series by Malcolm Saville for the umpteenth time, I decided to read some of his lesser-known books for children, which have been on my shelves for decades. I picked up ‘The Secret of Galleybird Pit’, with no memory of the story. According to a note in the front of the book, I bought it in May 1974 for the sum of 17.5 pence. I assume I read it then, but as far as I know, I have not re-read it in the intervening forty-nine years. 

Lucy, who is twelve, and her brother Humf (short for Humphrey), who is eight, are the main protagonists. We meet them saying goodbye to their aunt, carrying their cat Pickwick in a carrier, as they set out on a train journey to meet their parents. The family is moving to a village in Sussex and their parents have kept the location a secret, so they have no idea what to expect. We quickly learn that their father is a bit unreliable - charming, at times; moody at other times; full of great ideas, but not very good at hard work. 

It seems a strange theme for a children’s book which, I assume, was intended for the 9-12 age group. I liked the family very much and felt that the portrayal of the parents’ irritations and tiffs was quite realistic, but suspect I would have found it somewhat disturbing as a child. 

As an adult, however, I found other parts disturbing: in exploring nearby their new home, the children come across a dead lamb, and learn about a killer dog, who is eventually caught and shot. There’s also a chapter towards the end of the book involving a horse race - with a lot of detail, which I skimmed, and the use of whips on the unfortunate horses. Mention is also made of kittens being drowned. I know these things were part of life - particularly farm life - in the middle of the last century, but as with the family dynamics, it’s hard to see how a pre-teen child would find them interesting. 

It’s also a story which doesn’t have a clear plot. The children are warned off exploring ‘Galleybird Pit’ which is nearby… but there isn’t in fact any secret, as such. So the title is somewhat misleading. It was originally published as ‘Four and Twenty Blackbirds’, which is a rather better title. The family have taken over a cafe so there’s quite a bit of description of getting it ready and the opening day, but that’s more character-driven than any real plot. There are one or two minor issues but they’re not serious. 

Humf has the only real adventure, mid-way through the book, when tension arises as he’s lost in a blizzard and the dog he has with him is thought to be the killer dog… Saville does younger children well, although at times I found it hard to distinguish him from the young Dickie Morton of earlier books in the ‘Lone Pine’ series. 

It’s not the kind of book I would want to give to a sensitive child of nine or so, and I certainly wouldn’t want to read it aloud. However a fluently reading child who likes adventure stories and isn’t worried about animal issues might like it. However it’s most likely to be read by those of us who have been reading and enjoying Malcolm Saville’s books since our own childhood. And it’s not a bad book, though I wouldn’t rate it highly. 

Not in print, but I gather the Armada version was not abridged from the original, and it can sometimes be found second-hand.

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