Nordy Bank (novel)

Last updated

Nordy Bank
Nordy Bank cover.jpg
Front cover of first edition
Author Sheena Porter
Illustrator Annette Macarthur-Onslow
LanguageEnglish
Genre Children's adventure novel, supernatural fiction
Publisher Oxford University Press
Publication date
1964
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages144 pp (first edition)
ISBN 0192770853 (New Oxford Library, 1979)
OCLC 688964
LC Class PZ7.P8338 No3 [1]

Nordy Bank is a children's adventure novel by Sheena Porter, published by Oxford in 1964 with illustrations by Annette Macarthur-Onslow. Set in the hills of Shropshire, it features children whose camping holiday seems to engage the prehistoric past. Porter won the annual Carnegie Medal for excellence in British children's literature. [2]

Contents

Roy Publishers issued the first US edition in 1967, retaining the original illustrations. [1]

Plot summary

Six children plan a camping trip during the Easter holidays, deciding on Brown Clee Hill as it is out of the way of summer visitors. They set up camp on the top of the hill, which turns out to be the site of an Iron Age hill fort, Nordy Bank. Bronwen is particularly susceptible to the atmosphere of the place, and shows unexpected knowledge about its construction. Her personality begins to change, as from a quiet good-natured girl she becomes argumentative, then increasingly withdrawn and sullen. Bron is aware of the change and frightened by it. Her friend Margery believes she is possessed by the spirit of an Iron Age woman.

Meanwhile an Alsatian dog of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps escapes while on his way to retraining by the National Canine Defence League after being retired due to partial deafness. Being muzzled, he is unable to hunt and becomes increasingly hungry. When the dog appears lurking round the camp, the dog-loving Bron reacts with fear and hostility, calling him a wolf. However, his forlorn state eventually rouses her true self and she befriends him.

Characters

Campers
Adults
Animals

References to actual history and geography

The novel is set primarily in a precisely described location, Nordy Bank on Brown Clee Hill in Shropshire. The surrounding countryside, the Shropshire Hills, the village of Clee St. Margaret, and the market town of Ludlow also feature prominently. [3] (As of 2007 Porter lives in Ludlow.) [2]

The ancient hill fort at Nordy Bank was designed for defence against men or wolves. The novel describes the differences between Roman, Iron Age and Stone Age camps on the site.

References to other works

Margery and Bron quote from A. E. Housman's poem "The Welsh Marches" while looking at the surrounding landscape. The novel echoes the theme of the poem, the long history of warfare in the region, the "war that sleeps" in the land itself.

For reading in camp, Bron takes Rosemary Sutcliff's novel Warrior Scarlet , about a boy in Bronze Age Britain whose test of manhood is the single-handed killing of a wolf. When the army dog first appears, she is reading aloud to the others a wolf attack on the boy's sheep.

Literary significance

In The Nesbit Tradition, Marcus Crouch calls Nordy Bank Sheena Porter's finest book. He describes the camping scenes as beautifully done, conveying a sense of adventure and good companionship, but he regards the novel as primarily concerned with the development of personality. "In Nordy Bank Sheena Porter shows how self-discovery can go hand-in-hand with the discovery of society. It is an effective lesson, the more so because the lesson is contained in an absorbing and dramatic story and the inner and outer themes are inseparable." [4]

Porter and Nordy Bank won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association for 1964, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shropshire</span> County in England

Shropshire is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England, on the border with Wales. It is bordered by Cheshire to the north, the Welsh county of Wrexham to the north and northwest, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire to the southeast, Herefordshire to the south, and the Welsh county of Powys to the west. The largest settlement is Telford, while Shrewsbury is the county town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludlow</span> Town and civil parish in Shropshire, England

Ludlow is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is located 28 miles (45 km) south of Shrewsbury and 23 miles (37 km) north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the confluence of the rivers Corve and Teme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German Shepherd</span> German breed of shepherd dog

The German Shepherd, also known in Britain as an Alsatian, is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899.

<i>One Hundred and One Dalmatians</i> 1961 animated film by Walt Disney

One Hundred and One Dalmatians is a 1961 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions with distribution by Buena Vista Distribution. Adapted from Dodie Smith's 1956 novel of the same name, the film was directed by Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, and Wolfgang Reitherman in his feature-length directorial debut, from a script by Bill Peet. It features the voice talents of Rod Taylor, J. Pat O'Malley, Betty Lou Gerson, Martha Wentworth, Ben Wright, Cate Bauer, Dave Frankham, and Fred Worlock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dodie Smith</span> English novelist and playwright (1896–1990)

Dorothy Gladys "Dodie" Smith was an English novelist and playwright. She is best known for writing I Capture the Castle (1948) and the children's novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians (1956). Other works include Dear Octopus (1938) and The Starlight Barking (1967). The Hundred and One Dalmatians was adapted into a 1961 animated film and a 1996 live-action film, both produced by Disney. Her novel I Capture the Castle was voted number 82 as "one of the nation's 100 best-loved novels" by the British public as part of the BBC's The Big Read (2003), and was adapted into a film released the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Terrier</span> Black terrier dog breed from Scotland

The Scottish Terrier, popularly called the Scottie, is a breed of dog. Initially one of the highland breeds of terrier that were grouped under the name of Skye Terrier, it is one of five breeds of terrier that originated in Scotland, the other four being the modern Skye, Cairn, Dandie Dinmont, and West Highland White terriers. They are an independent and rugged breed with a wiry outer coat and a soft dense undercoat. The first Earl of Dumbarton nicknamed the breed "the diehard". According to legend, the Earl of Dumbarton gave this nickname because of the Scottish Terriers' bravery, and Scotties were also the inspiration for the name of his regiment, The Royal Scots, Dumbarton's Diehard. Scottish Terriers were originally bred to hunt vermin on farms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Mynd</span> Heath and moorland plateau in Shropshire, England

The Long Mynd is a heath and moorland plateau that forms part of the Shropshire Hills in Shropshire, England. The high ground, which is common land and designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, lies between the Stiperstones range to the west and the Stretton Hills and Wenlock Edge to the east. Much of it is owned by the National Trust, and is managed by the Longmynd Commoners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cypress Hills Massacre</span> 1873 shootout between North American fur traders and indigenous Canadians

The Cypress Hills Massacre occurred on June 1, 1873, near Battle Creek in the Cypress Hills region of Canada's North-West Territories. It involved a group of American bison hunters, American wolf hunters or "wolfers", American and Canadian whisky traders, Métis cargo haulers or "freighters", and a camp of Assiniboine people. Thirteen or more Assiniboine warriors and one wolfer died in the conflict. The Cypress Hills Massacre prompted the Canadian government to accelerate the recruitment and deployment of the newly formed North-West Mounted Police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley J. Weyman</span> English historical novelist (1855–1928)

Stanley John Weyman was an English writer of historical romance. His most popular works were written in 1890–1895 and set in late 16th and early 17th-century France. While very successful at the time, they are now largely forgotten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Condover</span> Village and civil parish in Shropshire, England

Condover is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is about 5 miles (8 km) south of the county town of Shrewsbury, and just east of the A49. The Cound Brook flows through the village on its way from the Stretton Hills to a confluence with the River Severn. Condover is near to the villages of Dorrington, Bayston Hill and Berrington. The population of the Condover parish was estimated as 1,972 for 2008, of which an estimated 659 live in the village of Condover itself. The actual population measured at the 2011 census had fallen to 1,957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden jackal</span> Species of mammal

The golden jackal, also called the common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Eurasia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller and has shorter legs, a shorter tail, a more elongated torso, a less-prominent forehead, and a narrower and more pointed muzzle than the Arabian wolf. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List due to its widespread distribution and high density in areas with plenty of available food and optimum shelter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Ambrus</span> Hungarian-British illustrator (1935–2021)

Victor Ambrus was a Hungarian-born British illustrator of history, folk tales, and animal story books. He also became known from his appearances on the Channel 4 television archaeology series Time Team, on which he visualised how sites under excavation may have once looked. Ambrus was an Associate of the Royal College of Art and a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Society of Painters, Etchers and Engravers. He was also a patron of the Association of Archaeological Illustrators and Surveyors up until its merger with the Institute for Archaeologists in 2011.

<i>The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway</i> Posthumous collection of Ernest Hemingways short fiction

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigía Edition, is a posthumous collection of Ernest Hemingway's short fiction, published in 1987. It contains the classic First Forty-Nine Stories as well as 21 other stories and a foreword by his sons.

Roger Andrew Caras was an American naturalist, animal welfare activist, wildlife photographer and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nordy Bank</span> Iron Age hill fort in Shropshire, England

Nordy Bank is an Iron Age hill fort on Brown Clee Hill in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in South Shropshire, England.

<i>The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon</i> 1997 film

The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon is a 1997 Canadian film. The screenplay by Graham Ludlow is based on Jack London's classic 1903 novel The Call of the Wild, and is narrated by Richard Dreyfuss and stars Rutger Hauer.

Sheena Porter is a British author of children's novels. She won the 1964 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising Nordy Bank as the year's best children's book by a British subject.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clee St. Margaret</span> Village in the Clee Hills area of Shropshire, England

Clee St. Margaret is a small village and civil parish in the Clee Hills area of Shropshire, England. It is seven miles north east from the market town of Ludlow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annette Macarthur-Onslow</span> Australian author/illustrator

Annette Rosemary Macarthur-Onslow is an Australian author and book illustrator. She is best known for her 1969 book, Uhu, which won the CBCA Book of the Year in 1970.

References

  1. 1 2 "Nordy Bank" (first U.S. edition). Library of Congress Catalog. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  2. 1 2 3 Carnegie Winner 1964 Archived 8 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine . Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 2018-02-27.
  3. 1 2 "Nordy Bank by Sheena Porter" Archived 28 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine . Literary Heritage: West Midlands. Shropshire Council. 14 September 2003.
  4. Marcus Crouch, The Nesbit Tradition: The Children's Novel in England 1945–1970, Ernest Benn, 1972, p. 210.
Awards
Preceded by Carnegie Medal recipient
1964
Succeeded by