Locations

Scotland

Kenneth Grahame was born in Edinburgh and lived in Argyll for the first few years of his life. He returned to Argyll for at least one holiday with his wife and son in later years.

[Photos to be added soon]

Thames

Kenneth Grahame lived in various villages on or near the Thames at various stages of his life. These included Cookham Dene, Cranbourne, Blewbury and Pangbourne.

[Photos to be added soon]

A highly recommended tourist attraction in this area is the Henley River and Rowing Museum. In 2006 it opened a new exhibition on The Wind in the Willows. Based on Ernst Shepard's original illustrations numerous settings have been painstakingly created as a series of models. Equipped with a set of headphones, the visitor can enter the world of The Wind in the Willows and walk through the whole book from Mole's spring cleaning scene to the recapture of Toad Hall.

Oxford

Kenneth Grahame attended school in Oxford - St Edward's - and returned to Oxford on many occasions throughout his life. Finally, his last resting place was Holywell Cemetery in Oxford. One of his last writings was an essay reflecting on the Oxford he knew as a child. The essay - Oxford Through a Boy's Eyes - is reproduced here with links to (recent) photos of many of the places mentioned in it.

[More photos of Oxford coming soon]

London

Kenneth Grahame worked in London all his working life - initially for a short spell in the family business and then in the Bank of England, where he rose to the position of company secretary. He lived in several flats and houses during these years, most of them located in the Chelsea and Kensington areas. 

[Photos to be added Autumn 2007]

Cornwall

Kenneth Grahame never actually lived in Cornwall, but he spent many holidays there and was married there. Fowey was the main location. He also visited St Ives (where he spent his honeymoon), Lizard and Falmouth.

[Photos to be added soon]

Another interesting tourist attraction at Fowey is the river cruise from Fowey to Lerryn. It is claimed that Kenneth Grahame made a boat trip along this stretch of the Fowey River with some friends and it became an inspiration for the first chapter of The Wind in the Willows where the Rat and the Mole make a boat trip along the river for a picnic.

© The Kenneth Grahame Society