Stig of the Dump takes me back to when it was read out in my junior school class. I was probably the same age as Barney, the boy who was told, "If you went too near the edge of the chalk pit the ground would give way". Barney wanted to see if what the adults said was true, and of course, "the ground gave way." He "felt his head going down and his feet going up" as he fell into the world of Stig, a stone-age character who speaks no English, and who uses discarded rubbish to make useful implements. Barney returns to the pit to see Stig whenever he stays with his Grandmother in Kent.
The story is a series of adventures where Barney learns about life and how to communicate with Stig. It was all jolly good fun, although I was mildly uncomfortable with the portrayal of "villains" as people with accents, poor grammar and diction. The Snarget gang of three boys, known to be trouble-makers, say things like, "'Ere, 'oo's chuckin' dirt?, and "I never done nothing!". A potential thief says, "That's dangerous, playin' wiv bows and arrers!" Are we to suppose that well-spoken people of a similar social standing to Barney would never cause trouble?
All these years later I remember none of Barney's adventures, and I wonder what kids today make of it. I can't imagine many 8-year-olds go out and about on their own to find adventure. Every day last summer I walked through a park, where in amongst the trees and bushes there were plenty of fantastic places for dens, but they were deserted. I only ever saw one or two children playing on the swings or climbing frames, closely watched by an adult.
Stig of the Dump is still in print (a 60th anniversary edition has been published). Perhaps it's being bought for young relatives by oldies who remember it from all those years ago, keen to show kids what it's like to be outdoors and independent, to explore and make new friends. Not to mention the idea of recycling discarded items to make something useful again.
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