Malcolm Saville

Leonard Malcolm Saville, author of the 'Lone Pine' series of children's books, was born in 1901 and in 1937 published his first book.  At the outbreak of the Second World War the family were living in Harpenden.  They were then evacuated to Shropshire and in 1942 were reunited at West End Farmhouse, Wheathampstead, which had perviously been the home of actress Elizabeth Allan.  "Seven White Gates" was written in 1943 by Saville at West End Farmhouse.  In September 1949 they moved from West End Farmhouse to

He was quite a prolific writer -

The above information is a small extract from 'Book and magazine Collector' September 2002.

Some of his books were based upon the local area, but with name changes.  Drawings or maps were included and it is not difficult to see the resemblance to the local area - in particular "Trouble at Townsend" and "Jane's Country Year".  The former of these originated as a screenplay, filmed in 1944 on location at the farm, teaching children about the countryside (shut gates, don't light fires etc.).  The young Petula Clark appeared in it.  It was released in 1946.

Several of his Lone Pine series were dramatised for Children's Hour broadcast by BBC Radio.

For those interested , a biography of Malcolm Saville was published in 2001 (20 years after his death).  ISBN 0 9528059 3 6 "Beyond the Lone Pine" by Mark O'Hanlon, 10 Bilford Road, Worcester WR3 8QA.

Visit the Malcolm Saville Society web site

A visit by the Malcom Saville Society to 
West End Farm, Wheathampstead

On 15th September 2002 members of the Malcolm Saville Society visited West End Farm and were well received by the Dickinson family.  Below are some pictures of the visit.

If anyone has further information about Malcolm Saville while he was in Wheathampstead it would be nice to include it here to add further depth to the history of Wheathampstead and the people who lived here.  Please email the webmaster

 Updated 15 Sep 2002