Mr Benn Creator Sends Festive Messages to Putney
Owner of his former home receives hand-drawn card each year
David McKee's card to mark the beginning of 2022
Every year, Hugh Thompson, the current owner of 54 Festing Road, receives a New Year’s card from former occupant David McKee.
87-year-old David is the illustrator who created Mr Benn, who lived on ‘Festing Road’ and, in each episode would depart from his home to begin a new adventure.
The fiftieth anniversary of Mr Benn was marked last year and Hugh said, “ As Putney has made so much of Mr Benn this year I felt it would be nice to share the last two cards. It just part of the story of what a wonderful man David is that he send me these had drawn cards every year. "
David now lives for most of the time in France but sends the hand drawn cards to his former address every year. He is also famous for helping create the Elmer and Spot the Dog books as well as King Rollo.
When he was asked about the enduring popularity of Mr Benn in an interview with the Radio Times in 2021 he said, “Mr Benn endures, I think, because people like the idea of being able to escape to another life. And at their heart they’re old-fashioned stories which last. The elements that make up the episodes – the voice, the music, the story – are all simple elements that endure.”
David's spookily accurate take on what 2021 had in store
Value Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month . If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute . If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT . All payments are made through a secure web site. |
January 4, 2022