Blandings Castle
Encyclopedia
Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location
Fictional location
Fictional locations are places that exist only in fiction and not in reality. Writers may create and describe such places to serve as backdrop for their fictional works. Fictional locations are also created for use as settings in Role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons...

 in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...

, being the seat of Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...

 (Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth), home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.

The series of stories which take place at the castle, in its environs and involving its denizens have come to be known as the "Blandings books", or indeed, in a phrase used by Wodehouse in his preface to the 1969 reprint of the first book, "the Blandings Castle Saga".

In a radio broadcast on 15 July 1961, Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...

 said: "The gardens of Blandings Castle are that original garden from which we are all exiled."

The Castle

Blandings Castle, lying in the picturesque Vale
River Valley
River Valley is the name of an urban planning area within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district.The River Valley Planning Area is defined by the region bounded by Orchard Boulevard, Devonshire Road and Eber Road to the north, Oxley Rise and Mohamed Sultan Road to the east, Martin...

 of Blandings, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, is two miles from the town of Market Blandings, home to at least nine pubs, most notably the Emsworth Arms.

The tiny hamlet of Blandings Parva lies directly outside the castle gates and the town of Much Matchingham, home to Matchingham Hall, the residence of Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, is also nearby.

The castle is a noble pile, of Early Tudor
Tudor architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...

 building ("its history is recorded in England's history books and Viollet-le-Duc
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc
Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc was a French architect and theorist, famous for his interpretive "restorations" of medieval buildings. Born in Paris, he was a major Gothic Revival architect.-Early years:...

 has written of its architecture", according to Something Fresh
Something Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...

). One of England's largest stately home
Stately home
A stately home is a "great country house". It is thus a palatial great house or in some cases an updated castle, located in the British Isles, mostly built between the mid-16th century and the early part of the 20th century, as well as converted abbeys and other church property...

s, it dominates the surrounding country, standing on a knoll of rising ground at the southern end of the celebrated Vale of Blandings; the Severn gleams in the distance. From its noble battlements, the Wrekin can be seen.

The famous moss-carpeted Yew Alley (subject to the devious gravelling schemes of Angus McAllister) leads to a small wood with a rough gamekeeper
Gamekeeper
A gamekeeper is a person who manages an area of countryside to make sure there is enough game for shooting, or fish for angling, and who actively manages areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland for the benefit of game birds, deer, fish and wildlife in general.Typically, a gamekeeper is...

's cottage, which Psmith
Psmith
Rupert Psmith is a recurring fictional character in several novels by British comic writer P. G...

 made use of, not to write poetry as he at first claimed, but to stash stolen jewellery. Another gamekeeper's cottage, in the West Wood, makes a pleasant home for the Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...

 for a spell. The rose garden is another famous beauty spot, ideal for courting lovers. There is a lake, where Lord Emsworth often takes a brisk swim in the mornings.

The house has numerous guest rooms, many of which haven't been used since Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

 roamed the country. Of those still in use, the Garden Room is the finest, usually given to the most prestigious guest; it has a balcony outside its French windows, which can be easily accessed via a handy drainpipe.

The main library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

 has a smaller library leading off it, and windows overlooking some flowerbeds; it is here that Lord Emsworth is often to be found on wet days, his nose deep in an improving tome of country lore, his favourite being Whiffle on The Care of the Pig.

Possible locations

There have been a number of attempts to locate and identify the possible locations of Blandings:
  • In 1977, Richard Usborne in his appendix to the unfinished Sunset at Blandings
    Sunset at Blandings
    Sunset at Blandings is an unfinished novel by P. G. Wodehouse.-Publication history:The book was first published in the United Kingdom on November 17, 1977 by Chatto & Windus, London and in the United States on September 7, 1978 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York. The book was republished by...

    regarded the issue from the point of view of train journeys and travel times.

  • In 1987, Norman Murphy in his In Search of Blandings looked at a whole range of criteria based around architecture and landscape features. His main suggestions were Sudeley Castle
    Sudeley Castle
    Sudeley Castle is a castle located near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. It dates from the 10th century, but the inhabited portion is chiefly Elizabethan. The castle has a notable garden, which is designed and maintained to a very high standard. The chapel, St. Mary's Sudeley, is the burial...

    , Gloucestershire
    Gloucestershire
    Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

     for the castle itself, and Weston Park
    Weston Park
    Weston Park is a country house in Weston-under-Lizard, Staffordshire, England, set in more than of park landscaped by Capability Brown. The park is located north-west of Wolverhampton, and north-east of Telford, close to the border with Shropshire...

    , Staffordshire
    Staffordshire
    Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

     for the gardens. The owners of Sudeley, also the resting place of Queen Katherine Parr, have since emphasised the Wodehouse connection.

  • In 1999, Norman Murphy again suggested Hunstanton Hall in Norfolk
    Norfolk
    Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

    , the home of the LeStrange family from 1137 to 1954, where Wodehouse visited in the 1920s, as inspiration for Blandings, its master, and "the real Empress of Blandings".

  • In 2003, Dr Daryl Lloyd and Dr Ian Greatbatch (two researchers in the Department of Geography and Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London
    University College London
    University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

    ) made use of a Geographic Information System
    Geographic Information System
    A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...

     to analyse a set of geographical criteria, such as a viewshed
    Viewshed
    A viewshed is an area of land, water, or other environmental element that is visible to the human eye from a fixed vantage point. The term is used widely in such areas as urban planning, archaeology, and military science...

     analysis of The Wrekin
    The Wrekin
    The Wrekin is a hill in east Shropshire, England. It is located some west of Telford, on the border between the unitary authorities of Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. Rising to a height of above the Shropshire Plain, it is a prominent and well-known landmark, marking the entrance to Shropshire...

     and drive time from Shrewsbury
    Shrewsbury
    Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...

    . Their final conclusion was that Apley Hall
    Apley Hall
    Apley Hall is an English Gothic Revival house located in Stockton, Shropshire. The building was completed in 1811 with adjoining property of of private parkland beside the river Severn. It was once home to the Whitmore , Foster and Avery families...

     in Stockton, Bridgnorth
    Bridgnorth
    Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England, along the Severn Valley. It is split into Low Town and High Town, named on account of their elevations relative to the River Severn, which separates the upper town on the right bank from the lower on the left...

    , Shropshire
    Shropshire
    Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

     (Apley Hall of the Whitmore Baronets
    Whitmore Baronets
    There have been two Baronetcies created for members of the Whitmore family, one in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom...

    ) was the best suited location for fulfilling the geographical criteria.

The family

The master of Blandings is, nominally at least, Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...

. Clarence, the ninth Earl, is an amiably absent-minded old chap, who loves his home and gardens dearly and is never happier than when pottering about the grounds on a fine sunny day, poking at flower beds or inspecting his champion pig, Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...

.

Lord Emsworth's ten sisters (all of whom look like the "daughter of a hundred earls", except for Hermione, who looks like a cook), his brother Galahad
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...

 ("Gally"), his daughter Mildred, his sons Freddie
Freddie Threepwood
The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...

 and George, and his numerous nieces, nephews, and in-laws inhabit the castle from time to time. For the Threepwood family, and their friends, the castle is forever available for indefinite residence, and is occasionally used as a temporary prison—known as "Devil's Island
Devil's Island
Devil's Island is the smallest and northernmost island of the three Îles du Salut located about 6 nautical miles off the coast of French Guiana . It has an area of 14 ha . It was a small part of the notorious French penal colony in French Guiana until 1952...

" or "The Bastille
Bastille
The Bastille was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. The Bastille was built in response to the English threat to the city of...

"—for love-struck young men and ladies to calm down.

Emsworth's sister Ann plays the role of châtelain
Châtelain
Châtelain was originally merely the French equivalent of the English castellan, i.e. the commander of a castle....

e when we first visit the Castle, in Something Fresh
Something Fresh
Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...

. Following her reign, Lady Constance Keeble acts as châtelaine until she marries American millionaire James Schoonmaker.

Lady Julia Fish is "the iron hand beneath the leather glove", whose son Ronald Fish ("Ronnie") marries a chorus girl named Sue Brown, who is the daughter of the only woman whom Gally ever loved—Dolly Henderson, though Gally insists Sue is not Ronnie's cousin.

The other sisters are: Charlotte, Dora, Florence, Georgiana, Jane, and Diana (the only one that Gally likes [Sunset at Blandings]).

The staff

Blandings's ever-present butler is Sebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...

, with eighteen years service at the castle under his ample belt, and its other domestic servants have at various times included Mrs Twemlow the housekeeper, an under-butler named Merridew, and a number of footmen, such as Charles, Thomas, Stokes, James and Alfred. The chauffeurs Slingsby and Alfred Voules drive the castle's stately Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza
Hispano-Suiza was a Spanish automotive and engineering firm, best known for its luxury cars and aviation engines in the pre-World War II period of the twentieth century. In 1923, its French subsidiary became a semi-autonomous partnership with the parent company and is now part of the French SAFRAN...

, or, in an emergency, the Albatross
Albatross (automobile)
The Albatross was an American sports car venture that was planned in 1939, but never got off the ground. The plan had been to market an ultra-streamlined four-seat tourer body, built on a standard Mercury chassis which was extended to a 137" wheelbase, based on a European custom-made car owned by...

.

Outside of the house, Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 head gardeners Thorne and Angus McAllister have tended the grounds, while George Cyril Wellbeloved, James Pirbright and the Amazonian
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...

 Monica Simmons have each in turn taken care of Lord Emsworth's beloved prize pig, Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...

.

Emsworth has employed a series of secretaries, most notable among them Rupert Baxter
Rupert Baxter
Rupert Baxter is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Often called The Efficient Baxter , he is Lord Emsworth's secretary, and an expert on many things, including Egyptian scarabs...

, the highly efficient young man who never seems to be able to keep away from Blandings, despite Lord Emsworth's increasingly low opinion of his sanity. He was succeeded in the post by Ronald Psmith
Psmith
Rupert Psmith is a recurring fictional character in several novels by British comic writer P. G...

, and later by the likes of Hugo Carmody and Monty Bodkin
Monty Bodkin
Montague "Monty" Bodkin is a recurring fictional character in three novels of English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a wealthy young member of the Drones Club, tall, slender and lissom, well-dressed, well-spoken, impeccably polite, and generally in some kind of romantic trouble.-Stories:Monty...

. The castle's splendid library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

 was catalogued, for the first time since 1885, by Eve Halliday.

Notable visitors

Many people pass through the doors of Blandings, guests and friends of the family, prospective additions to the family, temporary staff, pig-lovers, day-trippers, detectives, crooks and of course impostors galore. Among the most distinguished are the grumpy Duke of Dunstable, leading brain-specialist Sir Roderick Glossop, publishing magnate Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury
George Alexander Pyke, Lord Tilbury is a recurring fictional character in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. Pyke is a publishing magnate, the founder and owner of the Mammoth Publishing Company. Outside his business, he has a passion for pigs and is the owner of a prize pig...

, the Fifth Earl of Ickenham, known to all as Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...

, and Percy Pilbeam, head of the Argus Enquiry Agency employed to locate the lost pig and recover Gally's manuscript of his memoirs.

Books

Blandings Castle serves as the setting for eleven novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

s and nine short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

.
  • Something Fresh
    Something Fresh
    Something Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...

    (1915)
  • Leave it to Psmith
    Leave it to Psmith
    Leave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...

    (1923)
  • Blandings Castle and Elsewhere (1935) – Six short stories of twelve, written from 1926 to 1931, occurring before the events of Summer Lightning:
    • "The Custody of the Pumpkin
      The Custody of the Pumpkin
      "The Custody of the Pumpkin" is a short story by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. It first appeared in the U.S. in the 29 November 1924 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, and in the UK in the December 1924 issue of Strand Magazine...

      "
    • "Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best
      Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best
      "Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United Kingdom in the June 1926 Strand Magazine, and in the United States in the 5 June 1926 issue of Liberty...

      "
    • "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
      Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey
      "Pig-Hoo-o-o-o-ey" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 9 July 1927 issue of Liberty, and in the United Kingdom in the August 1927 Strand...

      "
    • "Company for Gertrude
      Company for Gertrude
      "Company for Gertrude" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United Kingdom in the September 1928 Strand, and in the United States in the October 1928 issue of Cosmopolitan...

      "
    • "The Go-getter
      The Go-getter
      Cosmopolitan, and in the United Kingdom in the August 1931 Strand. Part of the Blandings Castle canon, it features the absent-minded peer Lord Emsworth, and was included in the collection Blandings Castle and Elsewhere , although the story takes place sometime between the events of Leave it to...

      "
    • "Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend
      Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend
      "Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 23 January 1926 issue of Liberty, and in the United Kingdom in the February 1926 Strand...

      "
  • Summer Lightning
    Summer Lightning
    Summer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London...

    (1929)
  • Heavy Weather
    Heavy Weather (novel)
    Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...

    (1933)
  • Lord Emsworth and Others
    Lord Emsworth and Others
    -External links:* , with a list of characters and publication dates* , with details of published editions, photos of book covers and links to used copies...

    (1937) – One short story of nine:
    • "The Crime Wave at Blandings
      The Crime Wave at Blandings
      "The Crime Wave at Blandings" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in two parts, in the October 10 and October 17, 1936 editions of the Saturday Evening Post, and in the United Kingdom in the January 1937 issue of the Strand. It was included in the...

      "
  • Uncle Fred in the Springtime
    Uncle Fred in the Springtime
    Uncle Fred in the Springtime is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 18, 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 25, 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London....

    (1939)
  • Full Moon
    Full Moon (novel)
    Full Moon is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States by Doubleday & Company on May 22, 1947, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins on October 17, 1947...

    (1947)
  • Nothing Serious
    Nothing Serious (short stories)
    Nothing Serious is a collection of ten short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United Kingdom on 21 July 1950 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on 24 May 1951 by Doubleday & Co., New York.-Overview:...

    (1950) – One short story of ten:
    • "Birth of a Salesman
      Birth of a Salesman
      "Birth of a Salesman" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 26 March 1950 issue of This Week magazine...

      "
  • Pigs Have Wings
    Pigs Have Wings
    Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...

    (1952)
  • Service With a Smile
    Service With a Smile
    Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...

    (1961)
  • Galahad at Blandings
    Galahad at Blandings
    Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...

    (1965)
  • Plum Pie
    Plum Pie
    Plum Pie is a collection of nine short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on September 22, 1966 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on December 1, 1967 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York....

    (1966) – One short story of nine (probably to be read before Service With a Smile):
    • "Sticky Wicket at Blandings
      Sticky Wicket at Blandings
      "Sticky Wicket at Blandings" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared, under the title "First Aid for Freddie", in the United States in the October 1966 issue of Playboy magazine, and in the United Kingdom in the April 1967 issue of Argosy...

      "
  • A Pelican at Blandings
    A Pelican at Blandings
    A Pelican at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on September 25, 1969 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on February 11, 1970 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title No Nudes Is Good Nudes.It is the tenth full-length novel...

    (1969)
  • Sunset at Blandings
    Sunset at Blandings
    Sunset at Blandings is an unfinished novel by P. G. Wodehouse.-Publication history:The book was first published in the United Kingdom on November 17, 1977 by Chatto & Windus, London and in the United States on September 7, 1978 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York. The book was republished by...

    (1977)


Wodehouse worked on Sunset at Blandings until his death, writing even in his hospital bed. It was unfinished and untitled when he died, and was subsequently edited (by Richard Usborne) and released in its incomplete form with extensive notes on the content.

All nine Blandings short stories were collected together in one volume entitled Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best in 1992.

The Folio Society published a six volume set The Best of Blandings consisting of Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London...

, Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather (novel)
Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...

, Uncle Fred in Springtime, Full Moon
Full Moon
Full moon is a lunar phase.Full Moon may also refer to:- Literature :* Full Moon , a novel by P. G. Wodehouse* Full Moon o Sagashite or Full Moon, a manga* Full Moon Press, an American small-press publisher...

, Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings
Pigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...

,
and Service with a Smile
Service With a Smile
Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...

.

Film, television and radio

Horace Hodges
Horace Hodges
-Selected filmography:* Night in Montmartre * Summer Lightning * Old Faithful * Birds of a Feather * Three Maxims * London Melody * Follow Your Star * Jamaica Inn...

 played Lord Emsworth in a 1933
1933 in film
-Events:* March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.* British Film Institute founded....

 silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 adaptation of Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London...



The Castle and its inhabitants were the subject of six half-hour adaptations under the title Blandings Castle, made by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 as part of their The World Of Wodehouse series. Adapted from some of the shorts in Blandings Castle and Elsewhere and the classic "The Crime Wave at Blandings
The Crime Wave at Blandings
"The Crime Wave at Blandings" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in two parts, in the October 10 and October 17, 1936 editions of the Saturday Evening Post, and in the United Kingdom in the January 1937 issue of the Strand. It was included in the...

", they were broadcast in 1967 and starred Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson
Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....

 as Lord Emsworth, Meriel Forbes
Meriel Forbes
Meriel Forbes was a British actress. She was married to the actor Ralph Richardson.-Selected filmography:* Girls Please! * The Belles of St. Clements * The Day Will Dawn * The Gentle Sex...

 as Lady Constance, Stanley Holloway
Stanley Holloway
Stanley Augustus Holloway, OBE was an English stage and film actor, comedian, singer, poet and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady...

 as Beach and Derek Nimmo
Derek Nimmo
Derek Robert Nimmo was an English character actor. He was particularly associated with upper-class "silly-ass" roles, and clerical roles.-Career:...

 as Freddie. Sadly, the master tapes of all but one episode ("Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend
Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend
"Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 23 January 1926 issue of Liberty, and in the United Kingdom in the February 1926 Strand...

") were erased from the BBC archive, and no known copies exist.

Between 1985 and 1992, BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

 broadcast several adaptations, starring Richard Vernon
Richard Vernon
Richard Vernon was a British actor. He appeared in many feature films and television programmes, often in aristocratic or supercilious roles...

 as Emsworth and Ian Carmichael
Ian Carmichael
Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE was an English film, stage, television and radio actor.-Early life:Carmichael was born in Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The son of an optician, he was educated at Scarborough College and Bromsgrove School, before training as an actor at RADA...

 as Galahad.

In 1995, the BBC, with partners including WGBH Boston
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...

, adapted Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather (novel)
Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...

into a 95-minute TV movie. It was first screened on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...

 1995 in the UK, and shown in the US by PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 on February 18, 1996. It starred Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...

 as Lord Emsworth, Richard Briers
Richard Briers
Richard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...

 as Gally, Roy Hudd
Roy Hudd
Roy Hudd, OBE is an English comedian, actor, radio host and author, and an authority on the history of music hall entertainment.- Early life :...

 as Beach, Samuel West
Samuel West
Samuel Alexander Joseph West is an English actor and theatre director. He is perhaps best known for his role in Howards End and his work on stage. He also starred in the award-winning play ENRON...

 as Monty Bodkin and Judy Parfitt
Judy Parfitt
Judy Parfitt is a BAFTA-nominated English theatre, film and television actress who began her career on stage in 1954.-Life and work:...

 as Lady Constance. It was directed by Jack Gold
Jack Gold
Jack Gold is a British film and television director. He was part of the British Realist Tradition that followed Free Cinema.-Career:...

 with a screenplay by Douglas Livingstone
Douglas Livingstone
Douglas Livingstone may refer to* Douglas Livingstone , South African poet born in Malaya * Douglas Livingstone , English actor and writer for television*Doug Livingstone, Scottish footballer and manager...

, and was generally well-received by fans.

Many of the stories and novels are available as audio book
Audio book
An audiobook or audio book is a recording of a text being read. It is not necessarily an exact audio version of a book or magazine.Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the...

s, including a series narrated by Martin Jarvis.

See also

  • A categorized list of characters appearing in the Blandings stories
  • An alphabetical guide to the minor characters
    Minor characters in the Blandings stories
    The following is an incomplete list of the fictional characters featured in the Blandings Castle stories of P. G. Wodehouse.- Lady Georgiana Alcester :...

     involved with the Castle and the Threepwoods

External links

Adaptations
  • "Blandings Castle" (1967) at the BBC
    BBC
    The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

    Comedy Guide


Locations
– Many photographs (on a copy of the Tibbetts 2003 article)
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