The Little Ships

The anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuations comes round to its 70th iteration today and the “little ships” are setting off from Ramsgate to commemorate the remarkable events that have entered very much into the very psyche of the Brits.

For me I cant help but think about Mrs Miniver when I hear about the ships setting off. Walter Pidgeon departing from the, very, middle class boat club leaving the absolutely lovely Greer Garson to fend off marooned German fliers. But since last Sunday it will also make me think of The Snowgoose. The BBC ran a Neglected Classics scheme as part of its Book Club programme where they asked listeners to vote for a neglected classic book from a list of nominations recommended by a number of authors. The winner was The Snowgoose by Paul Gallico as recommended by Michael Morpurgo and the prize was to have the book dramatised for radio as part of the Classic Serial series. The marvellous production was a tremendous vindication of the competition. At TESCAPE we are very much of the view that there is a rich vein of forgotten classics out there and we intend to bring them to the fore in the coming years. So hip hip huzzah for the little ships and a well done to BBC for reminding us of the fact that it doesn't have to be famous to be good.