White Boots (24 page)

I am Noel Streatfeild's nephew, and in 1951, when
White Boots
was first published, I would have been in my teens. I have a photograph of Noel at about that time, looking very striking and vigorous, wearing a splendid black hat decorated with two large feathers. Noel always wore striking clothes. I remember that ten years later, at my sister's wedding, she wore a hat with even LARGER feathers, but this time they were arranged to stick out sideways, sweeping an arc around her in the rather crowded pews of our local church!

At the time that
White Boots
was written, most things were still in short supply after the war. Rationing was only just ending, everyone still had two ration books, one for food and one for clothes. Clothes like Lalla's and the wonderful pink sugared cakes at her tea parties were rare treats to be drooled over. I personally can associate better with the food that Uncle William sent. We ourselves lived in the country, and relied heavily on rabbits to eat which my father and I used to shoot.

The first time I read
White Boots
was many years ago, but after all these years, the same excitement is still there. Wondering what is going to happen next, indignation at injustice, a warm feeling when things go right, and yes, still a lump in my throat when someone does something out of the ordinary in kindness or bravery that changes events. Noel liked forthright characters, and there are plenty of them in
White Boots
. Aunt Claudia of course, and Lalla – indeed all the children in their different ways. There are Nana and Miss Goldthorpe, working away to achieve their ends by using what means they had at their disposal. And I must say I love the influence of Mr Pulton – I'm not ashamed to say that he brings a lump to my throat when he tells young Alec to “stick to your dreams”.

What is the secret of creating such emotions in the reader? Noel would have said that the characters in the book have to be ones for whom the reader
cares
. She used to say that the most difficult part of writing a book was planning the characters and the plot. She liked to get under the skins of her characters, and live with them in her mind for some months before she started writing. Who were the characters going to be? How were they going to behave and react to different circumstances? And what were going to be the twists to the story along the way?

Noel once told me that she developed her own way of working as an author early on. When she started writing, she found that she was constantly being interrupted by her many friends who thought her “fair game” to call on as she was at home rather than working in an office. So she devised the strategy of working while sitting up in bed in the morning, making notes or dictating. That put paid to unwanted visitors.

I still have in my possession the original notes that Noel made when she was planning
White Boots
. It is a bit of a rarity to have the original workings of an author before they write a book, so we are lucky. The notes are in Noel's handwriting, which was quite tidy, but there are lots of crossings out, which you would expect. After all, this was the stage at which Noel was jotting down her ideas, and improving on them as she went along.

I have known several people who find it easier to dictate rather than write, as it helps the words to come out more naturally as they would be spoken. In Noel's case, there would probably have been an added bonus, in that spelling was never her strong point! So Noel would have dictated from these rough outline notes to her secretary, June, who was sometimes in Noel's flat when I went to visit.

The first page of notes is a family tree for Harriet, going back to Grandfather Johnson and showing the ages of the children. It is followed next by the family tree for Lalla. On the next page is a synopsis of the Johnson family, their house, the rotten vegetables, the shop. Then follows a pen portrait of all the characters, starting with George: “Hopeless at business and puts accounts on dirty scraps of paper”. All the characters are thought out in advance: Dr Phillipson, the rink manager Mr Matthews and his duodenal ulcer, Mr Pulton, Nana, Miss Goldthorpe, Sam the skate-hire man with only one leg. It was typical of Noel to leave none of her characters to chance.

Accuracy was very important to Noel, as you can see from her note: “Query. Price of skates and boots second hand for child of 9, also entrance to rink”. Not being a skater herself, she did once tell me that she spent
hours and hours
on her knees poring over tracings to understand clearly what it was all about. “Bitterly cold it was too,” she said.

Noel also learnt all the skating moves through endless watching at ice rinks. As a result, she knew
exactly
what was involved in the skating tests – the brackets, the dreaded loops, the edges and jumps.

Interestingly, Noel in her original notes calls Harriet “Joanna”. Why she changed the name, goodness knows. Joanna is the name of my younger sister, so perhaps her name came to mind at the start. Joanna had very fair hair, so maybe as the plot developed Noel felt that the hair certainly wouldn't have been right and the character was a more Harrietish sort of person.

Happy reading – and skating!

William Streatfeild

N
oel's full name is Mary Noel Streatfeild

W
hite Boots
was published under the title
Skating Shoes
in the U.S.

N
oel wrote
Magic and the Magician
, a biography of the children's author E. Nesbit who was one of her favourite childhood authors

I
n 1939 Noel won the Carnegie gold medal for
The Circus is Coming

T
he National Portrait Gallery, London, holds seventeen portraits of Noel Streatfeild. Go to www.npg.org.uk to view a selection of them

N
oel also wrote several short stories that were about or included the characters from
White Boots
:
The Skaters, Ordinary Me
and
Skating to the Stars

D
uring World War One Noel Streatfield worked in a munitions factory at the Woolwich Arsenal

N
oel first began writing for adults, and never intended to write children's books

N
oel volunteered as an air raid warden during World War Two

N
oel Streatfeild's books were a childhood favourite of J. K. Rowling and also Jacqueline Wilson

I
n 1983 Noel received the Order of the British Empire

N
oel has six brothers and sisters

Ice-dancing as an Olympic discipline was first seen in 1976.

The first ladies' skating competition was held in 1906

Skating first appeared as an Olympic sport at the Summer Games of 1908, which were held in London. The sport found its home at the Winter Olympics in 1924

In 1924 Sonja Henie from Norway became the youngest person to skate in the Olympics. She was 11

Skates were first used as early as 4000 years ago by hunters to cross frozen lakes. These skates, instead of being metal, were made of animal bones, such as reindeer or elk

Olympic champion Dick Button was the first person to perform the double axel, triple loop jump and the flying camel spin

Flip jump / Toe loop

Invented in 1913 and 1920 respectively by

American figure skater Bruce Mapes

Lutz jump

Invented in 1913 by Austrian figure skater Alois Lutz

Axel jump

Invented in 1882 by Norwegian figure and

speed skater Axel Paulsen

Loop jump

Invented in 1910 by German figure skater Werner Rittberger

Salchow jump

Invented in 1909 by Swedish figure skater Ulrich Salchow

It is the number of rotations performed in the air that determines whether the jump is single, double, tripple or quad.

Figure skating comprises singles skating (men's and ladies'), pair skating, synchronised skating and ice dancing.

In pair skating, where a man and a woman perform in unison, skaters use elements from the singles discipline as well as pair-specific moves such as lifts.

In ice dancing, a man and a woman perform together in time to music, but no lifts above the head are permitted.

Figure skates have a pick at the toe (called a toe pick or toe rake) to allow a skater to push off of the ice.

Compulsory figures (Harriet's speciality), where skaters use the blade of their skates to draw figure 8s and other shapes in ice, are judged on clarity, cleanness and placement. These were a compulsory part of the singles competitions, but this ended in 1990.

In this Olympic sport competitors race against the clock over a set distance.

Body-fitting aerodynamic clothing is worn to increase a skater's speed.

Race skates with long blades are worn, not figure skates.

Skaters can reach nearly 40 miles per hour.

This discipline has only been an Olympic sport since 1992. Skaters race against others – usually in groups of four or six. A competition-size oval rink is used (30 x 60 metres).

John Curry

Olympic, World and European Championship gold medallist – 1976

Robin Cousins

Olympic and European Championship gold medallist – 1980

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean

Their finest year – 1984. Olympic gold in Sarajevo, World gold in Ottawa and European gold in Budapest

Cecilia Colledge (Aunt Claudia's favourite)
.

World Championship gold – 1937; European Championship gold – 1937, 1938, 1939

Jeanette Altwegg

World and European Championship gold medallist – 1951 Olympic gold medallist – 1952

How can you start skating and get involved?

* Find an ice rink near you – look in your local library for information (Don't worry, you don't have to buy ice skates; hire them from your local rink)

* Join the National Ice Skating Association (NISA) beginners' programme: Skate UK Find out more at the NISA website: http://www.iceskating.org.uk/

* If you find yourself enjoying skating and want to be more committed, get an experienced trainer. Who knows, you may be good enough to enter the UK Junior World Championships one day

* Log on to these websites to learn more about ice skating

Northern Ireland Ice Skating Association:

http://www.skateni.net/

International Skating Union:

http://www.isu.org/

British Olympic Association:

http://www.olympics.org.uk/

These venues have staged outdoor ice rinks over the winter months, and there are lots more to find. Have a go and have fun!

England

Somerset House

Hyde Park

Natural History Museum

The Tower of London

Warwick Castle

Hampton Court

Kew Gardens

Scotland

George Square (Glasgow)

Winchester Cathedral Princes Street Gardens (Edinburgh)

Wales

Cardiff City Hall

Ireland

Royal Dublin Society

Dundalk Ice Dome

Liffey Valley (Dublin)

Look for more information at your local library, tourist information office, or on-line

Can you match the famous sports stars to their disciplines?

Know your sport: how well did you do?

Darcey Bussell – ballet

Zara Phillips – horseriding

Beth Tweddle – gymnastics

Ellen MacArthur – sailing

Kelly Holmes – athletics

Louise Bond-Williams – fencing

Steve Redgrave – rowing

Andy Murray – tennis

David Beckham – football