The Lone Pine Club
Created | Updated Mar 21, 2002
The Lone Pine Club was formed by author Malcolm Saville, initially as a plot device in his Lone Pine series of books, but, subsequently, as a real club that the young, and not so young, could join.
The books, some twenty of them, are all set in parts of England that can be visited (predominately Shropshire and Rye, East Sussex), and their plots invariably require one or more of the Lone Piners to be kidnapped by the baddies and rescued by their Lone Pine pals.
The omnipresent Lone Piners in the series are David Morton and his brother and sister, Dickie and Mary. These latter two are twins, and are unusual in being described as identical, which is biologically impossible in a brother and sister! The rest of the Lone Piners "guest star", depending on where in the country the books are set.
The first book, "Mystery at Witchend", is set during the Second World War, and the main baddie is, of course, a German spy. The last book, "Home to Witchend" is set some forty years later, and yet the Lone Piners (all brought together for the finale) have aged only marginally, by five years or so.
It seems that Saville decided this time-warping had begun to stretch credulity, and also, perhaps, that the modern background was not as evocative, compared to earlier times. So the series was ended, and, for many of us real-life Lone Piners, a little bit of magic died with it.
The central tenet of the Lone Pine philosophy was "be true to each other, no matter what happens", and the message in the stories was that friendship and decency would always triumph. It seems that the books are no longer available to today's kids, and perhaps they would seem rather twee and outdated, but it's a shame nonetheless.
For myself, I can still remember the childlike pleasure of reading one, even into my late Twenties, and I hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to publish them again, perhaps when any copyright issues are dealt with.
In the meantime, if there are any other real-life Lone Piners out there, let's talk!
The books, some twenty of them, are all set in parts of England that can be visited (predominately Shropshire and Rye, East Sussex), and their plots invariably require one or more of the Lone Piners to be kidnapped by the baddies and rescued by their Lone Pine pals.
The omnipresent Lone Piners in the series are David Morton and his brother and sister, Dickie and Mary. These latter two are twins, and are unusual in being described as identical, which is biologically impossible in a brother and sister! The rest of the Lone Piners "guest star", depending on where in the country the books are set.
The first book, "Mystery at Witchend", is set during the Second World War, and the main baddie is, of course, a German spy. The last book, "Home to Witchend" is set some forty years later, and yet the Lone Piners (all brought together for the finale) have aged only marginally, by five years or so.
It seems that Saville decided this time-warping had begun to stretch credulity, and also, perhaps, that the modern background was not as evocative, compared to earlier times. So the series was ended, and, for many of us real-life Lone Piners, a little bit of magic died with it.
The central tenet of the Lone Pine philosophy was "be true to each other, no matter what happens", and the message in the stories was that friendship and decency would always triumph. It seems that the books are no longer available to today's kids, and perhaps they would seem rather twee and outdated, but it's a shame nonetheless.
For myself, I can still remember the childlike pleasure of reading one, even into my late Twenties, and I hope that someone, somewhere, might decide to publish them again, perhaps when any copyright issues are dealt with.
In the meantime, if there are any other real-life Lone Piners out there, let's talk!
