Womble Stories (Vintage Beeb)

Join Great Uncle Bulgaria, Tobermory, Madame Cholet and all the other Wombles in these six wonderful stories by Elisabeth Beresford. Snow falls on the common, there’s a visit from a Scottish cousin, Wellington finds a balloon, and Madame Cholet goes on extended leave – all with chaotic results! ‘The MacWomble’s Pipe Band’, ‘The Snow Womble’, ‘Tomsk and the Tired Tree’, ‘Orinoco Runs Away’, ‘Wellington and the Blue Balloon’ and ‘Madame Cholet’s Picnic Party’ are all sure to delight listeners young and old, read by Bernard Cribbins, the voice of the much-loved TV series. The original LP has been digitally remastered for this release. Vintage Beeb: classic albums first available as BBC LPs, now reissued on CD and as downloads. Guidance: as this contains archive/off-air material the sound quality may vary.1 CD. 1 hr.

ORIGINAL LP SLEEVE NOTE: The idea of the Wombles came about by sheer chance on Boxing Day, 1967. I was walking with my children, Kate and Marcus, on Wimbledon Common, when one of them said 'Isn't it great on WOMBLEDON Common!' Wimbledon - Wombledon - the Wombles! They suddenly seemed to come to life, from Great Uncle Bulgaria to young Bongo. Since then I have heard that 80 years ago there was a song called 'From Wimbledon to Wombledon', so perhaps I didn't invent the Wombles after all - I merely rediscovered them! GREAT UNCLE BULGARIA is very, VERY, old, and the wisest of all the Wimbledon Wombles where he's in charge of the Burrow. He can be strict and rather fussy, but he's also extremely kind. TOBERMORY is in charge of the Workshop, where all the rubbish which is tidied up by the young Wombles is turned into something useful by Tobermory's clever paws. MADAME CHOLET is a wonderful cook. Her recipes for such Womble delicacies as elmbark pie and double buttercup ice-cream are famous throughout the Womble world. CAIRNGORM, THE MACWOMBLE THE TERRIBLE is in charge of the Loch Ness Burrow in Scotland, where he also looks after Nessie, the famous Water Womble. He plays the bagpipes very loudly and is extremely bossy. TOMSK is the largest of the young Wombles. He thinks rather slowly, but is excellent at all games from marbles to football. ORINOCO is the fattest and greediest young Womble. He's always trying to get out of tidying-up work so that he can have 'a nice forty winks'. WELLINGTON is very shy, but very clever at the same time. He's always inventing strange machines. Sometimes they work - sometimes they don't. BUNGO is the youngest and bossiest of the Wombles. He always thinks he knows best about everything, but he hardly ever does. Great Uncle Bulgaria says 'it's a silly sort of name, Bungo, but it suits him!' Elisabeth Beresford, 1976.