Days Out: `You are old, Father William' - 100 years old, in fact

Sally Varlow
Saturday 10 January 1998 00:02 GMT
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Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, the author, mathematician, pioneer photographer and perpetual puzzler, died 100 years ago on 14 January. With preparations under way for a commemorative wreath-laying ceremony at 3pm tomorrow at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, Sally Varlow offers a centenary alphabet of places, people and events linked with Carroll's work.

Alice's Adventures Underground, the original manuscript version, written and illustrated for Alice Liddell, is one of the British Library's top 10 treasures on permanent display, currently at the British Museum, Great Russell Street, London (0171-412 7513).

Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, London, has an exhibition, Alice - The Wonderful World of Lewis Carroll, 2 April-25 June (0181-983 5200).

Croft-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, holds a centenary service on 11 January, in Carroll's father's church, St Peter's. On 3-5 July celebrations include an exhibition, teas in the rectory garden and performances of "Jabberwocky" at nearby Clervaux Castle. (Darlington Tourist Information Centre 01325 382 698).

Daresbury, near Chester, has a centenary lunch on 14 January at Daresbury Park Hotel. (Details: Kenneth Oultram, Daresbury Lewis Carroll Society office hours only, 01606 891303). All Saints' church, Daresbury, where Carroll was baptised in 1832, has a memorial window and a pulpit carved with curious beasts including, some say, the original gryphon that "Alice did not quite like the look of".

Eastbourne, East Sussex has a plaque in Lushington Road on the house where Lewis Carroll stayed every summer for almost 20 years.

Farringford, Lord Tennyson's Isle of Wight home, saw several visits by Carroll even though he had written a hilarious spoof on one of Tennyson's poems. He saved his best send-up for WW Longfellow and called it "Hiawatha Photographing".

Guildford, Surrey, holds a commemorative service on 11 January at St Mary's, near the house where the writer died, overlooking Castle Gardens and Guildford Museum, which has an important Carroll collection. The centenary celebrations, 8-22 May, include plays, musicals, walks, lectures, Snark Hunt and Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Details: Guildford Borough Council (01483 444334/8).

Hunting the Snark was dedicated to a little girl who Carroll made friends with on the beach at Sandown, on the ...

Isle of Wight. Carroll spent three summers, lodging near the library, and wrote a poem to her that forms an acrostic on her name, Gertrude.

Jabberwocky's opening verse was written in 1855 during a visit to the Dodgsons' cousins, "the Whitburn Wilcoxes" who lived near South Tyneside. Whitburn library has a modern sculpture of Carroll; a local festival, in June, will have children's events themed on Alice. Details: South Tyneside Borough Council (0191 427 171).

Kelmscott House, beside the Thames at Hammersmith, London (later owned by William Morris) was occupied by Carroll's friend and fellow-author George MacDonald, who test-read Alice to his children and then persuaded Carroll to print it.

Llandudno, Gwynedd, the Liddell family's favourite resort, has a small Rabbit Hole of walk-through Wonderland scenes, down a basement in Trinity Square; a White Rabbit statue on West Shore; and a collection of illustrated Alices at the library. The house the Liddells rented in 1861 is now St Tudno's Hotel. Tourist information centre, 01492 876413.

Mrs Alice Hargreaves (nee Liddell) was buried at St Michael's, Lyndhurst, Hampshire (1934). Christchurch nearby has an Alice in Wonderland children's play-park (01202 483444).

National Portrait Gallery, London, plans an exhibition of Lewis Carroll photographs, July-September.

Oxford is packed with places linked to Dodgson and Alice Liddell: the Old Sheep Shop in St Aldate's, the Botanical Gardens and Magdalen College deer park. Carroll's own college, Christ Church (his picture is in the Great Hall) holds a centenary dinner on 14 January, an exhibition in the picture gallery in July, and special tours July-September. Details: Christ Church head custodian (01865 276492). There is also a residential Lewis Carroll centenary programme of tours and talks, 16-22 August, organised by Oxford University Dept of Continuing Education and the Lewis Carroll Society (01865 270378).

Penmorfa is the name of the Liddells' summer home at Llandudno, built for them in 1862 and since extended as Gogarth Abbey Hotel (01492 87621).

Quite soon after his father's death, Carroll retreated to Whitby, North Yorkshire, as he had several times before. He always stayed at 5 East Terrace, now Barnard's Hotel.

Ripon, North Yorkshire, is making Carroll the theme of its four main events this year. From 1 April-31 May, there is an exhibition in the Minster Library, covering Ripon's spring festival. The summer festival has performances of Wonderland in the Deanery Gardens, 24-26 July, and St Wilfrid's Festival, October, features a Lewis Carroll flower festival. Harrogate Tourist Information Centre (01423 537300).

Swale House, Richmond, North Yorkshire, gave Carroll his first taste of boarding school; Swaledale Festival includes a talk, "Carroll's Northern Wonderland", at Castle Bolton on 2 June. Richmond Tourist Information Centre (01748 850252).

The School Museum, Rugby, Warwickshire (01788 574117), has a Carroll centenary exhibition, January-March, commemorating his four years there.

University of Wales, Cardiff, and the Lewis Carroll Society are staging an academic conference, "The Lewis Carroll Phenomenon", 1-5 April. Details: fax 01222 874502, or e-mail Carroll- conference.@cardiff.ac.uk

Victorian Extravaganza, Llandudno, 2-4 May, is an annual gala, when "Alice" is chosen from local children and begins to "reign" over the Liddell family's favourite resort. (Llandudno TIC 01492 876413).

Walton Hall and Heritage Centre, near Warrington, Cheshire, plans a book fair and exhibition, 29 March, and performances of "Jabberwocky", 25-27 June. The Heritage Centre has a display on Carroll's local connections (01925 601617).

Xtras taught at the Mock Turtle's school were "Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils" but it was the Red Queen who taught Alice the rule: always "curtsey while you're thinking".

`You are old Father William' and a Mad Hatter programme of music with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, 23 May, are some of the performances lines up for Cardiff's six-month Carroll centenary festival, starting in April. (01222 233895).

Z is the shape of the Mouse's tail, printed as Carroll instructed, winding down the page.

Sally Varlow is the author of `A Reader's Guide to Writers' Britain' (Prion Books, pounds 16.99). Some events listed above may be subject to change.

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