K
enneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows was a bigger part of John Kellett’s childhood than it was for most. Along with his brother, Paul, and sister, Caroline, he grew up in the house believed to have inspired the classic children’s books.
The meadows where Mole rolled in the warm grass and the riverbank where he first spotted Ratty are well-known to the Kelletts, the family who have owned the Mount in Cookham Dean, Berkshire, since 1969.
Kellett had a “wonderful childhood” in the 12-bedroom house, “with days and days spent exploring the enchanted woods, gardens, fields and orchards surrounding it. Of course, back then, we had no inkling that the same willows, elms and apple trees were the inspiration for Grahame’s classic tales that
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