The Wombles author, Elizabeth Beresford, passes away...

[faceless]

The Wombles creator Elisabeth Beresford dies aged 84
Georgina Littlejohn
25th December 2010

Elisabeth Beresford, who created the popular children's characters The Wombles, has died, her family announced today. She died at 10.30pm yesterday in the Mignot Memorial Hospital on Alderney in the Channel Islands after suffering heart failure, her son Marcus Robertson said.

Born in Paris, France in 1926, she created the Wombles after a Boxing Day walk on Wimbledon Common with her children. After her daughter mispronounced the name, calling it Wombledon Common, she was inspired to create the pointy-nosed creatures and in 1968, the first Wombles book was published. Beresford, who lived in St Anne's on the Channel Island recalled the day she came up with the characters during an interview with BBC Guernsey last month.

She said: 'Over Christmas I had to keep the children quiet as their grandparents were visiting, so on Boxing Day, after the grandparents left, we got in my car and went to Wimbledon Common. The three of us ran backwards and forwards screaming at the top of our voices and it was my daughter who said to me "oh ma, isn't it great on Wombledon Common?" and I said "That's where the Wombles live".'

Underground, overground, Wombling free: The Wombles of Wimbledon Common set out to make good use of the things that they find in the 1970s BBC animated show

After the book was read on storytime show Jackanory, the BBC commissioned a stop animation series of the story and the first episode was broadcast in 1973 with Bernard Cribbins providing the voices. The theme tune for the show was written by Mike Batt and Elisabeth said: 'It was Mike Batt who invented recycling [for the Wombles]', but she added: 'I'm all for recycling.'

In 1998, Beresford, who served as a Wren during World War II, was made an MBE, and said at the time: 'The Queen's a mad Womble fan.' Many of the Wombles characters were inspired by her family from her family. Beresford, who was married to BBC tennis commentator Max Robertson until his death in November 2009, said: 'Great Uncle Bulgaria was my father-in-law, Madame Cholet was from my daughter Kate.

'My brother had two children and John was a very clever boy who went to Wellington College, which is where Wellington came from... and Orinoco I just picked off a map.'

-------------------------

As a kid, this is probably the animation which I enjoyed the most. I'm surprised to hear that it was Mike Batt who introduced the recycling aspect though - that was a really big part of the story.

[faceless]