The Betjeman Connection
In John Betjeman’s poem, ‘The Outer Suburbs’ (1932), there is a reference to Oakleigh Park as ‘Oakley Park’: ‘The weary walk from Oakley Park/Through the soft suburban dark’. This is not a spelling that occurs elsewhere, but may be personal idiosyncrasy, rather than a simple mistake, given that Betjeman was, at the time, a schoolmaster in the area. (It could possibly be childhood association. The Betjemans became acquainted with a family called Oakley during holidays in Cornwall. The person universally associated with that name – the American sharp-shooter, Annie Oakley, who died in 1926 – also spelt her name thus.)
Read more about this topic: Oakleigh Park
Famous quotes containing the words betjeman and/or connection:
“Lord, reserve for me a crown,
And do not let my shares go down.”
—Sir John Betjeman (1906–1984)
“It may comfort you to know that if your child reaches the age of eleven or twelve and you have a good bond or relationship, no matter how dramatic adolescence becomes, you children will probably turn out all right and want some form of connection to you in adulthood.”
—Charlotte Davis Kasl (20th century)