The Wind in The Willows - Inspiration

Inspiration

• Mapledurham House in Oxfordshire was an inspiration for Toad Hall.
• The village of Lerryn, Cornwall lays claim to being the setting for the book.
• Simon Winchester has suggested that the character of Ratty was based on Frederick Furnivall, a keen oarsman and acquaintance of Kenneth Grahame.
• Articles in The Scotsman and Oban Times have suggested The Wind in the Willows was inspired by the Crinan Canal because Grahame spent some of his childhood in Ardrishaig.
• There is a theory that the idea for the story arose when its author saw a water vole beside the River Pang in Berkshire, southern England. A 29 hectare extension to the nature reserve at Moor Copse, near Tidmarsh Berkshire, was acquired in January 2007 by the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust.