Pigeon Post facts for kids
Front cover of first edition
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| Author | Arthur Ransome |
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| Illustrator | Arthur Ransome |
| Cover artist | Ransome |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Swallows and Amazons |
| Genre | Children's adventure novel |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape |
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Publication date
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1936 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover & paperback) |
| Pages | 383 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | 978-0-613-77235-8 (Turtleback Books: 1992) 978-0-87923-864-3 (David R. Godine, Publisher: 1992, paperback) |
| OCLC | 634672 |
| LC Class | PZ7.R175 Pi |
| Preceded by | Coot Club |
| Followed by | We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea |
Pigeon Post is an exciting adventure novel for children by Arthur Ransome. It was published in 1936. This book is the sixth in Ransome's popular Swallows and Amazons series. The series includes twelve books written between 1930 and 1947.
Pigeon Post was a very special book. It won the first-ever Carnegie Medal. This award is given by the Library Association for the best children's book of the year by a British writer. Unlike most books in the series, Pigeon Post does not feature sailing on water. Instead, all the adventure happens on and under the hills, called fells, around the Lake. The characters try to find gold hidden in the Lake District hills.
Contents
Discovering Gold in the Lake District
This section tells you about the main story of Pigeon Post. It explains how the children go on a big adventure to find treasure.
The Children's Big Idea
The children known as the Swallows, Amazons, and Ds are camping. They are staying in the Blackett family's garden. Their boat, the Swallow, cannot be used for sailing. Captain Flint, whose real name is James Turner, sends a message. He is coming home from a trip to South America. He was looking for gold there.
Captain Flint says he sent "Timothy" ahead of him. The Amazons and Ds figure out that Timothy is an armadillo. Titty, Dick, and Peggy even build a special box for him. But Timothy the armadillo does not arrive. An old slate miner named Slater Bob tells them a story. He talks about a lost gold vein in the fells. Since Captain Flint did not find gold on his trip, the children decide to look for gold themselves. They plan to search on a hill called High Topps. This will be a big surprise for Captain Flint.
Moving Camp to Tyson's Farm
Mrs. Blackett is not sure about the children's plan. To convince her, the children show they can send messages. They use homing pigeons, which is why the book is called Pigeon Post. This proves they can stay in touch with Beckfoot. So, they get permission to move their camp. They go to Tyson's Farm, which is closer to the fells where they want to search for gold.
At Tyson's Farm, they face a problem. Mrs. Tyson will not let them cook over a campfire. There is a drought, and she is worried about fires. This means the children have to eat meals at certain times. Later, Titty uses a special skill called dowsing. She finds a spring, which is a natural water source. This lets them move their camp even closer to the Topps. They send messages home every day using their pigeons.
The Mystery of Squashy Hat
While exploring, the children notice another person looking for gold. They call him 'Squashy Hat'. After many days of searching, Roger finds something exciting. He discovers a vein of gold-colored mineral in an old mine. They crush some of it and try to make a golden ingot in a charcoal furnace.
Sadly, the golden ingot disappears when their crucible breaks. Dick, who is the "professor" of their group, only has a small piece left to test. Meanwhile, Squashy Hat is talking to the old slate miner. He enters the fell through an old mine opening. The three younger children see him and walk inside the fell. Titty has to follow them to find them, and they almost get into serious trouble.
The Truth About the Gold
Captain Flint finally comes home. He finds Dick doing chemical tests on the "gold" in his study. Dick has read that gold dissolves in aqua regia. But Captain Flint explains that aqua regia can dissolve almost anything. He says that real gold will not dissolve in anything else. He then shows Dick with other tests that they found copper pyrites. This is a rich copper ore, not gold.
A pigeon named Sappho, who they thought was unreliable, suddenly arrives. She carries an urgent message from Titty: FIRE HELP QUICK. Captain Flint quickly calls Colonel Jolys. Colonel Jolys gathers his volunteer firefighters. Everyone rushes to help save the Topps from the fire.
After the fire on the fells is put out, the mystery of Squashy Hat is solved. He turns out to be Captain Flint's friend, Timothy. Timothy was too shy to introduce himself to the children earlier. Captain Flint is happy they found copper. He and Timothy had talked about new ways to find copper on the fells. They had planned to look for copper if their search for gold in South America did not work out.
Later Adventures
The mining project is mentioned again in another book, Secret Water. The project also comes up in the later book The Picts and the Martyrs. In that book, Slater Bob starts mining for metal instead of slate again.
