Vintage Books from my Bookshelf: The High Hills a Brambly Hedge Story

Brambly Hedge is on the other side of the stream, across the field. If you can find it, and if you look very hard amongst the tangled roots and stems, you may even see a wisp of smoke from a small chimney, or through an open door, a steep flight of stairs deep within the trunk of a tree. For this is the home of the mice of Brambly Hedge - Jill Barklem

It was the end of autumn, and the Voles in the High Hills were busy preparing for winter.  Gathering supplies in rocky terrain is no easy job and when they find their winter quilts eaten by moths, it’s the last straw. When Mr. Apple down in Brambly Hedge hears of their plight, he mounts a relief operation, and soon the weavers get busy making new blankets. Mr. Apple and a small party of mice plan to deliver the blankets before the really cold weather sets in, but when Wilfred Toadflax hears about it, he is eager to go along.  Wilfred is convinced there’s gold to be found in the High Hills, and he intends to be the one to discover it.

Lily and Flax were already hard at work when Wilfred arrived.

"Can I help Too?" asked Wilfred.  "That's kind of you, but not
just now," said Lily. "Why don't you find yourself a book?"

Wilfred went over to the bookcase. On a shelf, tucked between 
volumes on dye stuffs and weaves, he found a thick book 
called Daring Explores of Old Hedge Days. 

Wilfred sat entranced. The whirr of the spinning wheel
became the swish of eagles' wings, the clatter of the loom,
the sound of falling rock, and the drops of rain on window,
jewels from some forgotten cave. Could there be gold
in the hills beyond Brambly Hedge, he wondered.

The first part of the journey was easy.

Along the hedge, past Crabapple Cottage,

the Store Stump and Old Oak Palace. 

They walked through the  afternoon.By tea-time, it was
getting dark and cold. At last they saw a tiny light shining from
beneath an old hawthorn tree.  "Here we are," said
Mr. Apple. "Knock on the door, Wilfred". 

The following morning Wilfred begged to explore. 

Flax and Lily had to get back to work, but Mr. Apple
agreed he and Wilfred could stay a while. 

Mr. Apple watched as Wilfred pulled himself

up onto a narrow ledge and began scraping at the
rocks. "Don't be silly, Wilfred.  That's not gold.
Comedown at once." But Wilfred was stuck.
"Wait there" said Mr. Apple as he began to climb
the steep rocks.  The ledge was narrow and now an 

ominous mist was rising from the valley.

Mr. Apple was worried; he had no idea where they were,
and it looked as though they might have to spend the night
on the mountain. The next morning they were woken by the
sun shining. "It's a beautiful day," called Wilfred, peering
over the ledge, "and I can see a path down the mountain."

Soon Wilfred and Mr. Apple were back at home.
As Wilfred was telling them all about their adventures
Primrose Woodmouse asked if they found any gold.
 "No, only this silly old dust," said Wilfred. Flex and
Lily gasped. "Wilfred!" That's not dust. That's ....


The High Hills a Brambly Hedge Story by Jill Barklem Published by Collins in 1986.

One of a series of books recounting the adventures of the mice of Brambly Hedge. Others are The Secret Staircase, Spring, Summer, Sea Story, Autumn, Winter and Poppy’s Babies.

I love the illustrations in these books.  Do you like them? Have you read any of the stories?