‘One of Alderney’s own’: Island remembers Wombles’ creator on 100th birthday

A century after her birth, the creator of one of Britain’s most beloved children’s characters is still leaving her mark on Alderney.

Elisabeth ‘Liza’ Beresford, the author of ‘The Wombles’, would have celebrated her 100th birthday on 6 August.

While generations grew up with Great Uncle Bulgaria, Orinoco and Madame Cholet, islanders remember her as a neighbour, States Member, playwright, storyteller and friend.

Long before recycling became part of everyday life, Beresford was encouraging children to care for the environment through the Wombles’ motto of making “good use of bad rubbish”.

More than 50 years later, that message is still resonating.

From Wimbledon Common to Braye Common

The idea for ‘The Wombles’ emerged after a family walk on Wimbledon Common, when Beresford’s young daughter Kate referred to it as “Wombledon Common”.

What began as a children’s story became a publishing phenomenon, spawning television series, films, stage shows, records and merchandise, with the Wombles becoming household names across Britain and beyond.

The Wombles later found television fame through a series of 35 BBC stop-motion episodes narrated by Bernard Cribbins.

For countless children, they offered a first lesson in recycling at a time when reusing waste was far from the mainstream.

But while the Wombles’ adventures started in south-west London, Beresford’s own story became increasingly tied to Alderney.

She bought a house on the island in the 1960s before moving there permanently in the early 1970s with her children, Marcus and Kate.

Over the following decades she threw herself into island life.

Local resident Jan Walker remembers her as a warm, generous and community-minded figure.

“Oh, she was very sweet. She was very nice and very community minded,” she said.

“At Christmas time we used to go into her house to sing carols and she’d give us soft drinks and cheese straws – as she wasn’t a very good cook.”

Beyond her writing, Beresford served as a States Member, wrote plays, acted in productions and became a familiar face in the community.

Her legacy is still visible across Alderney.

Today, a blue plaque marks her former home, recognising the woman many Alderney residents consider one of their own, while a series of wooden sculptures are spread around the island.

Meanwhile, knitted Womble postbox toppers now appear during Alderney Week, turning one of the island’s postboxes into a tribute to the woman who created them.

The island also held a ‘Womble Story Time’ event on Tuesday, with children from 2 to 102 able to listen to tales of the fluffy recyclers.

Liza’s own Wombles

Perhaps the most tangible reminder of her legacy can be found at Alderney Museum.

When Beresford died on Christmas Eve 2010, her daughter Kate asked local Cancer Research UK volunteers to collect items from the house for fundraising purposes.

Among them were several bags containing Beresford’s personal collection of Womble toys.

“They were the Wombles that Liza kept in her house,” Ms Walker recalled.

“A lot of them she kept in her windows.”

The volunteers initially struggled to decide what should happen to them.

One Womble was auctioned at a fundraising event and sold for £650, but there was a strong feeling that the rest of the collection should remain together and stay on Alderney.

That eventually led to a permanent display at the museum.

“As they took them out of the bags individually, she was saying, ‘Oh wow, they’ve got to be here’,” Ms Walker said.

The collection has since expanded to include books, photographs, memorabilia and a recording by actor Bernard Cribbins, who narrated the original ‘Wombles’ television series.

For many visitors, it offers a glimpse not just into the fictional world Beresford created, but into the life she built on Alderney.

‘Before her time’

Ask those who knew Beresford what made her special and one phrase quickly comes up.

“Before her time, before her time that Liza was,” said Ms Walker.

It is a sentiment that feels particularly fitting today.

Decades before environmental awareness became a mainstream concern, Beresford was teaching children that rubbish had value, that waste could be reused, and that everybody had a role to play in looking after their surroundings.

That lesson is still being passed on to new generations.

As part of celebrations marking what would have been Beresford’s 100th birthday, volunteers have revived Womble story-time sessions inspired by events she once hosted during Alderney Week.

Three volunteers will even dress up as Great Uncle Bulgaria, Orinoco and Madame Cholet for this year’s event.

During one recent session, organisers deliberately scattered rubbish as part of the storytelling before asking children what should be done about it.

One four-year-old quickly offered the answer.

“Tell her to pick it up.”

More than half a century after the first Womble appeared, it was exactly the response Beresford might have hoped for.

Born in Paris in 1926, the daughter of novelist J.D. Beresford, she went on to serve in the Women’s Royal Naval Service, work as a journalist and BBC radio reporter, and become one of Britain’s most successful children’s authors.

What began with a little girl’s mispronunciation on Wimbledon Common went on to capture imaginations around the world, from Alderney to Australia and far beyond.

Beresford received an MBE for services to children’s literature in 1998.

Yet on Alderney, her legacy is measured by more than books, television programmes or awards.

It’s there in the museum display, the children’s story times, the affection with which locals still speak about her, and the enduring popularity of the characters she created.

One hundred years after her birth, Liza Beresford remains what she became during her decades on the island: one of Alderney’s own.