George Orwell at Southwold

The Artist – Charlie Uzzel-Edwards

Who? Yes, until five minutes ago I would have said the same. I was searching “autodidact” on Google when I came upon a list of famous autodidacts. This included William Blake, John  Clare and George Orwell. George Orwell, didn’t he go to Public School? (Note to overseas readers – a Public School is one that the public is most definitely excluded from by means of high fees and snobbery. A Minor Public School is much the same, but they are looked down on by the Public Schools, despite still being exclusive. There’s a layer of private schooling below that, and then you come down to the schools that most of the public go to. Confused? Me too.)

Anyway, back to George Orwell. He went to Eton. Current Fees at Eton are £21,099.60 including VAT. That is for a “Half”. There are three halves in a year at Eton. I’m suspecting that they don’t teach a lot of maths in Public Schools. Then there are music lessons and “extras”, registration fees and uniforms. It soon mounts up. However, they do say that bursaries are available and no parent should feel that the cannot send their kid to Eton on account of the cost. This may be true, but I can’t help feeling that class and snobbery may make life difficult if you come from a working class home. Twenty Prime Ministers have gone to Eton, about a third. It’s not a place for the poor, the modest or the lower class.

So there you go – George Orwell, the man who is reputed to have educated himself, went to a school where it would currently cost you the thick end of £70,000 to send one of your children. Now, I know I can come across as having a bit of a chip on my shoulder regarding private education, but if I was paying £70,000 a year I’d not expect my kids to have to educate themselves.

But back to Ruth Pitter. She helped Orwell in his writing by advising him to give up writing poetry. I’ve only seen one of his poems. Believe me, she did us all a favour. She also helped C S Lewis. I am, as you know, a fan of the Narnia books. Having dipped into his other work I prefer to think of Lewis as the author of the Narnia books. Well, the first six, I find The Last Battle eternally dispiriting and tend to avoid it when rereading the series.

She was also the first woman to win the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and a very interesting person. It’s amazing that after 66 years I am still finding such gaps in my knowledge. I could write more but it would only be regurgitating what is behind the link, so I will leave you to study privately.

Beach Huts – Southwold