Problem with Dates in Swallowdale

I am puzzled by a conflict of dates in Swallowdale and wonder if anyone has any thoughts on why AR may have made a mistake.

We are given a fixed date in Swallowdale.

Having found the brass box with a farthing and note written by Nancy and Peggy’s father, mother and uncle, the S&A write on the back of the note “Aug 11 1931 We climbed Kanchenjunga" , sign it and replace in the box in the cairn.

That day Roger and Titty get lost on the moor in the fog.

The next day, the 12^th, Mother and Bridget come for lunch at Swallowdale and the Amazons camp in Swallowdale also.

The next day (13^th) is the day of the race and Captain Flint moves the camp for them to Wild cat Island because, “it was just as well to make sure of your Island, and besides that there’ll be grouse shooting all over those moors to-morrow”

That would make the start of Grouse shooting the 14^th whereas the date for the start of Grouse shooting in England was set in legislation by the Game Act of 1831 as the 12^th August, “The Glorious Twelfth,"

On the 12th the stretcher party was crossing the moor to carry Roger back, hardly a safe place to be on the busiest day of the shooting season.

However UK law says that the start of the season cannot begin on a Sunday and it is sometimes postponed to 13 August.

I have checked and the 12^th was a Wednesday, so would not have been postponed.

Perhaps AR simply made an error because he was more of a fishing man rather than a hunting one.

The timeline in Swalllowdale is an absolute mess, Peter. The story lasts for 17 days and there is an early phrase in the story stating "August had come again".

I did try to resolve this in an article and came to the conclusion that the pressure of continual redrafts coupled with and impending publication date meant AR probably lost track of the absolute timing of events. An exerpt :-

"If one takes the final date in the novel as the 11th August, on the basis that the 12th August is always the start of the English grouse shooting season. " The Glorious 12th"

The story timeline covers 17 days. Counting back this means Day 1 is the 26th July.

The Walkers had travelled north on the 25 July being the previous day.

In 1931, the 25th July was a Saturday the traditional day for holiday travel and the usual start for accommodation bookings.

The 25th July would be the first Saturday after the breaking up of boarding schools for the summer holidays.

Usually some boarding schools, including the one I attended, the last day of term was on a Thursday finishing before lunch. This allowed pupils to make a good start for travelling home. In earlier July , one would be taking O or A level external examinations."

Worth noting that AR purchased the shooting rights in Machell coppice near to the Dogs Home, so he would have been well aware of the significance of the 12th August.

Thanks Owen, I was hoping someone may have already covered this previously. Your notes about the break up of school make perfect sense. On that basis the note left in the cairn should have been dated 9th August.

It must have been difficult, in the days before computers, to keep track of events and dates when writing (and revising) a book!