Faraway Tree
Faraway Tree was first published in 1950 based on the stories by Enid Blyton.
Faraway Tree was first published by Pepys in 1950 based on the stories by Enid Blyton. Although Enid Blyton wrote a total of 4 different stories about the Faraway Tree, in the card game the destination up the ladder at the top of the tree is “The Land of Birthdays” (see cards 8 & 9). In the original books there were another seven lands which might be reached. See the Box►
The card game is illustrated by Dorothy M Wheeler who provided illustrations for the books.

Above: Faraway Tree published by Pepys Games in 1950 based on the stories by Enid Blyton. Some of the characters used in the card game are: Dame Slap who is the headmistress of the school for Goblins; Angry Pixie who throws water over people who disturb him; Whatzisname who can’t remember his own name but briefly does in one of the books. It is Kollamoolitumarellipawkyrollo.
The game contains a letter from Enid Blyton. See the Booklets►


By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)
Member since January 30, 2009
View ArticlesRex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.
His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.
Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.
Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.
His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.