Links to Related Websites
There are a huge number of places on the internet giving information about William’s work, the individual series and books and the background to them. This section of his site offers some of the best and most interesting links…
GENERAL
The best and longest-standing fansite of William Horwood’s books is here. It’s a really good resource and well worth visiting. There are a large number of sites that specialise in fantasy fiction and carry information about the fantasy side of William’s work. A very reliable one is here.
HYDDENWORLD
The publisher of Hyddenworld is PanMacmillan whose corporate site here is the best place to find the latest publishing information about William’s work.
THE DUNCTON TRILOGIES
There’s an excellent entry in Wikipedia about the books as a whole here which is a good online starting point.
Readers often ask where Duncton Wood is and rather confusingly there is a real Duncton village in East Sussex, England which you can find out about here. The fictional wood is based on two locations – Wittenham Clumps and Wytham Wood, both near Oxford where William was living when he wrote the first book. The Clumps are owned by Northmoor Trust which does excellent environmental work. Read about the Clumps and surrounding area here.
Wytham Woods is probably the most researched woodland in the UK being owned by the University of Oxford… but more details of that and how to visit it can be found here.
The protagonists of the series are moles about which you can read here bearing in mind that the particular species in the UK (and Duncton) are Talpa europaea. Occasionally readers write to ask how to get rid of moles – the answer is to ask one of the gentlemen or ladies you’ll find on this strange site.
But what they’ll not tell you is that once you get rid of them… they’ll come back! So learn to love them and save your money.
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS SEQUELS
There’s a very good Wikipedia entry here about Kenneth Grahame’s great classic. The Bodleian Library Oxford has an online exhibition here about the book which is well worth reading; so is this academic site about the book.
THE BOY WITH NO SHOES
Many readers have worked out that Stoning, the fictional town where the story is set, is Deal, Kent in real life. Find out more about it here and also at this pebble--strewn local site as well as this great travel piece and a great deal about the background to the boatmen who feature in the story here.