This children’s book written for Puffin in 1963 introduces us to the original ’Stig’, a character created by author Clive King, and I assume provided inspiration for Clarkson and the Top Gear team when they came up with their mystery driver for Top Gear.
When this battered copy arrived at The Sussex Book Collector, the unmistakable cover illustrated by Edward Ardlizzone took me back to my childhood when I would devour books like this whilst curled up on the sofa on a wet afternoon, and turning the foxed and yellowed pages now seems to release distant echoes of clattering pans as my long-gone mum got busy in the kitchen. If I had bought a new copy of the book I’m not sure it would mean quite so much - this is a first edition that has been through many hands; the spine is broken and pages creased, so it has little monetary value, but to me this is a time machine and it’s destined for my shelf rather than going for sale.
A boy, a chalk pit and an extraordinary discovery
The story begins with Barney, a young boy staying with his grandparents in the Kent countryside. Bored and looking for adventure, Barney explores an old chalk pit that is being used as a rubbish dump. It is here that he discovers Stig.
Stig is an extraordinary character. He appears to be a prehistoric man, living in a cave-like den amongst the discarded objects of the modern world. He doesn't speak Barney's language, and Barney initially has no idea where he has come from. Yet rather than being frightened, Barney is fascinated.
The two boys quickly form a friendship.
What makes this friendship particularly memorable is that they cannot communicate in the conventional way. Stig doesn't speak English, but the boys discover that they can understand each other through gestures, actions, curiosity and shared experiences. Their friendship demonstrates that communication is about far more than words.
Stig helps Barney when he is in trouble, while Barney brings ideas and objects from his modern world to Stig's primitive existence. Each has something to teach the other and it is this equality that makes their relationship so appealing.
The dump isn't really a dump
The main setting in King's story appeals to every child that has been able to go exploring beyond adult oversight. To Barney's family and the adults around him, the chalk pit is simply a dangerous rubbish dump. To Barney, however, it is a place of possibilities. And to Stig, it is a source of materials from which almost anything can be made.
Stig's home is cobbled together from everyday objects that have been thrown away. He doesn't see rubbish in quite the same way as the modern world does. To Stig a discarded object isn't necessarily useless; it is simply waiting for somebody imaginative enough to find another purpose for it.
This is one of the book's most enduring ideas.
Stig takes things that have been abandoned and transforms them into practical objects. Barney and Stig work together to improve the den, using discarded tins and other junk to create things that make Stig's life more comfortable.
It is difficult to read this today without thinking about recycling, reusing and the modern concern about the enormous quantities of waste we produce, In 1963, the language of the circular economy certainly wasn't part of everyday conversation, yet Stig instinctively understands something that modern society is increasingly rediscovering: what one person considers worthless may still have value.
For me, this makes Clive King's classic more than just a joyful children's adventure – it is a lovely reminder of why we believe books, like the objects in Stig's dump, deserve to be given a second chance rather than simply thrown away.
But you’ll have to find your own copy as this one is mine. So there!
