Accidental Pilgrims Arrive on Festing Road
Visitors get the full Mr Benn tour after chance encounter
The pilgrims holding Mr Benn, the shopkeeper and magician dolls
June 23, 2026
60 years on and still cartoon character bowler-hatted Mr Benn and his home in Festing Road attracts pilgrims. Last Friday (19 June) owner of cartoonist David McKee’s old house Hugh Thompson came across three taking pictures outside his house.
“I am so used to these fans that I have a little bundle of memorabilia-letters, pictures, articles and posters which I give to make the trip a little more interesting than bricks and mortar,” he said.
So, he invited Nigel and Helga Sorrell from Hatfield and their friend Nia Voet who lives in Putney in to see some of his memorabilia and scrap books.
Nia says, ”They are old friends and we were taking a walk along the river and then I remembered Mr Benn and as Nigel is a fan I thought it would be interesting. Luckily Hugh spotted us as I had forgotten what number. I loved the stories they were all different and took you to different worlds.”
Nigel added, “They were one of many childhood favourites and absolutely charming”.
Hugh made sure they took photos of not only Mr Benn’s house but the commemorative stone and the sign for Festive Walk-which was the name David McKee gave the street.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |