Through the Looking Glass

We recently discovered that Lewis Carroll came to see the Grotto, on this day – 28 September – in 1870. He described it in his diaries as “a marvellous subterranean chamber, lined with elaborate shell-work”.

In 1862 Carroll had made up a story for a young Alice Liddell, and she persuaded him to write it down. He presented her with Alice’s Adventures Under Ground in November 1864, and it was published as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland a year later. So by the time he visited us, he was already a celebrity.

And this year, we’ve had visits from Jarvis Cocker and Paloma Faith (not together, sadly, as that would have been interesting!). Will we mark Jarvis Cocker Day next year, we wonder?