Bare cheek: What was that?

Can’t remember the title of a film, book or piece of music from long ago? Mike Hunter is the man with the answers

Dear Mr Hunter,
I hope you can help; I am trying to recall the name of a book read to myself and my sister when we were children back in the 1950s.

This book, something of an old “classic” of its kind even at the time I fancy, concerned the adventures of a small furry rodent. This creature was somewhat anthropomorphised; he wore a pale blue jacket and could speak English. He lived with his mother and siblings in a burrow and was forever (against maternal advice) rummaging around in the vegetable garden of a local farmer, stealing and consuming carrots, lettuce, etc. This behavior put him in not inconsiderable danger, and at the end of the story he received his comeuppance, barely escaping with his life and losing his prized jacket into the bargain.

I’m certain the author of this tome wrote many other stories on similar themes, all featuring similarly anthrapomorphised creatures, and that his or her work achieved world fame. But in spite of this I can recall neither the author’s soubriquet nor that of the book. Please help so I can once again lose myself in the innocent joys of my childhood.
Agnes Fidwick, Hove

Dear Agnes,
I’m glad to say I know the volume you mean well; it was a great favourite of my own as a youngster and it is, of course, “The Rats” by the late James Herbert, available in paperback from Pan. Glad I could help. Please keep those letters flooding in!
Mike X

Hove factually

More fun facts you never knew about faublous Hove

1 ’Ethel’s Kitchen’, the café on Blatchington Road, was originally to have been called ‘Ethel’s Kitchen’ in line with a strong Ethel theme to the décor; the walls were to have been covered with photographs and memorabilia pertaining to Ethels Barrymore, Merman, Williams, Smythe, and Ethel from EastEnders.

2 The long-running series L. A. Law was actually filmed in a disused Baptist Church on Conway Street.

3 Following his surprise resignation as Foreign Secretary, for three years Lord Carrington ran a chip van at Hove Stadium.

4 Hove used to have its own pier – the Grand Pier. The longest in the British Isles, its length equalled that of West Pier and Brighton Pier put together, although, for some reason, it ran inland, starting at the beach and ending roughly where Halfords is today. It closed down after two days and was destroyed by fire one hour after its owners renewed the insurance.

5 Hove was ex-communicated by Pope Pius V. And again by Innocent XI, Benedict XIII, and by Paul VI, who reserved special venom for the town in an encyclical issued during the Second Vatican Council.

6 The most popular boy’s name in Hove is Clement; the most popular girl’s is Yoko.

7 Shortly before his exile to Saint Helena in 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte spent several months in Hove, where he took long walks along the beach, developed a fondness for Murray Mints, and made his famous pronouncement “Hove n’est pas tres interessante” (“Hove is not very interesting.”)

8 “Disneyland Hove” is due to open in 2017 on the site now occupied by the King Alfred Leisure Centre.
It will feature some very tame rides and be based around such second-tier Disney characters as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Clarabelle Cow, Pete’s Dragon, and Condorman.

9 In 1991 Hove floated itself on the Stock Market, selling shares for £1.00 each. Those shares are now worth an impressive £1.01 each.

10 Hove once boasted its own chalk giant on the site of what is now the cricket ground.
The 180 ft figure of a naked Bronze Age warrior apparently eating a baguette was destroyed in 1903 after protests from the local WI.