Almost Narnia: wartime evacuees meet Ann Vining and her tame fox, Freddie
DURING a visit to the Parthenon in 1850, Florence Nightingale discovered local children playing with ‘a little ball of fluff’, which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a young owl. Perhaps (quite likely) money changed hands in order that Nightingale could become the bird’s new owner. Appropriately enough, bearing in mind the classical associations of owls, she named it Athena.
According to Florence’s sister Parthenope, Athena very quickly ‘became quite mannerly and took her meals regularly from her mistress’s hand’. All didn’t end well, however. As Florence and 38
