Blue plaque to be unveiled for Paddington author

A blue plaque is set to be unveiled at the Surrey home once lived in by Paddington Bear creator Michael Bond.

Bond, who died in 2017 at the age of 91, moved to Fairacre in Haslemere in 1968, where he spent the next 10 years writing several Paddington books alongside the scripts for the original television series.

Saturday's unveiling will take place with the permission of current owners, Steph and Neil Stephenson, who learned of their home's fame after the Haslemere Society "dropped a letter through our doorbox".

"It was exciting. We had suspected that he'd lived here, but really had no idea what that meant, or how long he'd even lived here for," Steph told BBC Radio Surrey.

Chris Harrison, chairman of the Haslemere Society, said he was not sure whether anything would come of his letter to the Stephensons.

"[I] was delighted of course when something happened very quickly," he said.

Harrison had first heard about Bond's association with Fairacre about 20 years ago, but had not "thought about it in the context of a blue plaque" because the author was not yet eligible.

Bond did not pass away over 20 years ago, nor has it been the centenary of his birth - until this year.

"It's very apposite that this is actually the earliest that we could've considered Michael Bond for a plaque," Harrison said.

The programme for Saturday's unveiling includes a speech from Bond's daughter Karen Jankel, who will talk about the family's time in Haslemere.

She has already visited Fairacre for lunch with the Stephensons, with Steph describing her as "wonderful".

The unveiling event will start at 15:00 BST.

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