Peel Island, Cumbria with of woodland, in 1932. Peel Island is considered to be one of the origins of the fictional Wild Cat Island in the 1930 book "Swallows and Amazons" and its sequels, by Arthur Ransome. Taqui Altounyan, sister of Roger Altounyan and inspiration for one of the characters in "Swallows and Amazons", described Peel Island in her semi-biographical novel "In Aleppo Once" as "like a green tuffet, sitting in the water, the trees covering the rocks". The island also features in W. G. Collingwood's novel "Thorstein of the Mere, A Saga of the Northmen in Lakeland". Ransome, at the age of
Swallows and Amazons series seaman", is the most imaginative member of the crew. She often imagines her own adventures and becomes a hero in the novels, such as when she wins the war in "Swallows and Amazons" or finds an underground spring in "Pigeon Post". Roger is the youngest, originally the ship's boy, but promoted to able seaman in later books. Their youngest sister Bridget (originally nicknamed "Vicky" due to a resemblance to pictures of Queen Victoria in old age; the nickname is dropped in later books as she loses the resemblance when she grows older) also joins the crew in "Secret Water". Roger