THE Wind in the Willows has a very special place in the hearts of pupils at one Oxford school.

Not only was author Kenneth Grahame a past pupil and head boy at St Edward's School, in Woodstock Road, it is believed the adventures of Toad of Toad Hole, Ratty, Badger and Mole were inspired by his school days at the North Oxford independent school.

This week some of the pupils were given the chance to inspect Mr Grahame's original manuscript for the children's bestseller, which was published 100 years ago.

Getting a close-up are, from left, Lucy Johnson, Carlos Posada, Lily French and Fergus Bibby.

Senior tutor Ian Rowley said: "The Bodleian Library, which has the original manuscript, invited us down to see it.

"We think Kenneth Grahame found much of the inspiration for his books from his time as a schoolboy, so that makes it particularly special for our pupils."

Pupils at the school, although considerably older than the recommended reading age for the ever-popular classic children's tale, are so keen on the story that they have formed a Kenneth Grahame Society.

Tom Adams, 18, from Wolvercote, said: "When I first read it I was pretty young and I never realised how much there was to it and how much you can get from it.

"Seeing the manuscript was very interesting, it started out as a series of letters to his son but when you see the manuscript there are lots of crossings out and corrections.

"If he spent that much time making corrections, I think it means there must be more that you can read into it."