Farm which inspired Babe up for sale
But the farmyard tale of talking animals – which was adapted into Hollywood movie Babe – wasn't entirely the creation of the farmer-turned- author's imagination.
The writer, who once said he would "probably die immediately if he had to live in a town", was inspired by the grand Boyd Farm, tucked away in Golden Valley, near the shady lanes where the author grew up in the Twenties.
Now you could step inside the book for real – as Boyd Farm is on the market, though with a guide price of £2.25 million, you may also need to have a bestselling book under your belt to afford it.
In the tranquil and secluded Golden Valley, near Wick, suburban Bristol is just a couple of miles, but a world away out of sight over the hill.
The part-medieval farmhouse comes complete with six bedrooms and three bathrooms and three other barn- converted homes which are rented out on the other side of the farmyard.
Agent Chris Hart said it is a secret paradise.
"The property, which has only changed ownership once in the past 55 years, was formerly a mill, with its origins dating back as far as the 11th century," Chris said.
"The last four centuries of its history are well-documented, and in recent years the farmstead has probably become best known as the artistic inspiration for Dick King-Smith.
"The much-loved writer is said to have based many of his stories around Boyd Farm, including the classic The Sheep-Pig, which tells the story of a pig who thinks he's a sheepdog.
"The writer also filmed some TV programmes at the farm in the early Eighties," he added.
The Boyd river, which runs next to the farmhouse is a wildlife haven – and its close proximity to the Bristol-based BBC Natural History unit means it has often been the chosen location of the wildlife film crews.
"The otters and kingfishers which inhabit the Boyd river have been the subject of recent BBC programmes.
"Herons, buzzards and deer are a common sight here too," Chris said.
Mr King-Smith grew up in Bitton in the Twenties and Thirties and went on to be a farmer before becoming a teacher and author.
He wrote the The Sheep-Pig in 1983 at the age of 61, and was in his 70s when it was turned into the Hollywood film Babe set, alas, in the US.
Now 87, he lives in the hamlet of Queen Charlton, on the other side of Keynsham from Bitton. He is still vice-president of the Avon Wildlife Trust.
Mr King-Smith said that although the farm in The Sheep-Pig was not exclusively based on Boyd Farm, it was one of the real-life places that inspired him.
He said: "It is a lovely farm in a very romantic setting. Though I don't specifically remember it from my childhood, it is a place I got to know very well later on, as I had friends who lived there," the writer told the Post. "The farms in my stories are never based on a single place, but Boyd Farm was one of many lovely farms in this area that inspired me to write books like The Sheep-Pig."
The Grade II-listed farmhouse comes with 10 acres of land and its own river, though there aren't any talking animals in the barns – they've been converted to be separate homes which will net a couple of thousand pounds a month in rent to the new owner.
"There are the picturesque remains of the old mill building, as well as the mill pond and riparian rights along both sides of the river," Chris said.
"A private bridge over the river takes you to a small woodland copse with a natural spring. The well-tended gardens slope gently down to the orchard and the river and there is a separate walled vegetable garden."
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