Jigsaw, Madame Cholet

Madam Chalet Jigsaw

This wooden jigsaw puzzle features a picture of Madame Cholet, a character from ‘The Wombles’. The Wombles were originally created by author Elisabeth Beresford, in 1968 but became most famous when the stories were made into a BBC children’s television show in the mid 1970s. Madam Chalet, a cook, was styled on Beresford's mother and was named after the town of Cholet in France.

The stories are mainly based in the burrow on Wimbledon Common in London, England where the Wombles help the environment by collecting and recycling rubbish in useful and inventive ways. The environmentally friendly messages explored in the stories reflect the growing ecology movement of the 1970s.

In 2009, the Wombles featured in "The Official BBC Children in Need Medley" which reached No.1 in the UK singles charts. In 2011 The Wombles performed at the Glastonbury music festival.