To bee or not to bee treasure hunt

Press, 3 May 1984, Page 21

To bee or not to bee treasure hunt

I have words to offer wisdom

And pictures to delight, A story of a tragic Queen

And a fearless knight. No, this quote is not another extract from the Royal doggerel of A. N. Wilson — it marks the start of another great treasure hunt, organised by Kit Williams, writes Peter Hillmore, in the London “Observer” Pendennis diary column. Mr Williams is the man who wrote “Masquerade,” the astonish-

ingly successful book which had people travelling all over England for nearly three years, in search of buried treasure. They became fanatical, searching in the book for hidden clues until the treasure was found at Ampthill.

The devotion of the searchers was staggering. There were fright-

ening stories of people giving up their jobs to join the Masquerade; they travelled from all over the world to follow strange clues that led all over the place. Sometimes it seemed as if half the roadworks in England had been dug by seekers after the golden pendant. Those who had their gardens

excavated by treasure hunters who got the clues wrong can relax. The new book does not contain instructions to dig for buried treasure. It is a book without a title on the cover — and the search is for the title.

According to Mr Williams, the plot, of the book is based on an

argument the Four Seasons have with one another. “When you get to the end of the book, yon realise that the story wasn’t actually about that but about an adventure of a colony of bees.” Hidden among the stories and full page pictures are clues leading you to the title. Kit Williams has already written

the correct title down on a piece of paper, which he has sealed in a box. A year and a day after the book is published, on May 24, the seal will be broken. The prize will go to the person who has found the title and best “expressed it without using the written word.” As in "Masquerade,” the prize is a gold brooch.

It all sounds frightfully difficult to me, but Mr Williams’s bank manager probably thinks it is so simple, it’s beautiful.