5 February: The Wombles

On this date in 1973, The Wombles first appeared on TV. Here are 10 things you might not know about them:

1. The Wombles were created by Elisabeth Beresford, who wrote a series of books about them. She was inspired to create them after a family outing to Wimbledon Common when her daughter repeatedly referred to the place as “Wombledon Common.” When they got home, Beresford started writing down her ideas and creating the characters, based on members of her family and named after places with significance to her.

2. For anyone who doesn’t know, a womble is a furry creature with a pointy nose and claws. They live in burrows and pick up and recycle rubbish. The Womble motto is "Make Good Use of Bad Rubbish".

3. While the familiar stories relate to the Wimbledon Wombles, there are supposedly Wombles living in every country of the world.

4. Young Wombles don’t have names. They choose their own names when they reach working age. Then, they look through Great Uncle Bulgaria's large atlas and choose a name they think suits them. A few merely stick a pin in the atlas and hope for the best. This is what Bungo did.

5. Young Wombles learn to read and write and they play a game called "Wombles and Ladders" to develop their athletic skills. Wombles are strong swimmers and can survive for long periods in freezing water.

6. They are long lived, and can reach 300 years of age, as we know from the Womble song Minuetto Allegretto, which has the lyric “Back in 1780 when Bulgaria was a lad.”

7. If you’ve ever wondered what Wombles eat, wonder no more. They eat the plants and fungi that humans don’t. Favourite dishes include daisy buns, Moss pie, acorn juice, fir-cone soufflé, elm bark casserole and grass bread Sandwiches. Needless to say they’ll also feast on food humans have thrown away. They are especially fond of Mushrooms.

8. The Wombles pop group was created by Mike Batt. There were four Wombles studio albums: Wombling Songs (1973), Remember You’re A Womble (1974), Keep On Wombling (1974) and Superwombling (1975). They appeared on Top of the Pops 18 times, were the interval act for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 and even performed at Glastonbury in 2011. Their highest chart position was in 1975 when they reached number 2 with Wombling Merry Christmas.

9. The narrator for the TV series was Bernard Cribbins, who did all the characters’ voices as well.

10. A pack of feral Wombles appeared in The Goodies in the episode "The Goodies Rule – O.K.?", engaging in a fierce wrestling match with Bill Oddie.