The Clapham mews where Roald Dahl wrote 'Matilda' and 'The Witches'

In celebration of Clapham resident Roald Dahl on Roald Dahl Day

Today (Monday September 13) is Roald Dahl Day and to commemorate the nation's beloved children's author we made a pilgrimage to his home in Clapham.

Along Clapham Common Northside is the house where Graham Greene wrote The Ministry of Fear and set The End of the Affair, Holy Trinity Church and all. Novelist and short story writer Angela Carter lived at 107 The Chase, and further along at number 81 is where Japanese writer Natsume Soseki lodged while staying in London.

Clapham is a quilt of literary history that even now, has new and unexpected patches sewn onto it (or have you not yet heard about the newest pilgrimage Harry Potter fans can make to Severus Road?).

But today, being Roald Dahl day, we get to commemorate the children's author who wrote some of his most famous and treasured books whilst living below 8 Turnchapel Mews in Clapham.

Described as his 'little piece of London,' Roald Dahl purchased the ground floor home off Cedars Road in 1982 after the publication of one of his greatest novels, The BFG.

Turnchapel Mews is where Dahl penned The Witches (1983) and Matilda (1988) and remained home to the nation's beloved storyteller until his death in 1990.

With original cobbles that date back to the 19th century and a location close to Clapham Common but still not far from Battersea Park, it is unsurprising a fellow creative, the British painter Euan Uglow, converted one of the mews homes into his private studio.

Roald Dahl is in many ways the most unique children's writer of all time, for although writing stories for children, he refused in those stories to shy away from life's darkness, or the truth of its at times downright unimaginable cruelty.

Lightened by whimsical fantasies entered through limitless rule-bending vocabulary, Dahl wrote to help children fall in love with the act of reading.

In honour of the author's lasting legacy, we've collected 10 of our favourite Roald Dahl quotes from books he wrote both in Clapham, and elsewhere.

Roald Dahl quotes

"There are a whole lot of things in this world of ours you haven't started wondering about yet." - James and the Giant Peach

"I'm afraid men are not always quite as clever as they think they are. You will learn that when you get a bit older, my girl." - Matilda

"Well, maybe it started that way. As a dream, but doesn't everything. Those buildings. These lights. This whole city. Somebody had to dream about it first. And maybe that is what I did. I dreamed about coming here, but then I did it." - James and the Giant Peach

"I was glad my father was an eye-smiler. It meant he never gave me a fake smile because it's impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren't feeling twinkly yourself. A mouth-smile is different. You can fake a mouth-smile any time you want, simply by moving your lips. I've also learned that a real mouth-smile always has an eye-smile to go with it. So watch out, I say, when someone smiles at you but his eyes stay the same. It's sure to be a phony." - Danny the Champion of the World

"So Matilda's strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone." - Matilda

"I think I have this thing where everybody has to think I'm the greatest. And if they aren't completely knocked out and dazzled and slightly intimidated by me, I don't feel good about myself." - Fantastic Mr. Fox

"A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." - The Twits

"I understand what you're saying, and your comments are valuable, but I'm gonna ignore your advice." - Fantastic Mr. Fox

"Mr. Wonka: "Don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he wanted."

Mr. Wonka: "He lived happily ever after."

- Roald Dahl