AS MILLIONS of moviegoers prepare to be transported into the enchanted Kingdom of Narnia, a world of magical memories are stirring for C.S. Lewis's godson, reports Ellie Hargreaves.

From his Grasmere home in a corner of the Lake District, Laurence Harwood has, like many of Lewis's 90 million readers, eagerly anticipated Disney's £200 million film version of the great author's first masterpiece.

As the first of the seven universally famous Narnia books, Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe hit silver-screens around the world yesterday (Thursday), the former National Trust director reflected on how the man who made the humble wardrobe much more than a piece of furniture for generations of children, inspired and moulded his own life.

"My godfather was never really a man I associated with writing books or being on the radio. My thinking about him was always that he was one of my father's best friends, just a man, and a man who was tremendous fun.

"The whole atmosphere of the house was one of excitement whenever he came to visit," explained Mr Harwood, whose father, Alfred Harwood, forged a close friendship with his beloved godfather (known as Jack) when the pair were Oxford students in the 1920s.

"I was already 17 or 18 when the tales of Narnia came out so really I was past the fairytale phase. I only really became aware of them when I read them to my own children.

"Jack was very private about all his work. I don't remember my parents telling me about his stories and despite our frequent correspondence he never told me he had written a book about a magical kingdom," he said.

But the treasured letters from his godfather who helped to finance his training as a land agent and surveyor are illustrated with tiny drawings and, describing intricate, fascinating incidents from his daily-life, betray an innate ability to captivate children.

"He would pitch his letters to me at my own level - at a level that he thought might interest me and he would always ask my opinion on grown-up' matters and advice on things like what books should he be reading," remembered Mr Harwood, 72.

"My replies were probably very infantile but he would always take what I said seriously.

"I remember he once told my parents he would be very foolish if he were to offer any advice as to what books I should read, so instead of giving me a book for my birthday he would give me book tokens."

Armed with hundreds of absorbing anecdotes about the great author, Mr Harwood shares his fond memories of a "warm-hearted, fiercely loyal" Lewis (who died in November 1963) with fans across the world, giving talks and even writing a book C.S. Lewis: Memories of a Godfather which an American publishing company has been keen to snap up.

While the 1993 film of his idol's life, Shadowlands, starring Anthony Hopkins, failed to live up to his expectations, Mr Harwood is eager to see the latest tribute to Lewis's works.

"I went to see that film (Shadowlands) expecting to see my godfather again, but I came away feeling a fool," he said. "Jack was a pipe-smoking, tweed-jacket wearing, English-sounding man and although the acting was fine, no one could ever portray him quite the way he was.

"I look forward to seeing the new film though. While it isn't about Jack himself, it is about his most famous of works and I am thankful of anything that keeps his memory alive.

"He would have been astonished and probably appalled if he knew that what he had written down had travelled around the world in the way it has. He would have been really quite amazed."

For more about the new film, see What's On.