We were sad to hear that Lucy Batty has passed away. She was 87. Our thoughts are with her family. She will be fondly remembered by visitors from all over the world who were made so welcome at Bank Ground Farm above Coniston Water in the Lake District, which she ran as a guest house for many years. It was also used as a film location, becoming known as ‘Holly Howe’ in Richard Pilbrow’s 1974 movie, Swallows & Amazons.
I first met Mrs Batty when we filmed in her home back in 1973 and returned to stay with her in 2003 when the BBC asked Suzanna Hamilton and myself if we would appear in Countryfile, which they were filming at Bank Ground Farm with Ben Fogle. It was then that she had time to show me her photo albums. What a life she led! She was very proud of having brought up seven children on the farm, “Two of my own and five that came with my husband,” she explained. “Getting them all off to school in the mornings was such hard work that my in-laws came to help on my first day.They all wanted bread and dripping for breakfast, with sugar sprinkled on top.”
“A magistrate once asked me what running a B&B entailed. ‘It’s much like looking after cattle,’ I told him. ‘You bring ‘um in, feed ‘um, see they’re bedded down, turn ’em out and muck’um out.’ He flung back his head and roared with laughter.”
She had a great sense of humour. I have a cutting from an article in The News written by Brenda Colton and published on 25th May 1973. It reads:
‘When Mrs Lucy Batty was asked if her house could be used for the setting of the film Swallows and Amazons, with guest star Virginia McKenna, she was delighted. After all, her home, Bank Ground Farm on the east side of Coniston Water, near Brantwood, was the setting chosen by Arthur Ransome for his children’s book Swallows and Amazons.
Mrs Batty thought it a good idea that the story should be filmed in an authentic location, and she felt she should be able to put up with a few cameras and film men for a while. But she just did not realise the scale of a “medium budget” film like this one, or what the production staff could do to her house. It was not the two double-decker buses coming down the path and parking on the farm that she minded, nor the numerous vans, lorries, cars and caravans. It was not even the difficulty of having 80 men and women wandering round the farmhouse carrying equipment here, there and everywhere. But when art director Simon Holland started tearing up her lino and carpet in the kitchen to get to the bare stone floor, she did get a little annoyed. Especially when he removed all the electric sockets, lights and switches, pushed all the kitchen furniture into the larder and whitewashed the newly papered walls.
“Have you seen the kitchen?” Mrs Batty said to me. “The larder is piled high with my furniture; and you would not believe the tip my lounge is in. But they are a funny lot. I asked if I could wash the beams in the kitchen for them, and they said ‘Oh no, we want them to look old.’ I have even had to hunt out a lot of old pottery from the cellar for them.
“But I have given up now. I have just left them to it.”
What she never knew was that Ian Whittaker the set dresser went on to win an Oscar for set design and received Academy Nominations on three other classic movies.
What I really did not know, until I watched the BBC documentary ‘Country Tracks’, was that Mrs Batty reached the point when she locked out the crew. She explained that when she was originally asked if we could film on her property she did not quite realise the scale of operations and only asked for – or accepted – a location fee of £75. She said that she decided that £75 was not enough, padlocked her front gate and wouldn’t let them back in until they agreed to pay her £1,000. It was a lot of money, more than double the fee I received for acting in the whole movie.
To read a little more about filming of Swallows & Amazons at Bank Ground Farm, please click here.
For the amusing clip of Lucy Batty being interviewed by Ben Fogle about hosting the film company please click here and fast forward.
For Bank Ground Farm’s website please click here
I am sure many people reading this have their own memories of Mrs Batty who was such a great character. Please do add them to the Comments box below. I feel it would be a tribute to all the hard work and love she put into making Bank Ground available over the decades for so many to enjoy.
You can read more about the adventures we had making the original film Swallows and Amazons here:
Sophie Neville 
A sad day, she was so loved by everyone who stayed at Bank Ground.
She worked so hard, making what must have been a huge contribution to the Lakeland economy. It was so wonderful to be able to stay at ‘Holly Howe’.
My deepest sympathy to Jonathon and Family .
So sorry to hear this. Met her quite a number of times over the years as a guest at Bank Ground. She was a great character. Of course in recent years she stepped back from the business. Our sympathy goes to the family.
Very sorry to hear of Lucy Batty’s passing.
When we were recording the BBC series ‘On the Trail of Swallows and Amazons’ in 2000 we were all based at Holly Howe.
It was great to wake up in the morning and see cows just outside the window — even if it was raining! Lucy was wonderful, such a warm, friendly person. Nothing was too much trouble, and our week gained so much by staying with a real Lakelander.
I was desperately sad to hear the news of Lucy’s passing this evening.
Lucy was my grandfather’s best friend until his death, also aged 87, in 2003.
She was as close to a step-grandma as I could have ever hoped for and Bank Ground will forever hold a very special place in my heart. Lucy was an incredibly special person and will be remembered fondly by a great many people.
Thank you for this wonderful tribute.
Ding dong! The old battleaxe cared a great deal more about her money than she ever did about the majority of her family.
Signed: A Family Member
I never knew Mrs Batty but reading about her she seemed a fascinating lady; I real Cumbrian character.
She was great fun!