Titty was the name of an imaginative and ‘highly original’ little girl who Arthur Ransome first got to know in the Lake District when she was aged eight. When I met her niece Barbara Altounyan, she was most amused to hear that I had once played her Auntie Titty.
~Sophie Neville playing Titty Altounyan in the 1974 film ‘Swallows & Amazons’. Official photograph taken a Bank Ground Farm above Coniston Water copyright: StudioCanal~
I’d brought Barbara some long lost family photographs that included some of Titty’s wedding in Aleppo. They are beautiful.
Titty on the arm of her father, Dr Ernest Altounyan in Aleppo, 1954
Titty on her wedding day with her husband Melkon Guzelian, her sister-in-law, her father Ernest Altounyan, her mother Dora and brother Roger, far right. You can also see Roger, Ernest and Dora below, with Roger’s wife standing far right.
There is also a more informal shot.
‘Don’t you want to know about Titty?’ Barbara asked me. ‘She was a very detailed person and quite a perfectionist.’ I knew she was a wonderful artist who had studied under Henry Moore at the Chealsea School of Art. Although she produced a lot of colourful art, she was unwilling to ever attempt to sell her work. I was also told she also had long legs. I only hope that I have represented her well.
Titty Altounyan at her sister Brigit’s wedding to John Sanders in 1953
You can see a couple more family photos on ‘Secret Britain – The Lakes’ has been on BBC iPlayer at about 11.50 minis in. Those in the UK can view the programme here.
(NB: Ransome did not write ‘Swallows and Amazons’ while on holiday on Coniston Water as was stated in the programme. To see a photograph of Low Ludderburn, the house above Windermere where Arthur Ransome lived and wrote ‘Swallows and Amazons’ please click here and scroll down.)
You can read about what it was like to play the part of Able Seaman Titty in the original film of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in this illustrated paperback, available online or to order from libraries worldwide:
Sophie Neville 
Wonderful read! Thank you for sharing this, Sophie.
Thanks go to John Jukes who found the family photos and asked me to return them to the Altounyans. They could so easily have been thrown away.
Wonderful post! Thank you!
Thanks go to Barbara Altounyan for her enthusiasm and permission to use family photos on my website.
Thank you, Sophie and Barbara! I’ve always been particularly interested in Titty, both the real and Swallows ones, and these photos are a joy.
Her family are upset that BBC Films want to change her name to Tatty. I’ll raise that in the next post.
A wonderful article ,Sophie . I remember meeting Brigit Sanders and family members during a TARS expedition at High Nibthwaite in October 1991. We were all made so welcome to her house , including tea and seed -cake !
How wonderful. I wish I’d met Brigit.
I’ve just finished reading Joshua Slocum’s Sailing Alone Around the World. Ransome wrote the introduction. I think you would enjoy it if you haven’t already read it. He was an amazing character.
Thanks so much for letting me know! Are you a member of The Arthur Ransome Society?
I have been at times but I have lapsed. Your should read the story of Slocums travels with his family in the Liberdade if you can get hold of a copy. I was so “Titty” as a child and now I am refurbishing my Grandfathers 21′ 1939 little cruiser in the Outer Hebrides. To be honest the Liberdade voyage would be an amazing film and so few know of the story. Its like a swiss family robinson afloat.
I’ll see if I can find it in the TARS library. They have their IAGM in Dumfries this April/May.
This really is a ‘find’ How great to see the original Titty and Roger! Thank you for sharing this, Sophie.
I’m so glad you appreciate the photos. It was quite a haul up to Leeds to collect them.